40 Min Of Uninterrupted Reading
My reading consisted of chapter 4 in Paul Boag’s Book “Website Owner’s Manuel.” I am currently in the process of developing a website of my own at this moment called myvirus.org. Still in the works, but I plan on it being a interactive publication of the crazy and wacky things that happen in our world.
The book is a great read. Currently in chapter 4 we are going over subjective design, the fight for home-page real estate, corporate branding, and the challenges of layout.
In subjective Design we discuss how to focus on your target audience. To learn what designs are best fit, it is best to go through design testing. We all need some kind of feedback and the best way is to engage with a user is one-on-0ne. This eliminates being influenced by less-confident members in large group settings. (Boag, p.67)
When it comes to designing the home page, it is important to understand what the role is of this page. The biggest mistake most designers run into is designing the home page first. “A home page should reflect the content of a site at the highest level and signpost key content deeper in the site.”(Boag, p.73) Once you understand what content should be posted, it will be easier for you to design the home page.
When it comes to personal branding there are some points you need to be aware of. Some things to be aware of is creating a personality for your brand, going from print to the web, logo design, corporate fonts, and the color. These will all play a big fact in the identity of your site.
The last topic of discussion is the challenges of layout. You must be aware of the impact of resolution on your site. Other points you need to be aware of is understanding the fold of your page and constraining page width. Once you master these ideas you will be able to position important content to your users without wasting much space.
I have briefly gone over a few points just to give you an idea what goes into the thought of web design. Of course the book will go further into detail, but it was nice to briefly go through the chapter again. I can’t wait for my site to be up and running.
