I have been intrigued by the special challenges of web design since the early 1990's. The manipulation necessary to get HTML to render correctly on the screens of different computers running different browsers presents one very interesting technical challenge. Secondly, the non-linear presentation of information and the interactive possibilities present further amazing opportunities and challenges to designers. Finally, the fact that the content is likely to change and the need to update it easily creates a third distinct challenge for web design.

I have been working on cracking these problems for more than a decade and, while I cannot claim to have solved them completely, I have made some designs which I am truly proud of for their elegance, ease of use, and expressiveness.

My first web example is the Boston Arts Academy website, an extensive site with multiple audiences and a great deal of content. This site was designed with the ideas of maintaining the branding used in many of the print publications and keeping content primary.

The front page is designed in two halves. The top content is relatively static, requiring updates only once or twice each year. The audience for the top of the page is prospective students and other people interested in finding out about the school. The mission, curriculum, application process, or how to help with development of the school can be easily accessed here. There is also a link to a page of people to contact for various purposes.

The bottom content is for people who are already members of the BAA community. This includes the all-important calendar, news items, links for email and the library. There is also a document download page where users can get more information, including the Community Handbook, Year End Report, Summer Reading list, and Parent Newsletters.

Developing this design involved extensive collaboration with important stakeholders at BAA and took place over the course of several weeks. It has served BAA well since the winter of 2002. The school is now looking at a redesign of the web site and I am heavily involved in that process.

The second example is my own Greasyfur Unlimited website. Like the television show, Seinfeld, it is about nothing... and everything. It has been my forum to experiment with web design and try things out. The site has been through many redesigns over the years as I play with and learn new technologies and extend my toolbox.

The third example is La Papata Designs. I met extensively with clothing designer, Debbie Arles to help her set up an online presence for her business. This is a part time business for her, so she wanted to keep the site simple and small.

I have also included two other examples of small, quickly designed web sites for people and organizations that hired me to make something that looked good but just provided some basic information for their web presence. Neither of these sites is live anymore, but I include them because they show that good design does not have to be fancy or flashy.

Debbie Arles, Clothing Designer...

"As a small business the idea of investing in the design of a website can be an overwhelming task. Hiring Bill Mead to design LaPapata Design's website was the best thing I could have done."

"Bill's personal style, intelligence, vision and calm nature made the experience an enjoyable and productive one."

"Bill listened patiently and intellignetly to meet every one of my design requests."

"He brings vision, balance and techincal savvy to the process."

"The end product is a website that continues to get praise for from my clients."