Final Website Pages

The final landing page consists of a yellow background resembling my physical branded elements. The landing page is simple with my logo placed at a large scale in the centre of the page. 'ENTER SITE' is written boldly beneath the logo making it clear to users to click this link to direct themselves to my homepage. After completing my homepage I wasn't so keen on this landing page. When I get round to coding my real website, I may consider removing the landing page and replacing it with my actual homepage (shown further below)

The homepage is the most minimal of the range of pages. The logo is placed to in the top left, parallel to the links to the other pages: About, Work, Features and Contact. There is a scrolling image alternating between three images. These images are examples of my best work, starting with my most recently completed ppp self-promotional branding project. There is also a minimal scroll down indicator at the bottom of the page. The working website would ideally scroll down into the different pages as another form of navigation.

The final Portfolio and and contact pages took a slightly different direction in terms of layout. The logo and page links remained in the top left and right corners. The key differences on these pages (and the features page) is the extra-lage page headings. This idea was mainly inspired by the designspiration.net search bar. I really like the use of large type as its something different and gives the user a different browsing experience. To the left of the portfolio page there are a new list of links into specific design areas. This allows users to view specific areas of interest and filter the work/projects as opposed to looking at the body of work as a whole. Again, this is just to add to the user experience as a alternate method of navigation. The portfolio page mainly functioned as a scrapbook at this point of browsing - the final website would have a duotone rollover effect over the images, linking to more information about each individual project along with more images.

During research into existing art and design websites, I found it difficult to source contact information at times. This is an aspect which I felt was particularly important so I wanted to ensure my location and contact details as well as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest were clearly presented. This page followed the same template as the Portfolio page, only focusing more on written content as opposed to predominantly image-led content.

I was pleased with my website pages, although I think they could definitely be improved by a long way. When I finally begin to code my own website, I will need to think a lot more carefully about a fixed grid layout to ensure the best template to display my work. After seeing the pages as a collection, I definitely prefer the aesthetic of the home page. The minimal approach is something I have become more fond of. I like the inclusion of large text as it is something different but I will have to properly consider if this is beneficial or just distracting and overcrowding. 

I am really looking forward to making this website into a fully-fuctioning basis of work. It is something I have been wanting to do for a while now as I feel it will be the best way to showcase my work - if I do it effectively! I want to challenge myself to code the whole thing myself as it will be a great way to learn more about Dreamweaver and the different possibilities when designing a website. Web design is definitely not one of my strong points so I am aware it might take a while to get the site to a point where  I am satisfied but its a challenge I want to overcome. Ideally I hope to have a working website by the end of Summer 2014.