Website 1st Draft
After consulting with the group about my designs we decided that we would use Design #1. After this decision was made I began the creative process to develop the layout of the homepage of the website.
Approaching the Design
When approaching the final design of the website a few things that I will have to consider will be:
What typography should be used?
I will use a similar typography to ROTOR’s current branding to help keep their identity re-occuring.
What Colour Theme should be used?
Again I will use similar colours to ROTOR’s current branding however, I will take into consideration using colours that are contrasting for users with poor vision.
Do we need a mobile website?
Yes I do believe we need a mobile website however, it is dependant on the amount of time we have if we can make this.
Usability
Although I want the website to be aesthetically please I will still need to be user friendly below is a list of considerations I will be taking during its development.
Navigation Flow:
The structure of the site will have to be clear and intuitive so that users can easily navigate between pages.
Content Hierarchy:
This is to guide the users through the websites content in the order that best serves our interests.
Readability:
Is the website easy to read for all.
Reflection on First Draft of Website
After creating the homepage for the website a few things change after testing the websites navigation flow. At first we was going to use a menu bar to navigate the whole website however, I found having all the relevant information on the homepage this was not needed.
Whilst adding the feature image to the website I also tried a slideshow to see the difference on first impression. I found the automatic slideshow kept my interest compared to the still image, so I decided to keep this feature as it added to the aesthetic but didn’t affect usability.
I also decided to relocate the social media icons to the footer of the page as I found they cluttered the feature image.
One of the main problems I faced was adding events to the webpage the plugin that WIX provide didn’t have a slideshow feature, which the group decided was essential. After trailing different plugin’s I found that the blog feature had the capability to do this, however I had to use the Category function to do this. I also decided to remove the images from the events as I found they were not needed.
For the about section I slightly changed the right side around I found by showing the exhibitions partners further up then the footer it split the page up. However after creating this section I have decided to change the colour of the body text as it can sometimes be hard to read as it is not that contrasting.
I also tried adding a Google Maps plugin to the section however I found it cluttered the page and a simple address and contact information was enough.
The Artists section worked out exactly as planned however, I aligned the title to the right hand side of the section as it looked more attractive. The also simplified the footer by just having a button to the “Archive” and social icons.
Evaluation
Overall I am happy with the design it follows the content hierarchy I was aiming for, which I think it will make it easier for visitors to use and find what they want efficiently. However, a few problems I noticed after completing the first design that I would like to fix are:
To find a more similar typography to ROTOR’s current branding.
Use more blue colours similar to ROTOR’s branding without affecting the aesthetics.
Change the about section to be read more easily.
Over the coming week my aims are to:
Fix the problems with the website noted.
Create the rest of the framework of the website.