Design in Mind...
Apr. 27th, 2006 03:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsI've been thinking about a redesign for my website. It's been a while, and there are a lot of new techniques I could exploit on the site, as well as some I could get rid of. I want the revision to communicate three things: I write, my works are SF/Fantasy, and my works are erotica. That's a big order.
So far, the only website I've found that I really liked so far of all the professionals' out there is William Gibsons. All the rest are so raw and, well, unsophisticated-looking; either that, or they're actually run by publishing houses with money to burn because the authors are serious names. And even then they don't do a good job.
Part of the problem is that I'm not a very visual person. I can analyze a really good site and show you what works and what doesn't, but I can't take that practical knowledge and turn it around creatively, which is very frustrating. It's one of the reasons I've always worked with a visual designer and been an interface person, the guy who hooks up the back end to the pretty pictures. It's a good job, but not the most prominent of visual arts.
So far, the only website I've found that I really liked so far of all the professionals' out there is William Gibsons. All the rest are so raw and, well, unsophisticated-looking; either that, or they're actually run by publishing houses with money to burn because the authors are serious names. And even then they don't do a good job.
Part of the problem is that I'm not a very visual person. I can analyze a really good site and show you what works and what doesn't, but I can't take that practical knowledge and turn it around creatively, which is very frustrating. It's one of the reasons I've always worked with a visual designer and been an interface person, the guy who hooks up the back end to the pretty pictures. It's a good job, but not the most prominent of visual arts.
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Date: 2006-04-27 11:05 pm (UTC)Me too, and surprisingly many others. That's why designers have design catalogues of ideas. ;)
Start with something you like, possibly for another product, start adapting until you have something applicable (and different), then fix it. That way you're always in Editor mode. "I'd have put the navigation like this...used these colours...I'll need this set of links..." by the time you're done, it's new. I was stunned this was essentially plagiarism when I started doing design work, but it's pretty common to use this sort of inspiration as a springboard as long as the final product is unique.
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Date: 2006-04-27 11:42 pm (UTC)D'oh. Speaking of Editing.