Design of All Sorts » Web Design
Kickstand (2008)
Kickstand is an imaginary informational website for beginner and intermediate bicyclists looking for advice about the sort of bicycle they might want to purchase or start as a hobby. This website was created for a graduate level course in cognitive systems. The components of human factors of the course helped define this layout:
- High contrast, with every image and link labeled for accessibility purposes
- Consistent with a header, content, footer structure
- Color is consistent and provide additional salience and feedback to the user
Kappa Alpha Theta at Ohio State (2007)
The Ohio State University sorority, ΚΑΘ, approached me with a commission to create a website that would be easy for their future webmaster to update the content and layout. They wantd a layout that was feminine, professional, and displayed their colors, black and yellow/gold. By creating a simple HTML/PHP/CSS framework, I separated the content from the presentation. I further eased updating by providing a readme file which the current webmaster uses today.
Worderella Online Layouts (2006 - 2008)
Belinda Kroll is a historical fiction author with a strong blogging presence in the writing community. She has the interesting challenge of writing historical fiction while maintaining a modern blog covering such topics as book reviews, the publishing world, and the writing process.
The 2006 layout won a place in the top ten best author websites from Writer's Digest for 2007. Entrants were judged on presentation, ease of use, and marketing effectiveness. The nominees were narrowed down to ten finalists by the Writer's Digest staff, and then evaluated by three final-round judges with a winning prize of $250. A feature about the winning site (and an interview with the winner) was featured in the October issue.
After looking at the other finalists in the contest, Belinda asked for a redesign which simplified the layout and put the content first. In 2008, she officially branded herself, her website, and her blog.
Ohio State Engineer magazine online (2006)
When I was on the student staff of the Ohio State Engineer magazine, I picked up a variety of editorial positions, including art editor, editor-in-chief, and webmaster. The website includes online submission forms for articles and art requests, making it easy for the student volunteer staff to participate without having to attend multiple staff meetings.
EKEBA International, LLC (2006)
EKEBA International, LLC is a multi-faceted company providing software solutions for event and meeting management, offering technical support, and renting houses in its real estate division. As a classroom exercise, I studied EKEBA's website content to create an updated layout. The original layout had too much text on the page without enough visual organization to help visitors know where to focus their attention.
The initial proposal segmented the page based on the importance of the content, and streamlined the navigation. However, this style didn't match EKEBA's brand, and so the colors and flow of the layout were modified for the official proposal. I also created a new logo for the company, which EKEBA adopted.
LiveJournal Layouts (2003 - 2006)
LiveJournal is a large online blogging community that originally allowed HTML and CSS customizations. They have since changed their presentation framework. However, this is where I got my start with the idea of separating content from presentation.
Images used in these layouts were for personal fan use only. They were not meant to infringe copyrights in any way, and have long since been taken down as the authors of these blogs moved on to new themes.
