Interaction Design

I am pleased with how my website ended up. It is generally exactly how I planned it to look.

Blog Page

I did not run into too many problems as I was executing my site. I think this is due to my extensive planning before I began and having a little bit more experience than my first try. It looks just like my mock up so I would say it was a success.

Creating the style guide went very smoothly. I am happy with they way that it turned out.

Creating a detailed style guide as I build my site has really helped me to think about every little thing as I build the actual site. There is not much trial and error since I already have a plan so it has gone much faster and smoother than my first website.

The mock-up step of the web design process is still one of my favorites and one of the most rewarding.

Home Page

My ideas have changed a lot since my initial sketches and I like the result more. I decided to take a more elegant approach, rather than a fun and bubbly one.

Because this is my personal site I already have some idea of how I want to typography to look. I feel that typography is a huge indicator of a designers personal style so it is important that I choose the right typefaces to reflect that.

I would really like to couple a serif with a san serif typeface. I also want my site to have a semi-modern feel so I was thinking of using a geometric face like Memphis or Avenir for my headings. I like to keep my designs very simple and geometric so I feel that those typefaces would be a good choice.

After some exploration I decided on Memphis for my headings and then possibly Helvetica for my body copy to get the san-serif balance.

The main purpose of this website is to present examples of projects and work I have created so images are a crucial element. My images will ultimately decide whether employers or clients want anything to do with me.

Because this website is my portfolio I will obviously only use my own images to avoid confusion or accidently taking credit for someone else’s work. I need to carefully choose my best work to be displayed. It is also important to show work similar to the work I wish to do in the future.

Most of my images will be files of designed I have done saved for the web. I will also include photgraphs of printed work I have done. Most of these images will be featured on the portfolio page of my site.

Creating my grey box went very well. I used basic shapes and typography to build a computer sketch of what I want my site to look like.

Grey Box

Grey box is very helpful in determining whether the diminsions chosen in the wire frame actually look proportional and work, and it helps give more meaning to the lifeless boxes in a wireframe. I can now see better how I can improve the layout.

I was quite pleased with my grey box mock up. It still needs some work but hopefully I can refine the idea once I begin to think about typography and color.

I actually had a great experience sketching thumbnails for my personal site. I am happy with the way that they turned out and can’t wait to start designing my ideas on the computer.

I had already thought quite a bit about how I wanted my site to look prior to sketching so it was pretty easy to jump into it. The only downside to that is that there is not too much variety in my sketches. However, i was able to take an idea that I liked and make changes and refine it through out the process which was very helpful.

Sketches

My favorite sketches fit within the fold and had a very simple structure. I hope to have a horizontal navigation using organic looking tabs to give a humanist feel. My left sidebar will be my contact information which will never change to that the potential employers or clients don’t have to search around to find out how to reach me. I also hope to give variety within the content section to make it a more exciting experience. Like i said I can’t wait to see it implemented.

My site has a very basic structure. I want potential employers and clients to immediately see the information that they are searching for and be able to navigate quickly and effectively through the pages.

Wireframe

My site will feature a header, 2 columns, and a footer. It will also only have a few essential pages without the filler. It is my goal to create a very well designed site that presents who I am and what I can do in an effective way.

My site map is very simple. I invision my personal site having enough information to let clients and potential employers know who I am and what I can do, but I want it to be a brief and simple experience.

Sitemap

I hope to have a main page with general information, an about me page with more personal information, a portfolio page with a slide show of my work, and a resume page. I decided not to do a blog page or a page for writings because I just don’t do much of that and I am afraid it would be neglected.

I decided that my target audience would be potential employers and clients. I hope to appeal to both of these audiences because I would like to do free lance design when I am in between jobs. I feel that these two audiences require much of the same content and style so it should not be too difficult to accomplish this.

