Like a seed to a tree,
watch your site grow organically,
from your original concept to your finished vision.

What is Organic Web Design?

From concept to site: organic web design vs. conventional web design

Organic

Conventional

Start

Start

Start with a concept (yours).
Start with a template (others’).

Goal

Goal

To create a site that is an organic expression of your brand’s unique identity and value (from concept to site).
To adapt a template to your needs (from site to concept).

Content

Content

Organically developed from your concept to serve your visitor’s goals.
Artificially developed by replacing dummy content in a template.

Design

Design

Form follows function. Design elements are added organically to develop your concept and increase the clarity of its presentation.
Form follows convention. Cliché design patterns and gratuitous design elements are adapted from a template.

Pricing

Pricing

Hourly fee. Cost is determined organically by the nature of the project and the resulting scope of its parts, tailored to your budget.

Fees

Flat fees. Cost is determined arbitrarily by cookie-cutter “Silver,” “Gold,” and “Platinum” packages. Creates an artificial budget.

Fees

After completion, hourly fees for additional work are added organically, only as needed. Your real expenses are now behind you.
After completion, monthly flat fees for “maintenance” and SEO are charged indefinitely. This is where your real expenses begin and never end.

Who am I?

A certified Webflow Expert with a big-picture intelligence & background

Look and you’ll find thousands of young web designers fresh out of school, with extremely similar credentials and portfolio sites to compare. What makes me different?

I’m an entrepreneur who has developed successful businesses of my own—and websites to represent them—over the course of three decades. I understand the big picture. See my sites:

I’m a graphic designer with three decades of experience in print, presentation and web, working for major companies throughout New York City, and utilizing professional-level skills in video, audio, photo, illustration, animation, and copywriting. See:

I’m a Webflow Professional Partner with over two decades of experience in web design and development, versed in all of the latest web design trends and standards, and expert in search engine optimization. See:

my services

Digital marketing

In addition to web design, over the years I’ve filmed and edited videos, created soundtracks, recorded, repaired, and mix audio, created designs and animations for training videos and DVDs, designed books, ads and presentations, created logos, and worked as a writer and an editor. As your web designer/developer, all of these additional skills will be at your disposal.

You can learn more at NewYorkMultimedia.com

Branding

If you have already established a brand, we can create a website that is fully consistent with it. If you do not already have a brand, I can help you choose a name and URL, design your logo, and establish your brand’s color palette and design conventions.

Web design and development

I can help you navigate all of the otherwise daunting subcomponents of the web design and development process, including business strategy, IA (information architecture), copywriting and editing, typography, color theory, graphic design, UX (user experience), animation, usability testing, and hosting.

SEO

For the past two decades I’ve been immersed in Search Engine Optimization, during which time I’ve ranked several sites above-the-fold of page one. For an example, see one of my own sites dominating page one of Google in paid results, organic results, maps, and the Knowledge Panel.

My portfolio

A book site

branding
logo
graphics
copywriting
IA
UX
design
development
SEO
animation

The concept

To promote a book that presents a challenging new theory of rhythm and drumming technique

The site

  • Makes intelligible a highly abstract theory
  • Persuasively markets a book presenting this theory
  • Integrates custom e-commerce features that enable the purchase of the book and/or PDF chapter downloads
  • Provides useful information and link-bait-worthy free material in a custom-designed blog for improved search engine visibility

My portfolio

A musician’s site

branding
copywriting
IA
design
development

The concept

To showcase a musician’s bands, biography, and credentials to concert promoters and fans

The site

  • Designed for simplicity and clarity
  • Minimalist home page introduces visitors to the subsections
  • Subsections are designed as mini-sites with consistent design and navigation

My portfolio

A child therapist’s site

branding
copywriting
IA
design
development

The concept

The preciousness of children and the need for a child therapist to gain the trust of the child’s parents

The site

  • Creates a brand that conveys innocence by means of color, typeface, and photos
  • Opening photo and text convey the preciousness and vulnerability of children
  • Following photos and text convey the gentleness and expertise of the therapist

