Friday, January 27, 2012
Is it always a good thing that anyone with a computer can create a website?
It is not always a good thing that anyone with a computer can design a web site. Anyone can design a website. This is true. However without being properly educated about aspects of design or having enough experience, the website might look more like a two year old just colored on the wall. Designing sites for practice/experience is one thing, but if you are designing for someone else, that person probably would prefer for you to be more professional, so that the site functions properly. On the other hand, there are some people who learn well enough as they go to be able to pick up the nuances of design quickly without encountering too many run-ins with bad design. Either way, trying to find a site designer that would fit your expectations and budget can be an arduous task.
Advantages/Disadvantages of creating your own website.
Advantages:
Low cost
You can work on it any time you want
It's your vision
You can put as much time into it as you want
You can make changes to it any time
Disadvantages:
Higher cost
Site work is done on their time, not yours
If you don't like how it looks, you will have to pay more to have it fixed or do it yourself
Making changes could cost you more money
Their vision of your site
Low cost
You can work on it any time you want
It's your vision
You can put as much time into it as you want
You can make changes to it any time
Disadvantages:
Higher cost
Site work is done on their time, not yours
If you don't like how it looks, you will have to pay more to have it fixed or do it yourself
Making changes could cost you more money
Their vision of your site
Monday, January 23, 2012
Being more critical
I already have been critical of the information they contain, but now I have other things to evaluate. I already will be critical of my website project because that's the way I am normally, but now I will have other things to make sure I stay in line with along with the content. It will help me shape my site projects and hopefully they will come out better than what they would before taking this class.
Evaluate 2 Websites
Woot!
Purpose: Advertising site
Visual Appeal: Web safe colors. White and green backgrounds with black/white text and additional colors for the image links to other products.
Navigation: Easy clickable links across the top with duplicated links on the bottom of the site. The top half displays the current product with a noticeable clickable button to buy right below the item description. Small display from the forums is listed next to the product.
Loading time: Very fast load time, less than a second.
The site is consolidated in the middle of the screen so the majority of screen resolutions will be able to view the content.
WRFY-FM
Purpose: News and entertainment site
Visual Appeal: Colors make you blind. Red, yellow, and orange on the side bars contrasts with the whole page. The solid red header bars seem to blend together.
Navigation: Seems a little confusing. Across the top is a quick look to who is on air and some news. The bulk of the information is below the big header bar which requires scrolling.
Loading time: Fast, but could be better.
The site is consolidated in the middle but there is a lot going on that probably could be cleaned up a little.
Purpose: Advertising site
Visual Appeal: Web safe colors. White and green backgrounds with black/white text and additional colors for the image links to other products.
Navigation: Easy clickable links across the top with duplicated links on the bottom of the site. The top half displays the current product with a noticeable clickable button to buy right below the item description. Small display from the forums is listed next to the product.
Loading time: Very fast load time, less than a second.
The site is consolidated in the middle of the screen so the majority of screen resolutions will be able to view the content.
WRFY-FM
Purpose: News and entertainment site
Visual Appeal: Colors make you blind. Red, yellow, and orange on the side bars contrasts with the whole page. The solid red header bars seem to blend together.
Navigation: Seems a little confusing. Across the top is a quick look to who is on air and some news. The bulk of the information is below the big header bar which requires scrolling.
Loading time: Fast, but could be better.
The site is consolidated in the middle but there is a lot going on that probably could be cleaned up a little.
Page 154 Quiz
Website B presents a better visual impression because it is a cleaner layout. There is a navigation menu down the left side and corresponding links across the bottom. Website A seems a little all over the place with huge buttons down the middle of the page that a user would have to scroll to see the rest. There is also a broken image link on the bottom left.
Problem with A: Navigation buttons down the middle
Solution with B: Navigation menu on left side
Problem with A: Big clickable buttons
Solution with B: Smaller clickable buttons consolidated on left side menu
Problem with A: Lacks site intention
Solution with B: Site description in paragraph form below site logo
Problem with A: Broken image link
Solution with B: All images shown, no broken links
Problem with A: Hard to read
Solution with B: Very easy to read because the text is formatted and structured.
