Website Redesign Tips 3:22 PM

Whether we are working on client or our own site, we are designing something that needs to meet someone else’s goals and below are the tips i have employed to get my projects done.

• Start with a question: what problem are we trying to solve?
• Understanding the problem you are solving begins with research. Research uncovers achievable goals.Being tired of a site is not necessarily a great reason to redesign.
  
• Research makes you a credible partner with stakeholders. Shows you care about business considerations.Build the relationship before you show the design. This sets up collaboration between you and your client instead of a service-based relationship.
• Redesign objectives need to be an integration of user needs & business goals. First part of learning what people need is getting out and talking to them. Research helps you manage changing requirements. Can always return to the real things people really need. Provides you with bulletproof reasons to keep project on track.
• Have a content strategy: know what the actual content on your site will be before you finalize your design. Remind people where you are in the process before you present designs. Outline previous decisions, status, etc.
• Learn to translate: sometimes people say one thing but mean another. Try to look for the actual meaning of people’s comments. Convey the meaning of design so you don’t have to get into arguing the details. Use design to communicate the direction of the project: who is it for and how does the design reflect that?
• Dealing with feedback. When you receive feedback reference the research. Communicate the “why” behind the design. Bring the discussion back to the strategy level and away from the pixel level. Sell ideas not pixels.
• When looking for inspiration, check out what your peers are doing, where you have been, and more.
• Design from the content out and ensure function is part of the design.

RightsPro adds support to Stockphotorights.com 12:18 PM

RightsPro adds support to Stockphotorights.com

Where Visual Design Meets Usability 11:58 AM

Here is an interesting interview between UIE’s Joshua Porter and Luke Wroblewski. I was impressed by Luke’s clarity in describing how visual design can improve a site’s usability.

Read the interview here: Where Visual Design Meets Usability

Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines 5:47 PM

'If you write for a site or a magazine, it is the content and the title that meets the visitor’s eye before they read in detail. The headline gives the reader a prior idea of what the site is all about. A bold headline or a title with a captivating font is the first step to win the whole battle. They grow the reader’s interest to stay on the page, instead of giving it a look and move for another interesting one. Here is some information on eye catching and bold fonts to galvanize the sites look and invite more readers.
An article worth reading at: Best Fonts for Titles and Headlines

Color theory in web design 3:11 AM

There seems to be quite a few people who are launching new sites and businesses and from what i can see, color seems to be a huge problem.
I got this article and thought it will remind us of the color theory

Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color

22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability 2:57 AM

Interesting article i thought will be useful to you.

22 Essential Tools for Testing Your Website’s Usability

Have a pleasant reading

Book & Magazine Fonts 6:11 AM

A good variety of choices of headlines and text fonts are necessary for book and magazine design. In classical book and magazine publishing, serif fonts have most often been chosen for text, as these have historically been seen as the most legible in longer passages. On the other hand, Modern literature is commonly set with sans serif fonts, because of their associations with 20th Century Modernism. Additionally, Headlines and experimental design allow for more creative styles of fonts, as they are often used in larger sizes. Magazines and newspapers often combine serif and sans serif fonts on one page, i.e., serif fonts for body text, sans serif for headlines or captions.

Please visit this link to read more

http://www.linotype.com/2227/bookmagazinefonts.html