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James Dodson- Designer Manifesto
At the beginning of this class, I knew absolutely nothing about web design. Practically everyday, I see a plethora of different sites on a wide variety of subject matter, but I had never thought about what goes into the design. By taking this course and making “theDudeson’s Hole Sale,” I learned what makes for effective communication on the web.
There are so many things to think about when creating a website. In order make a well-designed site, I tried to think of what potential users would need to peruse through the items and words that I post. I made an external style sheet, which was linked to every page so that the site remained consistent in its entirety. The colors I chose were blue backgrounds for the headers with orange font. Those colors contrast and capture the eye without being too vibrant. The background color for the body is an off-white color. This color was not as boring as plain white but still allowed the elements on each page to be seen clearly.
Specifying the margins, borders, and padding was a difficult task for me when my site began to stray from two dimensions. Elements began overlapping and this provided some problems. But I did eventually find a margin for my text that looked attractive on the screen. White space is important in web design. It is easy to get in to the motions by writing large blocks of text without spacing words and paragraphs appropriately. Websites that are overtly text- and image-heavy are exhausting to read and usually do not get read. By creating a margin for the text, I was able to make my site more pleasing to the eye and easier to read and use.
The images were difficult to arrange on the pages. Often, I would add images but they would never be placed where I wanted them. This is something that I wish I would have spent more time on even though in class we did not focus too much time and energy on it. In the style sheet after the position property, there are several values that an image can have. I experimented as much as possible with the absolute and relative values until I found a position that I felt users would be comfortable with.
At times, I needed images aligned vertically, and at other times, I needed them aligned horizontally. It was much easier aligning them in the center vertically; horizontal alignment took much more time because the image would often skip down a line. Eventually, I did get the arrangement I desired.
After I posted the first set of images, the site would take a long time to load. Apparently, you cannot simply link the images to the site. I went to a photo editor and resized those pictures making them 300 pixels per inch and much smaller. This simple task made the images appear better on the page, and it cured the site’s long download time.
My menu provided my website with the ultimate usability that I needed to have a sophisticated, functioning site. It is a drop down menu created with javascript. The two headings in that menu that drop down to offer links to the other pages are:
1) Progress and;
2) Available Merchandise.
I added the progress section to my original idea. On the homepage, I gave background information on why the site exists. So, I decided to make a page that keeps users updated on progress made on the house. (My time has been occupied thus far, so no real progress has been made.) The “Available Merchandise” section is the bulk of what my original site was to be—an e-commerce website where I could post miscellaneous objects that I do not want around my house anymore but cannot throw away. I organized these pages as well as I could. Now, I just need to sort through my possessions and post those items.
Overall, I would say my site is designed well, thanks mainly to the drop-down menu. Now, what my users require is more content. Everything is placed where it should be, and the style sheet keeps everything consistent and pretty. I still need to fix up the progress pages, but my main concern is the merchandise. I plan on writing brief summaries and brief logs in the progress sections. By keeping my statements brief and by having a functioning menu and website in general, “theDudeson’s Hole Sale” should prove to be both persuasive and usable.
There are so many things to think about when creating a website. In order make a well-designed site, I tried to think of what potential users would need to peruse through the items and words that I post. I made an external style sheet, which was linked to every page so that the site remained consistent in its entirety. The colors I chose were blue backgrounds for the headers with orange font. Those colors contrast and capture the eye without being too vibrant. The background color for the body is an off-white color. This color was not as boring as plain white but still allowed the elements on each page to be seen clearly.
Specifying the margins, borders, and padding was a difficult task for me when my site began to stray from two dimensions. Elements began overlapping and this provided some problems. But I did eventually find a margin for my text that looked attractive on the screen. White space is important in web design. It is easy to get in to the motions by writing large blocks of text without spacing words and paragraphs appropriately. Websites that are overtly text- and image-heavy are exhausting to read and usually do not get read. By creating a margin for the text, I was able to make my site more pleasing to the eye and easier to read and use.
The images were difficult to arrange on the pages. Often, I would add images but they would never be placed where I wanted them. This is something that I wish I would have spent more time on even though in class we did not focus too much time and energy on it. In the style sheet after the position property, there are several values that an image can have. I experimented as much as possible with the absolute and relative values until I found a position that I felt users would be comfortable with.
At times, I needed images aligned vertically, and at other times, I needed them aligned horizontally. It was much easier aligning them in the center vertically; horizontal alignment took much more time because the image would often skip down a line. Eventually, I did get the arrangement I desired.
After I posted the first set of images, the site would take a long time to load. Apparently, you cannot simply link the images to the site. I went to a photo editor and resized those pictures making them 300 pixels per inch and much smaller. This simple task made the images appear better on the page, and it cured the site’s long download time.
My menu provided my website with the ultimate usability that I needed to have a sophisticated, functioning site. It is a drop down menu created with javascript. The two headings in that menu that drop down to offer links to the other pages are:
1) Progress and;
2) Available Merchandise.
I added the progress section to my original idea. On the homepage, I gave background information on why the site exists. So, I decided to make a page that keeps users updated on progress made on the house. (My time has been occupied thus far, so no real progress has been made.) The “Available Merchandise” section is the bulk of what my original site was to be—an e-commerce website where I could post miscellaneous objects that I do not want around my house anymore but cannot throw away. I organized these pages as well as I could. Now, I just need to sort through my possessions and post those items.
Overall, I would say my site is designed well, thanks mainly to the drop-down menu. Now, what my users require is more content. Everything is placed where it should be, and the style sheet keeps everything consistent and pretty. I still need to fix up the progress pages, but my main concern is the merchandise. I plan on writing brief summaries and brief logs in the progress sections. By keeping my statements brief and by having a functioning menu and website in general, “theDudeson’s Hole Sale” should prove to be both persuasive and usable.
jhcollier3 |
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, Jul 6 2009, 10:56 AM EDT
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