Graphic design is so much more than just making something look “pretty,” especially when dealing with the art of web design. The ultimate goal of a graphic designer is to combine the areas of communication, beauty and professionalism in a way that successfully appeals to the viewer. If just one of the essential elements of a well designed web page are missing, then the viewer will have a mediocre experience, and the client will suffer as a result. Good design is not something that happens casually or by accident. Good design is carefully studied and executed. A good designer is not born as one and does not transform into one over night. Graphic designers are trained in visual communication, beauty, and professionalism and are necessary contributors to the web design process.

The most important purpose of a website is to communicate valuable information to the viewer. The way that the graphic designer visually organizes this information is crucial to the speed and depth in which one receives it. The average person is bombarded with so much visual communication each day that they tend to lose interest very quickly. This is why it is so important for a website to be well organized. The viewer should never be forced to sort through information, because most of the time they will not, they will only move on to a better organized website. If a graphic designer is doing his or her job correctly, the viewer will be able to instantly look at a webpage and see exactly what it is they are searching for. This greatly increases the appeal of any website.

The viewer must also be able to quickly arrive at their desired destination. Usually only a fraction of the available information is contained on the first home page of a website. Therefore, the navigation is one of the most important features because it is the gateway to the rest of the information. A designer must make the navigation easily identifiable and easy to use or the viewer will quickly feel lost. One of the most frustrating experiences for the viewer is to be confused and feel like they don’t understand how a website works. If this is the case, they will feel like the website is “not for them” and move on. It is the designers responsibility to make sure that this does not happen by creating a clearly defined navigation. No matter how clearly the information is presented, if the viewer can not access it, it serves no real purpose.

Another important principle that a graphic designer is trained to implement into a website is the use of hierarchy. This enables the client to control the focus of the viewer by making the most important aspects stand out more than others. This can greatly help the client in achieving the main goal of the website without the viewer being distracted by the less important elements on the page. This adds to the effectiveness of the page and allows the client to control the viewers experience more fully. A graphic designer is able to do this in a tactful and subtle way that is not obnoxious or annoying to the viewer.

One obvious, but often neglected, principle of a successful website is legibility. You must be able to easily read the information on a website or no viewer will stick around for more than a few seconds. Many times background images and the choice of fonts and colors can make a website much too difficult to read. No viewer should have to sit forward and strain their eyes to be able to decipher the information on a website. A graphic designer is so important because they posses the knowledge and skills to choose the proper fonts, color combinations, and placement of images that make a page pleasing to the eye. These seemingly small choices can have a huge effect on the overall effectiveness of any website.

Another important aspect of web design is beauty. People are naturally attracted to beautiful things and repel that which they find unattractive. A viewer will remain on a well designed website much longer than they will endure looking at an unattractive one. I would even go as far as to say that people will generally avoid an unattractive website even if the information contained is exactly what they are looking for. It is that important to take into account the overall charm of a site. This is not an easy task that can be obtained by just anyone without formal training. Graphic designers not only have this training but take pride in transforming the mundane things of the world into something beautiful, and for good reason.

Beauty also has the ability to create a fond and lasting memory for the viewers. Just as a stunning sunset can remain in one’s mind for months or years to come, a website beautifully displayed can have the same effect. If people have had an above average experience on a website they will be much more likely to remember it and revisit. They may even go as far as to tell their friends, bookmark the site, or navigate it’s page just for pure pleasure. People find stability in that which they find comfortable and will regularly visit their favorite websites. It is a graphic designers job to give people the most comfortable experience possible and keep them coming. This can only be done through beautiful design.

All of the principles discussed thus far combine to create a professional atmosphere for viewers. Because anyone is able to publish a website on the internet, you must set yourself apart from the competition and present yourself as more professional. There is really no way to accredit yourself as a professional organization on the internet, except through good design, and the only way to achieve good design is through a good designer. The overall look of a website is a first impression of what it has to offer. Good design communicates that a website has been carefully crafted because it has valuable information to offer.