When outsourcing a project to a design firm what would be the recommended format to use for conveying your design ideas to them?

I know how I want the site to function and what the basic page layouts should consist of (minus artwork/logo for now). Would Visio, Powerpoint, etc be best in this type of situation? :confused:

I see that Visio 2003 has templates for 'high-level' Site maps but not really for per page layouts. Is there an industry standard that is followed for this? Thanks!

I think you mixed up design and development in your description. If I understand correctly you are trying to send your design ideas to a developer to have it coded. If so, I would create the site templates first, less the graphics, then send them the html or php or whatever it may be.

I know how I want my pages to be laid out and what functions I want integrated into each page (menus, buttons, links, etc) but I don't have the design skill so I would like to use a diagramming tool to simply convey to the the designer/development team what I would like done.

I am guessing Powerpoint should be suffiicient as I can add in comments pointing to parts of the page but I thought there may be some standard practice people follow for this sort of things (visio, etc)?

As a designer, I know anything helps and is better than nothing. Use a program YOU feel best portrays your ideas. Powerpoint or Visio should be just fine. I have had things sketched on the back of napkins, scrap paper - I have even had people make something really quick in Paint. The point is, when trying to get an idea to a designer, we love visuals - it's what we do - so anything like that helps.

As PlaneWalker says anything at all is of great use. Whatever tool you feel you can use to give the best impression of your ideas is what you should use. It might also be worthwhile asking your developer what he might find useful. For example, s/he might not have Powerpoint installed making a PowerPoint file almost useless.

Sometimes an idea in your head can be totally misconstrued by others. Visuals can help.

Thanks to for your replies. Much appreciated!