I am happy to support you in this process, with almost two decades of experience1 in domains of graphic design, web development, and generative conversations. Underneath the professional experience, there is a natural tendency for meeting the essence of things.
Probably you too are familiar with this tendency.
The process is inspired by traditional wisdom2 and also latest advancements in science of leadership3, both highlighting listening as an essential skill to meet harmony in work and other domains of life.
from
Essence
Through conversations we build a shared awareness around the deeper, metaphoric and dream-like aspects of your work. We will both practice listening, sensing... and when the right moment comes, naming patterns and metaphors that can represent the essence of the work.
to
Presence
On this side of the process we translate patterns and metaphors from Essence, to design elements (fonts, color themes etc.), website structure (sitemap), and content (words, images & media) for clear communication.
1. Listening
Together we build a shared understanding of the essence of the work: Imagine the seed of a cherry tree dreaming of itself, in full healthy blossom, in a spring day ten years forward. Or maybe it is an apple tree, or an Oak? What kind of birds will nest on it? Who will sit in its shade and what will they sing?
2. Naming
We search for images, metaphors and symbols that can represent the Essence of the work. What does this tree look? What color are the flowers? How many branches are there, and what are the proportions of leaves to flowers? What shades of green and brown? What kind of curves?
3. Prototyping
We create a basic design and structure to present the work as a one page website. Throughout this process we will keep evolving the writings, explanations, images, fonts etc. "I offer shade for those who need rest in summer... I offer walnuts, big and beautiful, which is good for your health... See how beautiful they look!"
4. Finishing
Once we are happy with the overal feeling, we add all the pages. When the content is complete, we do a final refining. We will also learn how to work on the website, for constant updating, changing words, images, adding new quotations etc. A tree keeps evolving and changing, season by season, doesn't it?
We will engage in weekly Skype sessions, over a period of 2-3 months (around 8 sessions). The first 2-3 calls are focused on sensing the Essence of the work and naming design elements. Then we will work on a one page prototype, changing and reviewing based on the overall feeling of it. With the design in place, we will create the website structure and extra pages.
In between Skype sessions you are asked to do some home work around content, and I will focus more on the technical side of the web development.
At the end there will be a training on how to continue working on the website by yourself.
35€ per hour for all the types of services included, from listening and coaching, to coding, design and training. Depending on the readiness of the person and the content, a simple website can be delivered with 30 hours of work. For deeper explorations, customizations and special features like multi-lingual website, complex registration forms etc, it might need 50+ hours of work from my side. A general estimate can be between 1000-1800 €. I can offer a more precise estimate when scope of the work is clearer. If there are financial restrictions we might be able to work it out, by making the payment in multiple installments, or finding creative ways to spend less time on customizations.
Aside from this, you will need to cover the cost of:
- website hosting, around 80€/year for a single website
- professional page builder software 60€/year for a single website
- domain name (for special domains such as .tr .uk etc)
- basic setup of the software, including the required plugins, which includes template framework, security, seo and statistics software
- live conversations over Skype (listening sessions)
- finding design resources such as fonts, icons, images, designing layouts
- training on updating the website
There is a proportion for live listening sessions, maximum 20% of the whole project. For a 40 hour project there will be around 8 hours of live connection / mentoring sessions. If the need exceeds this, additional sessions can be offered at the rate of 60€ per hour.
Well... yes and no. Our explorations of the Essence of your work can lead us to find clear symbols, color elements, fonts and other elements that can shape a clear corporate identity. If needed, I can also support with the design of logo, letter head, business card etc based on the same rate mentioned above. But this is not included in the main process.
This process does not include a focused search engine optimization service. The software and the code I am using is search engine friendly. Through the process of making the website I can offer some basic consultation on the dynamics of search engine optimization, to see wether you need it or not, and how you can proceed with it by yourself.
It is the same story for online marketing. I can offer you some basic guidelines to do it by yourself. Putting links of social media, or newsletter subscription forms are included in this process.
I highly encourage you to learn to work on your website by yourself. A training will be offered at the end of the process, showing you how to modify, add, remove different section of the website. For some structural changes you will need technical support. If it rests within the scope of initial work, like fixing problems, there will be no additional costs involved.
In case you would like me to add new content, re-design some sections, add new features, it will be offered with a rate of 35€/hour. Of course we will negotiate this before hand.
Based on the features of the website we might use Wordpress or Joomla, or in rare cases another content management system. On top of that, I use a professional software (page builder framework) which adds the following advantages:
- Ability to save time and cost in development of beautiful and dynamic websites
- Ability to edit and modify the content with ease
- Presenting the website based on latest web standards, fast loading, and responsive to mobiles and tablets
Collective Alchemy
AoH Athina
Maria Scordialos
Sarah Whiteley
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Bee & Flower Cover Photo
Photo by Murat Kahveci on Unsplash
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1. brief work experience in related fields
July 2001: Started design work with Dunes advertisement in Dubai, the Middle East’s leading packaging development and design company.
July 2003: Co-founded Maqsad, a web design and development company in Dubai, leading the market with Content Management System solutions.
December 2008: Masters in Quality Management, and the beginning of research in deep listening and science of leadership.
February 2009-2013: apprenticing in offering leadership and creativity workshops, in collaboration with friends in Iran, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Oman.
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2. traditional wisdom
contact me for more details
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3. science of leadership
Two main fields of study and practice which I have been engaged with since 2009: