We are standing on the precipice of a new culture? Sceptical, questioningconnected with the world, thirsting for information and change.
Technology isdriving society at a pace unparalleled in history creating new attitudes,interrelationships, and global awareness. A new consumer is emerging, suspiciousof traditional media sources, incredulous of advertising, and contemptuous ofthe contrived the hyped, the false. This consumer is not easily persuaded byclever graphics or manipulated by fads in design. In order to integrate allaspects of a ‘brands’ presentation on a web-site, the designer must movebeyond form, colour and type and embrace the comprehensive impact of design.
Enhanced awareness of the world; deeper, broader thinking about problems andopportunities; a respect for the historical roots of and formal conventions ofdesign; planning and diligent study are required to create interesting globalweb-site designs. What? subject: Web site design on the Internet Focus: Web sitedesign in the future. Objectives: To identify web-site designs that work, and toidentify the reasons to why they work. Why? With the increasing number ofweb-sites that are coming online daily, in order for them to work, they are moredependent on good design for attracting readership than print is. How? Byexamination of the most frequently visited web-sites, and although a historicalapproach with reference to print in design.
Section Two Design is the AnswerWhat? Web sites need to be far better designed than anything in the printmedium, due to the very interdisciplinary nature of the web-site. Why? Because amagazine with even minimum design gets its information across to the reader. Youbuy it because you care about the issues in its headlines, if you want more youjump inside, ‘print’ by its nature is a tactile phenonenom; touch, smell andaccessibility, and it is for that reason it will never die. But web-sites arepurely visual and aural, one screen at a time. Encouraging the viewer to gobeyond the first layer, even learn where to go for what is required is a commonproblem for designers. It is their job to bring the viewer inside through the"Dance of the seven veils",and once inside, guide them, not to confuseor frustrate them.
How? Web-sites that work are sites that do what you want itto do. They do not insult your intelligence, but neither do they obfuscate. Theymust indicate the wealth of material lying beneath the first page, but alsooffer you options and alternate means of approach. The answer may lie in betterselling of the ‘land’ – in urban planning, to use a metaphor. Thesolutions to timeless internet problems – navigation, access to information– will be provided by design. Good design means; pertinent information,content, good ‘surfing’, exploring, and gathering.
The designer is theWeb’s real pathfinder. How does the designer achieve this goal? By drawing upan agenda for good web design. Section 3 and 4 Where does good web design comefrom? I believe that the principles print informed quality print design forhundreds of years and that these principles are equally valid online. TEN RULESOF DESIGN FOR THE WEB 1. Put content on every page.
Design should not bedecoration. It must convey information. Or entertainment. Content should come tothe surface on every single level. Avoid useless and confusing icons, e.
g. anavigation bar that has a ? for help. Make sure the content is easy to readquickly. Break the text into smaller segments. On the web people are in a hurry.
They want the information they are looking for quickly, like a dictionary,that’s still what the web is really about. 2. The first colour is white 3. Thesecond colour is black 4. The third colour is red.
This is a basic rule that hasbeen around for 500 years. In Print white is the absence of all colours. Whitemakes the best background. Black holds the highest contrast to white; thereforeit is the first choice for text. And red draws the viewer in, and defines theimage. 5.
Never letterspace l o w e r c a s e When this is done the naturalrhythm of the letters, so carefully designed by font designer, is ruined. Indesign if you look at what you do today, it should look like what you want to dotomorrow. 6. Never set a lot of text IN ALL CAPS Fonts were not intended to beall set in caps.
They were intended to be upper and lowercase and to have serifsand descenders and ascenders so that they are easier to read. 7. A cover shouldbe a poster A single image of a human being will sell more magazines thanmultiple images or all type. Avoid the pitfalls of ‘fads’.
Design loses itspower when it falls prey to what is popular now. 8. Use only one or twotypefaces There are thousands of fonts on offer, this does not mean it is cleverif the designer can use as many as possible at once, good design is pulledtogether by one or two fonts. The best combination is one light and one bold.
(This seems to work with colours too). 9. Make everything as BIG as possibleType looks good in big point sizes, a bad picture always looks better bigger.10.
Get lumpy ! The trouble with most web design is that it holds no greatsurprise. 95% of web pages have beautiful graphic homepages, followed by legionsof pages that look like newsletters with stamps stapled to them. Vary thecontent from page to page; don’t keep to the format of picture-and-story. NINERULES OF WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN DESIGNING WEB PAGES. 1. Don’t confuse the viewer.
Keep the site consistently designed. For different pages and sections thenavigation tools and graphics need to look the same throughout. Make sure theviewer knows they are on the same site when surfing your web pages. 2. Beorganised with navigation.
Make sure your buttons and navigational directionsare simple and clear. Be consistent in these from page to page. 3. Don’t makeoversize pages. Research shows that 50% of all computers used for the internetuse 13" monitors, designers often use 17" – 21" monitors,‘size matters", keep to 480x640 pixels. 4.
Don’t design pages thatrequire scrolling. This makes it painful and impossible to read in a hurry.Browsers will never scroll, they are more likely to press a button and keepgoing. Shorter pages break up content to bite size pieces this is more appealingto the viewer. 5.
Don’t use big, slow graphics. No one wants to wait a minutefor art or seven minutes for a video; the only acceptable delay when it comes tothe web is no delay. 6. Go monochromatic. Monochromatic pages frankly lookbetter and run faster. Web clutter is typified by free wheeling use of colour.
Use one or two colours, not all of them. 7. Don’t overdo text. Web browsersskim and surf, if you don’t give them something quickly they absorb nothing.8.
Don’t use tiny type. It is very hard to read small type on a computer, makeeverything bigger than you would print. If you want to get noticed on the webmake it easy and clear to read. 9. Don’t navigate by type.
Navigate by image,it’s less confusing and never dull. Section 5. Conclusions What was thequestion? What defines a well-designed web-site? The "wow" factor –this is not cool buttons or fonts, or graphics, or audio or video, but clear,easy to read information in bite size chunks, good content, and easy to followconsist navigation. ent How do we plan a web-site that work’s? Step 1.
Clientrequirements and Goals The Brief Strategic planning, and engineering. Step 2.Response and Refinement Trial Pages Design, Content, and marketing. Step 3.Approval The Prototype Final design testing and coding Step 4.
Launch The LaunchStyle book, training, and quality tests. What’s it all about? Content; Theinternet means nothing without good stories, personalities and good direction.
