About Myriam Dyck, Winnipeg Website Designer

I am a freelance website & graphics designer based in Rural manitoba, listed in the Yellow pages. Have been in business since 2004 and work full-time (and more!) from my home office.

I have experience in both web and print work (which is unusual as most people specialise in only one) so I am a one-stop shop for my client's marketing needs.

For print work I produce newspaper ads for 3 local newspapers monthly, and regular color brochures, business cards, posters etc to professional printer's standards such as the Wpg Sun press.

For website work, I have created everything from small static sites to big database-driven sites, including e-commerce store and merchant account setup, subscriber signup and maintenance on a large site which the owners post regular content, content-management system sites where the business can update their own content themselves, and some Flash or video editing work as necessary for active menus or interactive content on sites.

I often find myself working with new businesses starting up or just getting on the web for the first time, so I end up fitting the website to their business needs and providing some marketing direction and support as part of the consultation process. I set up websites so that they are found on search engines, and though I don't specialise in search engine optimisation, most of them are doing quite well in the results.

In other words, I help businesses figure out what they need, then produce it for them - everything from taking the photos for the websites if necessary, to logos and business cards, to best marketing the site more effectively after completion.

I have always enjoyed creating beautiful things. And I have always been very interested in computers. Those two things meshed once I discovered that I could create beautiful things using a computer! It is really only in the past 10 years that computer software has become sophisticated enough to create truly beautiful things, so I feel that obtaining more skills in this area is a field with a lot of potential.

Graphics Design itself as an art is really only about 50 years old as well, differentiated from strictly art (painting, drawing etc.) for display purposes. Graphics Design is art with a function of communication, essentially. It is intended to communicate something to somebody, usually for commercial purposes, not just for aesthetic appreciation. However, aesthetics do have a lot to do with it...for example would you rather buy something from an ugly, unappealing website presentation or from a beautiful, aesthetic website presentation?? Obviously, more of the item will sell from the beautiful presentation and that company will have a better public reputation! Thus having well-executed graphic design work is of importance to CEOs, managers, salespersons, advertising executives, and all parts of the company. Promotion which sells the company's products or services is much better than that which is ignored. One third of advertising is the message, two-thirds is having it presented so that it is read! If you're going to spend money on advertising, it is best to ensure that your graphics design of that advertising is of proportionate quality.

I continue to develop my skills by "figuring out how" to do things I think of and coming up with techniques to accomplish my creative ideas, and by upgrading my skills with formal study, especially in the area of software programs. I have completed a Graphics Design course from Red River College. I use Dreamweaver primarily for sites and can insert scripting content, Flash/Powerpoint animations etc. I use Photoshop primarily for image editing. For layout I usually use Pagemaker or Photoshop. I regularly create sites using open-source Content Management systems and E-Commerce applications, which include customizing PHP programs and setting up sites so that clients can administer them personally after the initial setup.

This is my own business and I work from home mainly, so you will be dealing with me directly and I will be personally responsible for your project. I am also bilingual English/French, so can do materials in either language.

Clients are by no means limited to being in my geographical area and may be from anywhere in North America, thanks to the Internet... we can email, phone or online chat and exchange files for our meetings and consultations, for approval of the project and for presentation of the final product.

As a note, I do NOT do websites or work of a pornographic or illegal nature, period. I reserve the right to decline work to which I morally object.