I’d just like to be clear right here first, there is NO ‘perfect’ design for any website or weblog. If there was such a thing, many clients wouldn’t actually need to revamp their websites anymore.
With that cleared out from the atmosphere allow me to express gratitude to whoever that have been reading my blog. I understand there are the read and too shy to comment readers, the ones who use feeders, and the highly appreciated visitors who’ve dropped in and commented on my articles. I thank you for visiting me from time to time.
I’d also like to explain that designs are a subjective matter, therefore what I say here might be based on my own personal opinions. But I still hope a thing or two might be learnt later.
Our weblog isn’t just a space we use to post our articles. It’s our home that we’d like provide a comforting experience for our visitors. Our house tells a bit and a lot of the owner as well. If I had a lot of movie posters hanging around, it could mean I’m a movie fan or a person who’s got a keen hobby in film making.
Your weblog design is a portrayal of your self identity or the identity you’d like others to recognize you. As much as we don’t mind living in a home without renovation done, we’d still add in certain elements to make it homely to us.
If the front of my house was over cluttered with boxes, not only is it fear of boxes dropping that scares your guests but because there’s so many, you don’t know which to concentrate on that might tumble down on you. Same goes for a layout and it’s content.
When visitors come over to your website, there’s your chance to either greet them with very warm hands by offering them useful features like text size controls or the chance to usher them in by introducing yourself or the weblog you own. New visitors to your home would love a tour unless it’s so broken down like the house of Count Olaf.
As your guests are being shown around, you can be sure they’d be curious at least by one item around. It’s the same when surfing a website, itchy fingers on the mouse are clicking away on certain items. Like if I placed a cat on my website and it suddenly moved, won’t that urge you to play with it?
What good are banners if they can’t convey the message? When someone dear arrives home from a long trip, you try and greet them with a welcome better with a meaningful message. If it was someone’s birthday, there’d be a cake picture on the banner. Banners need to be made right for the occasion or in this case, the identity you wish to give people.
The buttons on your website are like the switches in your home. You’ve been taught that when it’s up, it’s switched off and likewise. Placing a switch on your website, you have few seconds to tell a visitor how to differentiate the on and off switch. If you want people to click on a button, you either give it a very strong color or place a weird piece of text there. Normally, we can’t help but to click on buttons that actually go against our belief, the “Do Not Press”.
If you’ve got bad graffiti on your house wall outside, it’s not because it’s ugly that’s why you noticed it. It’s because of the color used on the wall. If I took black spray paint wrote on your white wall, you’d definetely noticed it. If I sprayed a bright pink text on your solid ocean blue wall, you’d find it very hideous and be standing there a few minutes trying to make out that I just wrote, “Choose the right colors.”
Why do people paint rooms in different colors? Some want to define its purpose or project a different experience. You paint your daughters room light pink because it feels sweet. As much as it goes the same in defining sections in your website, too much color also creates confusion. The method I use to differentiate is by importance.
Like a domain name, it’s important to know your house number or in this case, your website’s name. The name given to a website doesn’t have to be over complex unless you wish to express your own complexity. I’ve grown fond of simple websites and methods of making them simple yet being able to work efficiently.
And that concludes the third episode of my Path of The Problogger series. The other episides were about:
The Count Olaf reminded me of A Series Of Unfortunate Events… what a movie!