A sample project, let's see...
: 1 : Client brief
Good Design is not just about pretty.
Good design solves problems, conveys messages and delivers meaning. Good design makes
a difference, and certainly can do so from
a bottom-line business perspective.
This was a project I thoroughly enjoyed.
A publishing Company, RedActive Ltd. asked us
to re-design their corporate web site. Following
a recent massive re-branding and having just
moved to new offices, time came finally for some
new looks-and-feels.
: 2 : Wire-framing, objectives, scope and targets
Having gathered the brief, seen their new brand
and offices, it immediately became apparent
that this Company puts it's focus and pride
on people - clients, users and employees.
Reflecting this attitude would be a design
emphasising the human factor of the Company.
The challenge was to reflect this thought in
a very technical medium, the web. Additional
cosideration was given to the Company's
structure, reflected in the way their new office
had been set up, each floor colour-coded
and dedicated to a separate department
with generous common living space.
: 3 : Design key concept
Borderless design, plenty of open space,
elegant, minimal branding, persistent site
controls would become the key ingredients in
creating a space easy to interact with,
contemporary and memorable in look-and-feel,
breaking the mold of an everyday
header-footer design solution.
I really liked the idea of a rich-media web site.
Live-action animation of real people working
for the Company, talking about their roles
and business would create a much more
engaging content and main navigation.
: 4 : Design deeper
So. Let's set the stage and work the players.
The home page is alive, on a most basic level,
a main navigation "on steroids". Instead
of expected buttons though, we use short loops
of idle "breathing" or small movements.
The animation livens up as the user interacts
with the web site, creating a very organic and immersive feel right from the start.
On a mouse click, the person steps forward, says
a line about his function and a sub-navigation
in form of a FAQ rolls open providing further
choices. All feedback is kept as a dialogue
with voice-overs which can be muted.
: 5 : Design content
Some say "content is king". Wrong.
Content is a demanding queen and has to be
treated accordingly, especially in our times of
universal information overflow.
Content presented in small, manageable
chunks, easy to follow and navigate, creates
a much more engaging experience and does
not overwhelm the user, guiding them directly
to specific points of interest.
Just imagine, how many times have you been
frustrated by a web site because you could not
find what you were looking for?
What usually happens then?
: 6 : Filling in the blanks
Hyperlinks across the web site provided
references to other people presenting their roles,
guiding the user from person to person
rather than from web page to page.
This is a web site where pages became people and people became pages.
To reinforce the human factor creative,
every employee was given their own personal
micro-site, where they could introduce and
represent themselves, blog, forum or create
interesting interactions. This became the
background layer to all corporate activities.
A buzzing beehive of social activity.
: 7 : Putting it all together
Putting it all together was a lot of fun too.
There is nothing so satisfying like the sight
of your creation coming together to life.
We shot stills and clips against a green-screen
then post-processed in AfterEffects. Everyone
had their moment of fame and a fun day out!
The Company provided us with final copy.
I did most of the html+css for the web site
as our on-board developer did the php
back-end. Staged on the server and tweaked
for final Client approval.
: 8 : Hand-off
What else is there to say?
All objectives accomplished.
Another happy Customer!
And a lot of satisfied users.
