Interview with Elise Marks Tomek - Part 2

[Internet Brothers] Here's a simple question with a nearly impossible answer. What can even the amateur web designers do to make the entire World Wide Web a more attractive place than it already is? What are some of your basic tenets of good web design?

[Elise Marks Tomek] as regards the basics:

content/focus: if you don't really have anything to say, why go to the trouble of building a webpage to say it? planning/organisation/site management: build a storyboard of sorts — or put together a simple outline — and plan your entire site before you ever begin. if you don't, the site will get away from you, and if you get lost, you can bet the farm that your visitors will. simplicity: less is (almost) always more. that phrase "keep it simple, stupid" works in design just as well as it works in life. navigation: there are few things more important than clear, consistent navigation. restraint: just because you know how to do something does not mean you should. that little javascript clock is my favourite example. isn't it kewl? sure it is, skippy. i'm tellin' you — no website needs that damn clock. people use it for no other reason than because they can. arrrghh. professionalism: check your spelling, check your grammar, proof for typos, test your links, employ manners and courtesy. interactivity: offer your visitors a way in which they can contribute or participate, and they will be back. giving back: it doesn't matter whether you're building a personal site or a commercial one. you can find a way to give at least a little something to your visitors. information is always a wonderful gift. what is your field of expertise? share some of your knowledge with your visitors. give them a bit of yourself. it's good karma, and it will come back to you.

[EMT] i swear by a variation on the tenet "form follows function." when i work, i design based upon my content. first, i organise my content into sections and pages using a storyboard or outline. i then begin laying out each page by placing my information and organising it into groups or blocks. at that time, i begin to "play" with the groups. a basic layout always comes first. i don't even begin building the graphics until that is done. content/subject matter will, of course, determine the look and feel of a site as well. for example: one probably wouldn't use romantic floral patterns and textures when building a site for an architectural firm.

content/subject matter will, of course, also assist in defining your colour palette and selecting your font style(s). i always choose my colour palette and fonts before i begin. i rarely use more than three colours in any one site, and i can't recall a job in which i've used more than three fonts (as it goes, i almost always use only two). my goal is to hold a visitor's interest while keeping him or her focused on the ideas/information presented — not on the presentation itself.

if you've had no formal instruction in art/design, i think it's a very good idea to learn as much as you can about colour. colour is an extremely powerful element, and learning to harness that power is a very wise move. there are some excellent books on the subject, and in my opinion, studying the work of post-impressionist and modern artists such as matisse, kandinsky, marc, jawlensky, leger, mondrian, rothko and di chirico (among many others) can be very helpful.

there are limitations in this medium, and we must consider them when we work. load-time must always be one of the foremost issues in our minds. one of the most important investments a budding developer will make is a graphics compression program. also ... a few ideas from elise's cult of minimalism: always remember there are many effective/pleasing substitutes for "traditional" images. one can add interest and achieve balance through the use of "empty" space (white space is our friend!) and/or solid fields of colour, all the while cutting load-time significantly. i once used blocks of parallel horizontal lines as substitutes for traditional images, and i love the manner in which some designers employ "grid" textures. experiment with texture. one can do so much with only information and an interesting (yet unobtrusive) texture.

finally, think of your visitors as you work. try to employ colour and line as tools to move your visitor's eye in the direction you would like it to go, and try to organise your content so that you move your visitors from one page to the next. as the designer, you have the control. hold fast to that awareness and work it!

one final note regarding the words "always and never..." i hate using those words when talking about art and design, and i tend not to trust people who use those words too often. however, there are rules, and if we're to be successful, we must learn them. once we've learned and assimilated them, we can experiment with breaking them!

The Internet Brothers have implemented hierarchical menus for navigation. Easier done than said.

The hierarchical menus were created using Peter Belesis' © Dynomat DHTML scripting tool from Webreference. Give them a visit, you'll like what you learn.

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"just because you know how to do something does not mean you should."

"my goal is to hold a visitor's interest while keeping him or her focused on the ideas/information presented — not on the presentation itself."

"always remember there are many effective/pleasing substitutes for traditional images."