I’m one of life’s big procrastinators. From buying something pretty massive like a new car to something as tiny as a runners’ water bottle for a fiver, I always want to make sure I’m doing the right thing – and getting the best product for the price. So just imagine what I’m like when it comes to needing to design my own website. Or have it designed for me.
I suppose I’m lucky in that I’ve been so busy with work since I bought my web domain back in 2012 that I simply haven’t had time to do anything about it. But in those occasional moments when I do try to do something about it, I find myself completely bogged down with a plethora of options, none of which seems to be quite right for me.
I’ve sought advice from knowledgeable friends, all of whom have been immensely helpful. But when one person recommends that I try WordPress, there’s another who warns me off it and suggests Weebly or Mr Site or some other option instead. The latter is all pretty intuitive, I hear. Loads of templates to choose from, all that sort of thing.
But if I don’t want it to look homemade – which is always a risk when you try your hand at something yourself – then I could get a designer to do it for me, plus a cool logo. But then when I looked at the avenue, I was again overwhelmed by choice. Looking at portfolios, I was constantly impressed…but it just didn’t seem “me”, for whatever reason. You get what you pay for, I know – but when one friend paid over £1,000 for his website and another paid £150 for something which, to me, looked just as good, I ran scared. It’s a veritable minefield, it seems. And I’m sure I’m not alone in my experience.
But now, for all procrastinators out there who want their own website, there may just be another answer: The Grid.
The Grid is artificial intelligence (AI) software that allows even the most computer illiterate layperson to design their own crisp, creative and swanky website, just by telling the software what they want.
Founded in San Francisco in 2010, The Grid is the brainchild of an impressively high-profile group of contributors: CEO and Co-Founder Dan Tocchini, Chairman and Co-Founder Ex-Google AdSense Director of Products Brian Axe, Lead Designer and the first Medium designer Leigh Taylor and VP of Engineering Henri Bergius.
Just by telling The Grid what you want to do – from the design itself (professional, casual, cool, comic-strip…) to getting more followers or generating more sales, AI interprets these needs to create something bespoke, beautiful and fit for purpose. You can capture content from anywhere on the web with a single click. The Grid interprets and integrates it to make it suit your website.
As for platforms, The Grid automatically optimises it to suit every browser on computers, tablets and smartphones without any extra fiddling. And if you want to change your website, The Grid makes sure that it adapts and updates according to what you change.
“Building a website that actually looks awesome is still a pain in the ass,” says Tocchini. “Template making platforms take hours, if not days to make something you’d be proud of. We’ve spent the last few years building a form of artificial intelligence that functions like your own personal graphic designer, able to think about your brand and present it in the best way possible. The design adapts to your content, not the other way around.”
The Grid will be launched in Spring 2015. At the moment, you can become a founding member. You can find out more by clicking here.
Watch the video here:
