Filed under: Design and Digital Media
When we started our interface design class I didn’t believe the lecture about the creative process.
As we began our new project designing a website I learnt I couldn’t be more wrong. I used the traditional creative process and designed according to our knowledge on print design.
Not only is interface design a different process, it’s a different audience and different means of viewing. When designing print you design for aesthetics and hand held pieces. When designing a website you design for aesthetics, functionality and interaction. Not only does the website have to look nice, it has to function as a website – have the buttons look like buttons, directions of the page obvious, and the navigation of the page obvious. – and it has to interact with the user.
To create a website that looks professional, have it interact with the user and function as a website is a lot harder than I assumed it would be. You may design a page with buttons, but how those buttons look to the user is the main objective. From saying that, the buttons can’t look like text, they have to look “clickable” and functional. The layout has to work with top left navigation, and the website also have to work with all screen sizes.
The process to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing website was unique.
My issues with the buttons ran deep. I started out by creating a website idea based on my print design process knowledge. I began laying the page out and started with right hand navigation – I didn’t think about how the page is set on the left and the right side may be lost. After realizing my vital error, I worked with left hand navigation. The navigation on the left looked more like text than buttons. It took me many designs to figure out a decent location for the buttons. I finally decided on a horizontal navigation bar along the top. The secondary buttons are located underneath that bar, and the tertiary information (Contact Us, and address) are on the bottom of the page.
After the presentation on website design process, I used this video to help me figure out the final design.
I have learnt that the creative process for web design is a lot more demanding then the creative process for a print design.
I found the website for CritBuns rather intriguing. Not only is it an aesthetically pleasing design, the buttons are obvious and functionality is good. The only issue I have with that website is that when you click on a button, the only way to tell which button you are on is by a small underline. Since the type on the buttons is small, there should be a more obvious difference between the unclicked button, and the current location button.
Virb also has a very interesting website. It uses very obvious buttons, is aesthetically pleasing and is easy to navigate. While using an obvious large logo on the top of the page to say where you are (see this page for an example). The functionality is easy to understand and it interacts great with users (with drop down menus).
Third week, third Design is picture…
This week, “Design is Typography”.
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