The Purpose
The purpose of this project was to build upon my previous website design skill. I enjoy doing the layout design work and knew some of the basics of website design. But I was still very much a beginner and the previous website I had worked on showed that. I wanted to build on those skills and be able to make a functional website that conveyed the message it needed to.
The Project
The project I decided on was to create a website for the business Adapt Adventures. This included coming up with a color scheme, and creating a gallery page for the many photos the business has. They wanted to start out with a landing page with some basic information, mainly to eliminate the amount of emails the company needs to send out, making their use of time more efficient. But leave room for them to add more content as needed.
Challenges
My biggest challenges was editing. I didn’t have as much figured out in the planning stage as I should have. I had some basics and a place to start, but after working on this project I realized how far a bit more planning will get you. I was eager to start this project and didn’t want to figure out all the details before I started. And while I learned a lot through the amount of editing I ended up needing to do, adding more planning and drafting at the beginning would have made my time more productive.
One part that I was editing a lot was font and color scheme. As any designer knows those are the basics and set the tone for the entire design. It was harder to change font and color scheme after the webpage had been laid out than it would have been if I had started with it.
The Process
The process started with meeting with Adapt Adventures and figuring out what they had in mind for their website, what kind of information they wanted, prupose, feel and message. After that meeting I did some sketching and tying it together into a design happy page. I started creating the layout while waiting for the content that would end up on the site.
The next few weeks were a mix between adding more layout details and pages, and then adding the content when it came to my inbox. Then the last couple weeks of the project I did a lot of modifying and moving things around to make it more cohesive throughout the site.
Experiences
In the past I had used WordPress and had a lot of experience with it. For this project I wanted to try a different platform to see how it compared. That one small decision made a huge difference in this project and my experiences. There was a bit of a learning curve, but the design process felt more intuitive and the platform easier to navigate. Sometimes we hold back from doing something different because it is the way we have always done it, or its is what is comfortable and familiar to us. However, when we step out of that comfort and try something new, it may surprise up how much better things can be.
Insights
Advantages to trying new things. Stepping out of comfort zone. Importance of planning. Would have been more effective and efficient if I had do more planning before the design process, gathered all content before I started designing. Instead of along the way. Would have also solidified text type and color palette before starting building the physical web page.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.” This is something I experienced first hand throughout this project. Through trying new things I was able to figure out what worked and what didn’t. While the learning process doesn’t seem effective or efficient, in the end your ability is increased and later you are more then you were at the start. When I make my next website I will be able to do some things more effectively because I have more tools and abilities under my belt.