To get the best quote you should first download our free web planner. It is easier for us to provide a quote if you are clear about your needs and it will be cheaper if you are prepared.

Plan Your Strategy

Project Management

Every project consists of several phases from initial concept through planning to task assignments, launch and maintenance. Far from being the result of random doodles and tinkering, effective design is a process with roots in research and an understanding of the business goals to be met.

Some people love to plan projects while others find it painful and confusing. Planning is only the first step towards completion but it is often over-looked or off-loaded onto a third party when in fact, the originator of the project, the person who in a sense will have to live with the results, must be involved in establishing the specifications from which the project grows. On the other hand, there is a time to plan and a time to start building.

A project plan has many parts and should include goals, rationale, budget, personnel, other resources as needed, timelines and a drop-dead date when, if the project isn’t completed to everyone’s satisfaction, it must be shelved. Small projects often get by with a simple sketch of a plan, but even so, it should encompass all these elements for the sake of clarification. How else will the builder and the person who commissioned the work know when it is completed?

Optimize Your Assets

Optimization of any project reflects the need to make the most of all your assets. Graphics need to be saved in their raw formats for re-use. The final file needs to be optimized in the correct file format for distribution. The project needs to be used effectively and maintained: brochures need to reach their destination; the website needs to be promoted.

A Finished Project is Only Half-Done

When was the last time you bought a product that lasted more than a few years without repairs? You car needs maintenance, your body needs regular check-ups, your cellphone plan needs renewal. Your company is changing all the time in response to needs of your company, competitors, and the economy. Your business cards are thrown away because you moved; your brochures refer to products you no longer sell or have upgraded.

The world of design is no different from the rest of the world: it changes constantly in response to changes in fashions, upgraded software, new technologies and new expectations. When C.R.Visuals opened for business in 1995, we wrote HTML 2.0 code in Notepad. We illustrated web pages with tiny JPEG or GIF files. Animations lasted a second or two. We posted to Apache or Windows servers and ran the results on Netscape Navigator. Pretty much every element in the development of webpages has changed since then. We write in XHTML or XML with an eye to running video on some 50 different browser options. The latest release for code is HTML5. JQuery and WordPress are critical to how we work and before this year is up, this too will have changed.

Similar changes have affected the layout and print. The foundations on which we build shift so there is work to do, all the time, to ensure the stability of the customer experience.

History Behind C.R. Visuals

The Visual Past

In 1993 the internet was old but the world wide web was new and Caroline began to explore it. By 1995 she had established C.R. Visuals

• to combine art and technology
• to provide information and
• to pursue the elusive dream of the perfect interactive digital space that contains a story users can on their own.

As the web became overwhelmed by businesses posting their brochures online, Caroline’s experience in the corporate world allowed her to break into this growing market, but the dream of combining art and technology in online learning environments continued in the background. We continue to promote the idea that a website is a narrative story that visitors should be able to experience through multiple levels of communication and many forms of media.

The recent advent of social media and blogging has allowed us to move one step closer to our goal. We have embraced a new approach to building websites: one where visitors can comment on and contribute to the narrative. Not many companies are ready to accept this change. They believe that it is important to own, or at least control, the story of their company. If that describes you, then we say, make sure it’s a good story – give it depth and an attractive interface.

2010

At this stage in our history we have developed dozens of custom web designs and helped many companies develop online strategies.  We have attempted a few experimental sites of our own and continue to study issues of usability, interactive narrative, social networks and multimedia.

Our commitment to building the perfect website continues. We envision it with 3D enhancements, an almost game like interface, and numerous paths of shared information serving the needs of both the visitor and owner.

Today the company is located in Kitchener Ontario and operates with a combination of interns and experts hired on a per-project basis. We support life-long learning and continuously upgrade our own core skills. As well, we provide opportunities to high school and co-op students who wish to discover if their passion for graphic arts or the web will survive the workplace.

Caroline de Gruchy, M.A.: CEO
Caroline has an M.A. in social anthropology and studied urban culture in Canada, Europe and Pakistan, focusing on how people give meaning to their environment. She studied multimedia at Trebas and 3D animation at Humber and these form the core work at C.R. Visuals. She has taught web design and new media at Humber College, the University of Toronto and Conestoga College. More about Caroline.

1334 King St. East
Kitchener ON
N2G 4N8