Over the last few weeks, I have become a bit of a conference call connoisseur and thanks to our live video feed, I’ve also been sharpening my on-camera skills.

What I’ve learned more than anything, is that the majority of projects — regardless if it’s video,website, animation or illustration — all begin in similar ways, an idea, a need, a void to be filled. Once that is discovered, it’s flushed out, mulled over, and eventually a way to fix, enhance, or fill it is discovered.

But what’s next? You have a project that you’re ready to take to the next level. Which steps will best help you go from concept to reality?

There’s a number of factors to consider — budget, timeframe, what you’re looking to achieve, the audience you are attempting to reach, the multiple options that exist within the medium you chose. It’s not an easy task and one that calls for significant consideration. Because what you are looking for and what you put as your top priorities will determine the company you choose.

At DDA, we get a lot of inquiries, some we know aren’t the right match for us from the beginning, others take a conference call or further e-mails to figure out. But that’s exactly what it is when you are looking for any kind of company, whether it’s full-service like ourselves, marketing or advertising agencies, or web development and design companies — a match.

During our initial conference call, we walk through the details of the project. If it’s video we discuss length, actors needed, animation, editing, etc. Brochures or other print work we go through dimensions, specs, illustrations, and so on. If a project is not right for us or vice versa, David will let the prospective client know.

So make sure when you are ready to take get your project started that you not only know what you would like to do –3D Modeling, Search Engine Optimization, Webcasting — but what it is you want to accomplish. Determine your goals, what’s of the utmost importance to you, whether you’re money, timeline, or detail driven and that will lead you to the company that’s best for you.

We just launched a website with a “Google-ish” search function that appears prominently on every page of the website. It is like a Google search function in that it is simple and the prominent search area on the page.

This is an example of how DDA moves along with constantly advancing navigation trends. As people become more web-savvy we can move away from old-fashioned rules of designing web pages, and incorporate new navigation methods, both for their function and for aesthetic appeal.

For example, websites used to display bright blue underlined links, but now people are so familiar with links that we have more flexibility — we can make links bold, red, and with delicate dotted underlines, and it is still very clear they are links.

At DDA, it is a team effort to decide how to organize the menu links and what hierarchy to give them. We pay attention to where links are placed on web pages (especially the home page) so that visitors can easily find what they are looking for and so that they are more drawn to certain sections of the website.

In this way, a website home page is like a printed advertisement. Often special links are pulled out and made into attractive buttons, just like call-outs in a printed piece. The home page may have prominent taglines that quickly summarize what the company specializes in, reinforcing a clear message and giving the visitor quick information.

DDA’s clients can rely on us to be up-to-date on new navigation methods, and yet not too far ahead to exclude those who have older browsers and computers.