My portfolio

A bandleader’s site

branding
logo
copywriting
IA
UX
design
development
SEO

The concept

To market jazz bands in New York via search engine discovery

The site

  • Ranks top of page one in organic results, paid ads, map listings, knowledge panels, and 3rd-party directories. See proof.
  • Segments customers by submarket on the opening screen for improved conversion rates
  • Makes all essential information instantly accessible on submarket landing pages
  • From Dani Beaumont, Principal Product Manager, Adobe XD: “Congratulations on being showcased in this week’s Adobe Muse Site of the Day page—we love your site!”

My portfolio

A designer’s site

branding
logo
copywriting
IA
UI
design
development
SEO

The concept

To market a designer’s skill in creating and combining multimedia components into web, print and presentation designs

The site

  • Displays an animated logo and navigation that visualizes the integration of multimedia pieces into design wholes
  • Separates distinct skillsets onto dedicated pages with clear, consistent layouts
  • Surfaces information, endorsements, and linked examples “above the fold” on each page for improved SEO

My portfolio

A retirement community site

IA
UI
design
development
SEO

The concept

To provide in-depth information about a retirement community and its location

The site

  • While this site dates from 2012 and so is not representative of a modern design or a responsive site, it is still a good example of organic design
  • The primary challenges concerned information architecture (IA) and user interface design (UI): the need to organize and display a massive amount of information compactly and clearly.
  • A semi-transparent background that scrolls over a stationary background of sand acts as a reminder of the desirable oceanside location of the condominiums

our Process

An organic approach to process

“I’ve had the pleasure of working together with Chuck over the past several years. He designed my most recent website and improved the SEO for my previously existing website. By working with Chuck—and yes, you can actually sit with him and collaborate—you can get material that really speaks to your market and appeals to your eye. This one-on-one collaboration allows you to communicate what is special about your product or venue in a way that you never could with an agency that would surely have a superior know-it-all attitude.”
—Rochelle Levy, Owner, Newbury New England LLC

Our first meeting

To plan a website that will be an organic representation of the unique value that you and your business offer, we will begin with a one-on-one meeting of flexible length so that I can learn all about you and your vision for your site and your future.

Collaborative, iterative design

Rather than offering you a set number of arbitrary designs to choose from and a set number of revisions arbitrarily tied to specific dates, I prefer to develop your website collaboratively and iteratively together with you. During this process, the shape of your website will take place organically as you teach me about your goals, preferences, and the unique identity of your business, and I teach you about branding, design, copywriting, usability, and search engine optimization.

Your cost

Honest work that you will own

Conventional web design is based on flat fees that create an incentive for the designer to increase profit by reducing work hours; your interests and the designer’s interests are at odds.

Organic web design is based on hourly fees that create an incentive for the designer to work—and bill—no more or less than needed; your interests and the designer’s interests are aligned.

Throughout the process, you will own the design and code and will always have the freedom to switch to a different Webflow designer/developer should you choose to do so.

Straightforward rates and billing

My fee is based on the time I invest in a project. Currently, my rate is $120 per hour for non-rush projects. New projects begin with a deposit; subsequent invoices are sent periodically and are due upon receipt. I consider it an essential part of my job to keep the total hours billed as low as possible for any given project. My goal is that you will receive the greatest possible value at the lowest possible expenditure.

Aligning scope, budget and cost, organically

The cost of a website can vary widely depending on many optional variables, including whether we design from a blank slate or do a make-over of your (or another) site’s existing design, the quantity and quality of your site’s assets (photos, videos, illustrations, copy), whether you provide these assets or we develop them together, and whether your site requires a database, eCommerce features, or animations. Together we will choose the best approach to prioritize the scope of these component parts to best achieve your vision within your budget.

Get started by getting in touch

Want to begin? Contact me at chuck@organicweb.design and we can arrange a time to discuss your goals and how to achieve them.

Get In Touch