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...making learning fun again!Tom's Web Design Notes
One: A marketer/designer's motto: Know thy target market!
- You have to know who you are designing your website for!Two: Get a pad of paper out and start letting the ideas flow.
- It has to start somewhere, so let's get the ball rolling.Three: Create a "Flow Chart" of your website. This is the "floor plan" of your online site.
- Think of a store layout.Four: Sort them into logical order, and presto - blueprint of the website!
- Biggest mistake is not ease of navigation - too many distractions (toys) leads to confusion.Five: Tear it apart and rebuild it. Usually it will take about three redo's before it looks and works great! Anyone can build a site in one day; but then it looks like a one day site... oh also, would help to know HTML. Here's my manual.
Six: Oh, know HTML like the back of your hand. Nice software programs like Expression Web/FrontPage, or Dreamweaver can't make sites totally.
Seven: Get another pair of eyes. A second opinion goes a long way.
Seven tips for a great web site:
...you wanna design what?
1. Keep it simple.
The power of good design is in its simplicity. Define the essence. Know your target market.2. Don't be seduced by form versus content.
The designer concerned with content is more likely to make a meaningful contribution than the designer who is primarily concerned with form.3. Clearly identify the reason for the website.
You are the answer to my problem that needs solving, and you are not just simply icing the cake. Offer me a tangible benefit.4. Consideration is transmission speed.
If it takes too long to download, go back to the drawing board, else you might lose a client.5. Learn to communicate and work with others in key Web positions: engineering, production, editorial, commercial, and artistically. It takes more than one person to make a site; peer reviews are worth their weight in gold.
6. Remember it always takes twice as long as you think it's going to.
It takes more than being an artist to make a website good, clean and functional.
7. Finally:
Make it good - it's gotta look like someone spent time on it!- Make it simple - it's gotta be easy to move around and understand!
- Make it relevant - it's gotta be fresh and up to date!
- Make it involving - it's gotta have interaction with the reader (i.e.: contests)
- Make it believable - it's gotta be real... no "promise the moon" sales pitch!
Some great articles:
- Top Twenty Mistakes
- Top Ten Good Deeds
- Chat Abbreviations (IMHO, brb)
- Internet Definitions
- Basic HTML codes
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