Meet Gareth, an awesome web developer at Community Brands. With a background in IT and a career as an actor, Gareth brings a unique blend of skills and creativity to his work. His travels around the world have cultivated a keen eye for design, resulting in visually captivating websites that seamlessly integrate functionality. Gareth’s multidimensional background and artistic flair make him an invaluable asset to the Community Brands team, bridging the gap between technology and design with exceptional results.
We asked Gareth a few questions about his design process and style, as well as his favourite projects over the years. Get to know Gareth below!
What’s your approach to designing a website?
There is no “silver bullet” to creating the best websites, and every day for me is a learning experience. My foremost mantra is: ‘use as few clicks as possible.’ Every site we build is handed over to a client; if we don’t focus on simplicity and ease-of-use we’ll end up creating extra work for both our clients and ourselves. By reducing the number of clicks needed to perform a task – for instance, building a new page, editing content or updating the events calendar – we are reducing the number of potential failure points.
Can you share any top tips or hacks for a successful school website?
Simple – keep it organised and keep it neat. Use an intuitive naming convention, store the files in a structured fashion, and delete any pages that are no longer needed.
What’s the biggest no-no for a school website?
Every website should be a living entity which is kept up-to-date, topical and accurate. Clients are seldom themselves IT experts and if a site that lies untouched for, say, 6 months – the client will have forgotten everything that Community Brands has taught them. The best advice is to review the website every week, even if it’s just logging in and refreshing key skills.
What’s your favourite school website you’ve worked on?
St Aloysius Catholic Primary School website is probably my favourite, and one of which I’m particularly proud. The client and I built a strong working relationship, and together we were able to create a truly attractive Primary School site. Also, this was the first website within Community Brands where both a light and dark mode were used.
What your favourite feature from the Community Brands world?
I’m super grateful to Community Brands for the trust they’ve placed in me and the support they’ve given. They encourage me to think of new and innovative ways to improve the performance of the sites we’ll create in the future.
Contact Gareth and the team directly if you’re interested in working together on your own school website project!