Extended Practice: Brief 1 - Website Research

Once I had completed the menus and stationary, I decided to move onto the web side of this brief. I think the main thing I want is a website for the desktop, and not necessarily an App. I don't think it would make sense to have one, instead to have a website which is proposed to be responsive to screen sizes.

The first thing I did was decide exactly what the website will be used for. I think that because it is a bespoke store, the website is there for promotion more than anything else. I want it to have all the information there, but there won't be an interactive element to it. This may change as I continue to develop the brand, but right now I don't think there needs to be an interactive element as such.

There are five pages - Home, About, Bakery, Cafe & Contact.

Designing for web is something that I do enjoy, however I always find that the designs I do aren't as refined or sophisticated as they could be, so I really want to work to make this website fit in with the branding and look professional.

The main point to this brief is simplicity, so this is what I want to get across in the website as well. I want simple layouts and easy navigation, while keeping in with a high level of sophistication and class.

Something that I want to use is for the background to be image based, with all the text over the top. This will obviously take a bit of experimentation to get right, but I do think it can work.

Before starting this experimentation, I looked into a few different website designs. I already did a bit of website research in my initial research for this brief so already have a bit of an idea of what I like and want to work with.

Brojure
http://www.webdesignserved.com/gallery/Brojure/18739163

I like the overall simplicity of this website. The layout is clean and considered and each section is structured and there isn't too much on each page. I also like the text overlaying the imagery in the middle, and at the side. The white over the colour works really well, as does the layout. I like the use of thin buttons/icons as well. I think that that used correctly really makes a design look contemporary but also really sophisticated and professional.

Atelier Serge Thoraval

http://www.webdesignserved.com/gallery/Atelier-Serge-Thoraval/19962479

I really like the simplicity of this website. It's a very image based website, but sometimes image based websites aren't completely considered. This one has been built up with a clear consideration into the layout and display of the images, as well as easy navigation to keep it completely minimal. I don't like the two overlapping images. I do like the use of the three bars for the menu - this is something that I will definitely consider using on the device version, however it is a little strange to see this on the desktop version - and at a 90º angle.

Dalton Maag
https://www.daltonmaag.com

I've included this website because I like the general navigation idea behind it how everything scrolls down. While the navigation bar stays fixed at the top, you can scroll down to see various projects. These projects themselves can then be clicked on or flicked through with left and right arrows at either side of the image. Combining the two types is simple and easy navigation which isn't something that you initially think of when thinking of navigation for a website. While I don't particularly like the website as such, I do like the way it is built because of the ease getting around it.

Method

http://method.com

From the previous website I looked into the designer who created it, Tomi Lahdesmaki. I found that he was a lead designer at Method. I went on their website and found that I really liked the overall aesthetic to it. While it may not be totally linked to what I am doing right now, it will still be influencing my decisions.

What I really like about this website is the clear structure and layout to it. They have very clearly used a grid throughout the whole website, and instead of doing what a lot of websites do and keeping the same format down a page/across pages, these differ depending on what you're looking at. Something I particularly liked was the page of a project. The layout changes, the images are in amongst the type, and it looks more like a layout of a printed piece of media instead of something that is just web based.

Nordic by Noma

http://www.webdesignserved.com/gallery/Nordic-by-noma/7951157

I like the overall look of this website, however I think that it is quite hard to read the body copy over the imagery. I think that darker imagery would work better against the white text, so this is obviously something that I need to think about. I do like how this website very simply responds to different screen sizes as well. The majority of the design doesn't change, but there are elements that do to make navigation on a smaller screen size easier.

More imagery to consider