Unit 5 Reading

What I have come across while learning the basics of web design is not to design for the user but the client. Now, of course you should design for the user, but I mean that you shouldn’t design completely based on the user’s navigation and expectations. Conventions are useful tools for usability but not always the best choice design wise. The book brought up a great point that everyone creates what he or she prefers thinking everyone is like that. Last time I did a website redesign in a group of both web and graphic design students there was a lot of conflict initially because the web students wanted it to be all about function, but it didn’t look good enough to the graphic students’ standards.

I have also learned that testing is your best friend as a student and as a designer. I did that project that I spent hours and hours on and was the proudest person in the world, but it wasn’t actually that great of a web design. It had a lot of issues that were plain and obvious to another eye. Let’s just say it was a painful end, but I learned a lot form that project.

These are a couple sites with testing tips and good reminders.

www.hacktutors.info/2010/07/10-tips-for-testing-your-websites.html

http://www.intuitionhq.com/blog/2011/05/10-quick-usability-testing-tips/

These are a couple sites on designing usability in general.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2008/12/10-usability-tips-for-web-designers/

(This is not the prettiest site, but it makes some good points.)

http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol7/design_no4.htm

P2 Mood Board

P2 Project Statement

Client:

Fireworks Gallery

Background:

Fireworks Gallery began in 1985 in Pioneer Square, Seattle featuring the work of local artists. It has since grown to have several galleries in the area that features work from over 300 artists and studios. Their motto is “Celebrating art in life.”

Objective:

Redesign the website to match the creative atmosphere of the physical gallery as well as simplify the online shopping process by reorganizing the products and cleaning up the design.

Target Audience:

Late 20’s and up as well as actively social individuals.  

Obstacles:

The large product line could make organization and simple navigation tricky. It will also need to be tailored to a large audience.

Tone:

Trendy, quirky, and creative.

Media:

Web, option of mobile responsive design.

Unit 4 Reading

The part that caught my attention the most was the four questions in mind when entering a site for the first time. What is this? What can I do here? What do they have here? Why should I be here—and not somewhere else? They are like little hints on how to design the homepage and what should be there.

Yes, this link is kind of a repeat of what we’ve been reading, but from my experience it’s handy to have a shortened or list version of the important bits, and since I didn’t take notes I feel this will come in handy someday down the road.

http://www.onextrapixel.com/2009/07/03/10-principles-of-navigation-design-and-why-quality-navigation-is-so-critical/

I picked this one because I think it’s a great example of a homepage. The illustration style is immediately engaging, and their purpose is stated quickly and simply as well as being visually prominent. The navigation is clean and simple, although a couple of the drop-downs could be shorter. The donate button is very clear as well, which also tells you that is an option and what kind of group they are.

http://www.warchild.org.uk/

This is an interesting homepage because it offers the who, why, and navigation immediately, but it also offers a short biography without it being too loud and in your face. It’s there but you don’t have to concern yourself with it first thing since you have to scroll to see the whole thing.

http://www.jessmarksphotography.com.au/

Unit 3 Reading

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Unit 3 Reading

There are so many small details that shouldn’t be small details is what I got out of this weeks reading. Krug says to pay attention to the small details but don’t overblow them…or wait overblow these ones but not others. Like any form of design, there are a number of perfect balances to strive for. Navigation is a beast to work on, but I feel like it’s a good place to start when designing a website. It’s the skeletal structure in my mind for which everything else, the information, to latch on to and grow upon.

So this is a terrible website, clearly, but I bring it here as an example of navigation failure. There is link after link after link, some of them dead and some of them leading to a dead end. I felt like I could go miles and miles deep into website intergalactic space and then there was no hope of return or every finding that again if you did somehow escape.

http://currentmiddleages.org/autocrats/index.php

This may not be the world’s best example, but I love how distinct the tabs are for navigation. The unselected tabs are hard to see if not rolled over, but there is no question which tab you are on.

http://jepcoministorage.com/


This is a good reference link for beginning to design a website's navigation.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/web-design-navigation-showcases/

Bad Websites

http://psardo.com/site/custom-furniture/
http://www.85main.com/menus.php
http://www.taxidermyart.net/house.html

Concept Statement

 

.    Create a list of all users that may visit your site (not from the WWW but those you’d invite).

Friends

Family

Employers

.    What will each of those users want to see in order to enjoy their visit to your site?

Friends: the portfolio or body of work out of interest

Family: the portfolio or body of work out of personal interest

Employers: the portfolio or body of work for future employment interest

.    Name your intended audience (the person(s) you need to persuade.)

Future Employers

.    Describe what you need to inform and persuade them of:

                                    Promote my: body of work and capabilities as a designer

                                    Goals of the site are: to properly showcase my portfolio as well as presentation skills, convince and entice a possible future employer to be convinced of my fit with their company

                                    My ultimate message/philosophy (about who you are): visual communication

                                    What is the story you are telling? my love and commitment for design and the ability to produce good, working design

.    List the assets you need to persuade the user: Which 7  projects? 

Identity: Victor's Martinis

Ad Campaign: Duct Tape

Ad Campaign: Suicide PSA

Editorial Illustration: Doomsday Virus

Interactive PDF: BMW

Newsletter: Kimber

Book Cover: Dexter

.    What projects which do not exist yet will you want to show? 

 Annual Report: BMW

Event Promotion: Muse Laser Show 

.    What categories will you depict in your mockup? - even if you don’t have examples of them.

Identity

Print

Packaging

Illustration

Web

.    Write a 200 word concept statement based on the user, your persuasion, navigation and the assets.

Concept Statement:

The basic purpose of this website is to showcase and present my personal portfolio and body of work. I would invite many people to visit this site with different intentions in mind. The primary visitors would consist of friends, family, and potential employers. Of course for all three the reason for visiting would be to see the work, but the most important would be future employers in terms of getting a job and forming a career. The hope would be that the design and presentation of the website would entice a future employer to delve deeper and take serious consideration of my fit in their company or workplace. 

So in order to do this, my goals for the site include showing my best body of work that covers a range of techniques and media, a message about who I am, and my commitment to design. Hopefully my work will show versatility and creativity across mediums and styles as well as my unique personality traits. This will give a potential employer indication on who I am as a designer and of my technical abilities. Apart from presenting who I am, this site will become an archive of my work for reference and any other interest.