Problem with A: Navigation buttons down the middle
Solution with B: Navigation menu on left side
Problem with A: Big clickable buttons
Solution with B: Smaller clickable buttons consolidated on left side menu
Problem with A: Lacks site intention
Solution with B: Site description in paragraph form below site logo
Problem with A: Broken image link
Solution with B: All images shown, no broken links
Problem with A: Hard to read
Solution with B: Very easy to read because the text is formatted and structured.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Additional Comments #2
I enjoyed reading about color. I know of a several people that use CMYK color model and I have heard horror stories of the printers not lining up the colors correctly thus creating a shifted image. I have seen this in the Reading Eagle over the years, particularly with photos.
Reading about CSS has me a little excited to be getting to some actual site building.
Here is a little bit of information on color that might perplex some people:
"The color of the objects that we see are largely due to the way those objects interact with light and ultimately reflect or transmit it to our eyes. The color of an object is not actually within the object itself. Rather, the color is in the light that shines upon it and is ultimately reflected or transmitted to our eyes. We know that the visible light spectrum consists of a range of frequencies, each of which corresponds to a specific color. When visible light strikes an object and a specific frequency becomes absorbed, that frequency of light will never make it to our eyes. Any visible light that strikes the object and becomes reflected or transmitted to our eyes will contribute to the color appearance of that object. So the color is not in the object itself, but in the light that strikes the object and ultimately reaches our eye."
This is taken from Light, Absorption, Reflection and Transmission.
In essence, objects only reflect the color it does not absorb. A red apple is not actually red. It absorbs every color but red, and that color red is reflected off of it to our eyes.
Another way to understand it is if you think of it this way: If you hold a black piece of paper in front of a mirror, what color is the mirror? It's not black. The mirror is only reflecting the black and is itself not black in color.
Reading about CSS has me a little excited to be getting to some actual site building.
Here is a little bit of information on color that might perplex some people:
"The color of the objects that we see are largely due to the way those objects interact with light and ultimately reflect or transmit it to our eyes. The color of an object is not actually within the object itself. Rather, the color is in the light that shines upon it and is ultimately reflected or transmitted to our eyes. We know that the visible light spectrum consists of a range of frequencies, each of which corresponds to a specific color. When visible light strikes an object and a specific frequency becomes absorbed, that frequency of light will never make it to our eyes. Any visible light that strikes the object and becomes reflected or transmitted to our eyes will contribute to the color appearance of that object. So the color is not in the object itself, but in the light that strikes the object and ultimately reaches our eye."
This is taken from Light, Absorption, Reflection and Transmission.
In essence, objects only reflect the color it does not absorb. A red apple is not actually red. It absorbs every color but red, and that color red is reflected off of it to our eyes.
Another way to understand it is if you think of it this way: If you hold a black piece of paper in front of a mirror, what color is the mirror? It's not black. The mirror is only reflecting the black and is itself not black in color.
Readability vs Legibility
Legibility is how easy it is to determine all the letters in a given context such as banners, headers and other shorter lines of text.
Readability is how easy it is to read larger blocks of text and still be able to comprehend it.
Typography plays a big roll in this because depending on the readability and/or legibility of your web site determines how long visitors stay and peruse it. For more informative sites that provide a lot text, you would want readability to be the #1 priority when determining the typography. For more of a ecommerce site, you might want the item descriptions to be more readable and the item captions to be more legible.
Readability is how easy it is to read larger blocks of text and still be able to comprehend it.
Typography plays a big roll in this because depending on the readability and/or legibility of your web site determines how long visitors stay and peruse it. For more informative sites that provide a lot text, you would want readability to be the #1 priority when determining the typography. For more of a ecommerce site, you might want the item descriptions to be more readable and the item captions to be more legible.
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