my name is Kamyar.
With almost two decades of experience in domains of graphic design, web development, generative conversations, and co-creativity, I support people in the process of making websites.
You can find more details at the end of this page.
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
In this level 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, on 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 like? 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 personal and 50€ per hour for businesses, all the types of services included. Depending on the readiness of the content, a simple website can be delivered with 30 hours of work. For deeper explorations, customizations and special features like multi-lingual website, shopping cart, complex registration forms etc, it might need 50+ hours of work from my side. A general estimate for a personal website can be between 1200-1800 €. I can offer a more precise estimate when the 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)
- cost of professional softwares for additional features, such as multi-lingual, shopping cart, online booking etc… this will be estimated when I know the scope of the work.
- 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 your work can lead us to find clear symbols, colors, design elements, fonts and other material that can shape a clear 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 generally 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 suggestions 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, and remove different section of the website. For some structural changes you will need technical support. If it rests within the scope of the 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 at a rate of 35€/hour (50€ for companies). Of course we will negotiate this beforehand.
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 clean 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
Listening
There is a gentle invitation and practice to keep listening to the underlying patterns, and working from there. Here I bring less of a consultant spirit who knows the answers, but more of a coaching spirit, which trusts the answers are already there within you.
It’s a Process
Working with the awareness that, a living process has its own life. While trying to keep practical boundaries and limitations in place, we practice to be open and adapt to the unexpected. This makes it less like a mainstream web design work, and more of an organic process.
Technology
I will customize administration are to your needs, in a way to completely seperate content from design, and to make it easy to update without the need for technical knowledge. We aim to make you sit in the driving seat. On the front-end, the visible side of your website, I will use a lightweight and powerful framework called UIKIT, with a mobile-first approach. This will help in reducing development time and cost, plus many other technical advantages such as fast loading and adaptivity to different screen sizes.
One Person
This whole spectrum of work you are engaged with one person, from listening and coaching, to designing, programming, training and delivery. How is it an advantage? I will be working on each section with the full awareness of others. This will contribute to a balance / harmony, that will need a lot more resources and time to be acheived when each section is in the hands of a different person. This also contributes to keeping the financial rate down, as some companies in EU who work with the same technology charge at least 2-4 times more.
AoH Athina
Collective Alchemy
Maria Scordialos
Sarah Whiteley
- tile photo:
Grand mosque of Yazd, Iran
- brief work experience in related fields:
July 2001: Started design work with Dunes Advertising 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, UAE, Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Oman.