You Design It, We Build It.

Finally! A Better Way to Show Your Website Designer What You Want.

Anyone who’s gone through a traditional website design project knows how frustrating the creative process can sometimes be.

You have a vision in your head. You try to explain it to a designer. They present something that isn’t quite what you were imagining. You go back and forth with examples, revisions, and ideas until you finally get somewhere.

Sound familiar? (Probably, because it was the last 20 years!)

I like to compare this new website design prototyping method to getting a haircut.

It’s a heck of a lot easier to show my barber a picture of what I want than to try to explain it.

AI website design tools have given business owners a new way to do exactly that.

You can create visual concepts, experiment with layouts, and build a prototype that communicates your vision before you ever talk with a professional website designer.

We think this is fantastic.

In fact, we’re increasingly seeing our customers come to us armed with AI-generated designs alongside a few other websites they like, asking us to take their ideas the rest of the way.

The design process, which used to take months, is now condensed to days & weeks.

Why Not Just Let AI Design and Build the Whole Thing?

You certainly can. And sometimes, the results are impressive.

But there’s something we’ve noticed about AI-generated website designs.

They’re starting to look an awful lot alike.

I mentioned this above, but I think you know what I’m talking about even if you can’t put a finger on it… Similar layouts, design elements, color palettes, animations, and writing cadence.

It’s not particularly surprising, as it’s part of the underlying technology. AI tools learn patterns from existing material and tend to produce familiar, agreeable results, especially when given broad instructions.

That makes AI tools great for developing ideas, but it doesn’t necessarily make them great at creating a memorable brand experience.

And standing out from the competition is kind of the whole point of website marketing.

There are also a few other things worth considering:

Is your design actually unique?

AI-generated designs can sometimes closely resemble existing websites, intentionally or otherwise. We encourage businesses to review their design’s originality and avoid creating something that looks suspiciously similar to a competitor’s website.

It’s not just about potential intellectual property concerns. It’s about protecting your brand’s reputation.

Will the design actually convert visitors into customers?

A visually impressive website isn’t necessarily an effective marketing tool. Our designers and marketers can evaluate whether the layout, content, messaging, and user experience support your business goals.

Will the website work as well as it looks?

An attractive prototype doesn’t automatically account for mobile responsiveness, accessibility, performance, search visibility, content management, and future maintenance.

That’s where professional website development comes in.

We believe AI is an excellent tool for communicating and exploring design ideas. We just don’t believe it should replace professional judgment.

You can read more about how Colophon uses AI in our design and development processes.