Website Design: No Tears Shed

Of all the tasks facing us as we developed the book and marketing, without a doubt the one that caused the least dissention in the ranks was this web presence you currently browse. In toto, we probably spent more time arguing about the "You're having more babies in your 30s... than your mother" spread [pp. 88-89] than we did discussing the entire site.

The design development process:
Step 1: The authors, in the early stages of writing the book, agree that the concept of "a website" is nothing short of brilliant. We settle on the title "Book of Ages" when we discover that the domain name is available. (Discarded option: "Books of Age")

Step 2: One year later, at a marketing brainstorming session, the authors agree that basing the site design on the book cover design is nothing short of brilliant.

Step 3: Weeks after that, during a meeting to discuss the redesign of a different website, I hastily outline my vision in pencil on the back of a Book of Ages to-do list. (Signed xerographic reproductions of this sketch are available for a nominal fee. The original is not for sale.)



Step 4: I use the popular "save as" function of the Adobe Illustrator program to "save" the document coverfinal.ai "as" page.ai. With savvy and persistent use of the "move" tool, I am able to create a rough approximation of my final vision, which must then be gently crammed into the .html format.

Step 5:With appropriate fanfare, I unveil the first online draft to my fellow authors via email:

> Links aren't active yet, but here's the first page of the site in > fairly finished form. Thoughts?
>
> http://www.bookofages.com/newindex.shtml
>
> The MT stuff is currently an include (in case you were wondering.)
>
> JVG

Josh's response: "Woohoo!" Lock's response is significantly longer; "I think the site needs to give a clearer, more immediate sense of what the book is about... My idea is to create a strip below the banner that is roughly as high as the banner itself, to hold content about the book..." [4 additional paragraphs deleted]

Step 6: The single website bone of contention arises: where to place the sample pages Lock has suggested? After some missteps involving truly idiotic placement and semi-criminal use of the color red, we settle on the version you see before you. Enjoy!