Website Final

Final Design

Week 3 Reading

Chapter 6 of, Don't Make Me Think, is all about designing for navigational purposes. This chapter compares navigating a department store with navigating a website. Proper headings and subheadings make all the difference when trying to find exactly what you're looking for. By using hierarchy on a website, it will allow users to click on what is most important to help them guide through the site. The author uses "site mapping" as a tool to visually show how complex the navigation process can be. Three of the biggest differences between navigating the real world versus navigating the web are that on the web you have no sense of scale, direction, or location on the web, thus, making it more difficult. There are many aspects to web designing which need to be considered when creating a seamless navigation process. If the user can maneuver their way around your site, then don't expect them to come back!

Links:

Navigating a Website

Webpage Mistakes

Website Navigation

Week 3 Preliminary Critique

Prelim Design

Week 2 Read and Respond

Chapter three of, "Don't Make Me Think", talks about designing pages for 'scanning' rather than 'reading'. Basically everyone who goes onto a website scans the page quickly until they find the information that pertains to them personally. In order to make sure they are clicking the right information, there needs to be a clear visual hierarchy on the page. Pages need to be broken down so that they are simple and clear and highlight the most important information first. 

Chapter four discusses why we as users like to make 'mindless choices' when clicking around on a page. Basically, keep things as clear and as simple as possible so that the navigator doesn't get confused and leave out any unnecessary parts.

Chapter five goes further into the last statement and discusses leaving out needless words. Keep things concise and to the point. Don't add any "fluff" or "happy talk" to your website. It just takes up space and isn't needed.

Three Links: 

How Users Read on the Web 

How People Scan 

Website Conversions

Concept Statement

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

Fellow graphic designers, future employers, creative people of all types.

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

They would want to see designs I have worked on, graphics and designs that grab their attention and make them want to browse further into my portfolio.

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

Future employers, anyone that will give me a job :)

Describe what you need to inform and persuade them of:

Promote my: That I am a talented and unique graphic designer who does and will continue to do high quality work. 

Goals of the site are: To display my personality as well as display my talents.

My ultimate message/philosophy (about who you are): I am an upbeat, bold, and unique designer working in Seattle.

What is the story you are telling? "I am a graphic designer and you should hire me because..."

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

List the assets you need to persuade the user: Which 7  projects? Identities, packaging, illustrations, freelance, print, website designs, etc.

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

What categories will you depict in your mockup? Illustrations, Branding, Print

Concept Statement:

Jilley Waits is a graphic designer who creates imagery and designs for the world of graphic arts. Waits is currently a student at the Art Institute of Seattle and is studying to obtain a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. The purpose of this website is to promote her work as well as seek out job opportunities in her field. By creating a well designed and easily navigable website, Jilley will be able to showcase her portfolio in a clean and sophisticated manner. This website will provide those who visit it a glimpse into her portfolio, as well as contact and resume information. 

Week 1 Read & Response

Chapter one summarizes the main point of this entire book. If you want your website to be effective, there is ONE rule you must follow: "Don't make me think". Web pages should speak for themselves and it should be evident how to guide yourself through a site without any confusion. The different parts of your website should be marked clearly and should only take the user a few clicks to find each page they are looking for. Basically, break the parts of the website down into their simplest form and throw out any unnecessary components.

Chapter two describes the way we actually use the web as a viewer and consumer. We never fully read things, we scan them and stop at the parts that jump out at us. When looking at a website, we scan them until we see the information that pertains to our needs. In some cases, we don't even choose the correct option, we just pick the one that we see first. This chapter concludes with describing how we as a society never take the time to actually figure out how things work, rather we "self teach" ourselves and figure out our own way of making things work.

Hotlinks: 

Shawn Bishop Portfolio 

Taufiq Ridha Porfolio 

Ryan Scherf Portfolio 

Website Thumbnails

So, basically I want to have really high contrasted black and white photos of myself on the website. I will be interacting with the viewers on the site and guiding them through my portfolio and contact information. The photos will be edited to look more like rough sketches and will mash up well with my typeface and color choices for the website.

Website MoodBoard

Adobe Experience

I have been using the Adobe Suite for about four years now. I consider myself to be pretty good in Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. I have only been using InDesign for about a year now.