One of the issues of having website design outsourced is the matter of regionality. Oftentimes, when a web design project is outsourced, the designer, being outsourced from another country, will have a different general idea about how the site would look. More often than not, it boils down to a difference in region.

For example, a client from the North American region may outsource a website design project to a designer who may be located somewhere in Asia. This is all well and good, although it must be noted that the contractor must make it a point to make sure the designer knows specifically what the web site should look like. Otherwise, the great divide of the regions will show in the end product. A common feature of Asian art is the profusion of colors and maximization of space in whatever medium the design is being done on, be it a canvas or even a website template. While this may be quite appealing and oftentimes a pleasure to look at, it may be a bit too much for a website intended for business for a North American target market.

A prominent design preference for North American websites is a subtle minimalism in both color and graphics. White is a popular choice as a general color, mixed in usually with two other colors, and often a modest amount of both image and copy content on the pages. This is often a stark contrast with the usual art fare that would be the natural choice in Asian design.

This being the case, this issue is often the root of common misunderstandings between the contractor and the designer, as the contractor will often leave instructions saying just make it look great and make it very western, without really going into the specifics of what he wants. The website designer, in turn, having heard the words great and western, goes into default mode and designs away with their idea of a great and western design. This is one instance wherein a lot of revisions (and the accompanying headaches) could have been avoided had the contractor taken a little more time to explain in detail what specifically he had in mind when he said that he wanted his site to look great and western. After all, cable TV, books and magazines from another region will only give a small view or a small portion of that particular region, and not even a general picture.

To fix this problem, a contractor should already have an idea of what they would want their website to look like when finished. It would be a good idea to look for the closest design to their idea, which they may find in other websites, or even a combination of several websites. This way, much of the guess work will already be eliminated. Another factor is to guide the creative process to the proper direction. Thinking out-of-the-box is all well and good, but without proper direction, the creative process may go every which way, and not even hit on what is really needed. These are just a few of the necessary things to remember when outsourcing website design.

Rico Franco is an SEO Copywriter/Marketing Specialist specializing in optimized written content and marketing/advertising copy. He was awarded by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in 2005 for Best Business/Feature story written, produced, and aired. He has had extensive experience in writing for various fields: 8 years in Journalism, 4 years in Advertising/PR, and 2 years in Online Marketing (SEO/SEM).