Website Design

Following on with our branding project comes the creation of our own website. The business card, letterhead and website should all link together conveying who and what we/our business is. Having previously created a name and logo I had a slight idea of look I wanted for the website.

First I browsed some websites that provide a website creating and hosting service. I had a look at the various templates on offer and eventually went with a site called Moonfruit. Because there are limited templates and they are available to everyone it was hard to find one I felt was a little more personal to me. I chose the template because I thought it was a little more fun and informal then the others but was still professional.

Since I want my company to be about "cutting the crap" out of the designing business but still keeping it on a personal level I kept things nice and simple. I decided I would only have the necessary information on here with links to my blog and portfolio if people wished to explore further.
On the front page I thought it would be good to show a couple of sketches (making it personal) but also some images I took of design styles I would like to strive to create in the future. They give an idea of the type of work I could perhaps produce.

I kept the about me section simple with a brief description on the Big Idea of the company and then the designs themselves. As I haven't any work outside University I found an abstract picture I had taken of the inside of a glass ball which matched my colour scheme for the picture on this page. I wanted to keep the pictures of my work to a minimum on the website. Just enough that people would be drawn in but not enough for them to see everything. Then if they were really interested they would have to view my full portfolio in a lower link.

The final page on the website is my contact details. As with my business card and letterhead I placed the fallen petal at the bottom right hand corner of the page as if signifying an end, showing the last page. I embedded a google map view of my home into the page so then people would be able to see instantly how local I was with out searching for the address themselves. I put a picture of myself on this page partly to fill space but also to encourage an open, honest and approachable image of myself that I want the company as a whole to give off.

I placed a link to my blog and my E-Portfolio (coming soon) at the bottom giving people the chance to further explore the mind, work and background of their future employee.

Finally I placed a quote on the left hand navigation bar that I feel uncovers a little more of myself for people to see. Over all I tried to apply my idea and slogan "Simple, Honest Designs" to the design of the website as well keeping everything simple and open. No pop ups, hidden pages or flashing images just who I am and what I do.

Although I could leave it as it is there is definitely room for fine tuning and improvement. Although this is only the first draft the website is up and running now at http://swynny.moonfruit.com/