WEB DESIGNER IDEA——Designers Talk About Web Design Thinking

Author: Liang Jinghong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-12
Features:
This is a theoretical toolbook on website visual design. It helps you organize and summarize all aspects of website visual design.
This is a professional book that focuses on the relationship between construction intentions and formal design, helping you explore the extension of creative thinking from the root.
This is a practical case study that summarizes general conclusions and special cases, helping you quickly master the key points of creation through the combination of theory and practice.
This book is suitable not only for web designers, advertising professionals, and instructors related to web design courses, but also for beginners and web design enthusiasts who want to learn website design.
It is a book on web visual design rooted in "purpose, information, design, and creativity," discussing topics from planning to editing to design, thereby addressing the question of "what kind of site do we want to build and how to complete it."
The book is divided into four parts: Website Construction Purpose, Website Information Content, Page Formal Design, and Web Creative Ideas.
The "Purpose" section focuses on the purpose of building a website, guiding designers to explore how to grasp the primary issues from the perspective of the website's purpose; how to establish the prototype of the website; and how to open up narrow, designer-centric thinking.
The "Information" section emphasizes the content and communicative connotation of the website from two aspects. By analyzing the form and management of website information, it clarifies the connection between information and design. From the cultural connotation conveyed by information, it explores how to use visual information to interpret the desired relationship.
The "Design" and "Creative Thinking" sections separately discuss issues closely related to web visual design, such as navigation, layout, color, and style, as well as some methods that combine theory with practical application.
An advantage in comprehensiveness becomes mediocre; website content should avoid being bloated.
As the saying goes, "An advantage in comprehensiveness leads to mediocrity, and excess leads to loss."
We all know that when extras compete for screen time, the main character cannot perform; only when the stage is quiet can the performers deliver a powerful performance.
Website construction is no different. Many advocate that a website should have everything, be comprehensive, and be large to satisfy any visitor's needs.
If this idea was not wrong a few years ago, it certainly was not, as portal websites could attract a large number of visitors, and only websites with massive traffic could be considered media and earn advertising revenue.
But the current online situation is different. Specialized websites are just as important as large portals, and their economic models are completely different.
Moreover, due to their size, portals cannot be precise, and when we need specialized information, we still turn to single-focus sites.
Not only that, if a client tells you to highlight a certain part when designing a page, the creative focus becomes very clear, and the work can effectively fulfill its purpose;
If the client tells you to highlight "some parts," then everything becomes a priority, and nothing stands out.
This is equivalent to not understanding the target audience, treating browsers as the target audience, and assuming that every type of browser should be captured.
In the section on target users, Relen has already mentioned that target users are not the same as browsers, and only a portion of browsers are our target users.
To lose focus on a specific group to serve a vague one may not be worth it.
Suppose we have established a unique advantage and built the website around it.
If we continuously add new content over time, the website will gradually become bloated, and the advantage may disappear.
The positioning will become increasingly vague, wanting everything, but often ending up with nothing.
If the website is already bloated, it needs to be repositioned, slimmed down, weakened in some areas, and simplified.
For a humorous analogy, as the things on our computer increase, the machine becomes slower.
But when it comes to deleting things, everyone gets nervous.
To remove certain parts of the website to make the advantage stand out may's every nerve.
But computers are personal matters that can be dealt with gradually, while websites are big deals related to profit recovery, and should be addressed promptly.
Visual identity is insufficient; use a "slogan" to supplement
As designers, when thinking about website planning, we will never forget one key point—VIS.
Ironically, many companies don't even have a logo, let alone a VIS, and platform or information websites also do not place adequate importance on the visual identity system.
While this section does not delve deeply into VIS or its design, it does mention an important aspect related to establishing the website's image—slogan, or brand slogan.
For a company, its philosophy is a combination of many elements, so the brand slogan should not be detached from this system but should align perfectly with the entire corporate philosophy.
It should integrate the business purpose, business principles, corporate spirit, and corporate values, and be expressed concisely in the form of a slogan.
Applying this philosophy to website construction, summarizing it into a short, guiding, and motivational sentence or phrase for the website, can convey the website's philosophy, business, and values in a tangible way, playing a multiplier effect in establishing the website's image and marketing promotion.
For example:
Relen's 80 Design Studio, brand slogan: We are experts in understanding clients!
WOSION Business Network (providing enterprise website services), slogan: WOSION! WOSION! Professional digital solution providers, sincerely serving you!
Lenovo's website, title: Lenovo—Your Amazing World!
Hanayam Music (manufacturer of musical instruments), brand and website slogan: Trend-setting design!
QuailtyBlankets.ProfessionalIService! (textile company selling to overseas markets), website: QualityBlankets.ProfessionalIService!
Product China, platform websites: Product China, China Products!
Push your products to the world!
Try to make the brand slogan align with your website's image, otherwise, the slogan becomes ineffective.
For example, many websites use slogans like "Family ××× website," "Largest ××× website," or "Best ××× website," but in reality, their pages are disorganized, and their content is scattered.
Such websites are like telling lies, undermining the trust of visitors in them.
Brand slogans for websites should avoid being generic, empty, unrealistic, or frequently changed.
Even if a website's VIS system is well-designed, it cannot replace the promotional and driving role of the "slogan."
VIS is abstract and graduallys, and cannot be communicated verbally.
However, the brand slogan makes our website more concrete, making it easier to "speak" about it.
In terms of design, the brand slogan can appear in the page title, ad banners, internal illustrations, website business cards, fax paper, client emails, forum signatures, and subscription newsletters.
According to Relen's experience, try discussing this topic with your clients, especially when they are not aware of its importance. They will be surprised by your expertise.
P24-25