DESIGNING FOR WEB//WEB DESIGN WORKSHOP//OUGD504

WEB DESIGN STUDIO SESSION:
In todays session we were asked to discuss the purpose of a website:
Whats the aim of the site?

• to inform
• to promote
• to persuade 
• entertain

The target audience is never going to be everybody.  There are three main factors when looking for a good website design and these are:

• FUNCTIONALITY - whether it works? does it work at all?
• USABILITY - does it work well?
• AESTHETICS - is it aesthetically pleasing?

All websites are content driven.

TASK ONE:

List the information/content you think that you should incorporate on your site as a graphic designer.  List pages, list content in those pages.

HOMEPAGE:Must have good first impression on Homepage.
Landing page: Ask yourself whats the purpose of it? redundancy is bad design - must have purpose.  Is there a good reason for a landing page?  Most of the time your just putting a barrier between the information and the user.

• ABOUT ME: Name, where I'm from, specialisms in design, BIO, age, where I have studied, what interests I have, also in terms of graphic design/inspirations etc, credentials - link to download CV?
• CONTACT: My contact details, email address, location etc.
• WORK/PORTFOLIO: A selection of previous work/ current projects I am working on etc.  Personal and professional work.

Would you categorise work?

Negative impact if you don't have a big body of work, could make it look like there isn't much to your portfolio if you spread it over categories, especially if work falls into more than one category.  In terms of contact information you could have email address, telephone number and location on the footer of every page on your website.  More contact details, more accessible, people like a location, a psychical place where you can be found.  Sometimes good to have a link to your blog to show current projects and professional development.  On home page a logo and a sample of work or a photograph of design studio/current location.  Or on your about page - about what your doing right now.

BE SELECTIVE WITH CONTENT!

Freelancer - a lot more freedom then someone trying to appeal to a company/small business, freelance, more personal, an individual.  When not a freelancer its more based on intents and what you want to do to appeal in a more of a professional manner.

A collective list of pages from the group:

• Homepage
• Contact 
• Blog
• Portfolio 
• About- CV
• FAQ
• Quotes
• Clients - testimonial 
• Shop