--- On Thu, 7/22/10, tomo jacobson <tomojacob...@gmail.com> wrote: > hi, > > i'm an amateur. i haven't done any website since early > high-school... > > anyway this is what i achieved (can't post the link, > sorry...): > > tomojacobson.art.pl/strona/
I think there are three interweaving factors that /can/ (and often do) compete, that need to be taken into account during any design: 1. Pragmatism - are you interested in delivering your message to every single last member of your potential audience, or are you happy to serve the majority? 2. Creativity - how much are you looking for the visuals to be a feature of the site in their own right, as opposed to merely being a pretty wrapping for the content? How much is the site an expression of who you are, as well as a tool for communicating information? 3. Morality - how happy are you to enforce certain limitations, bearing in mind (partly) how you would feel if it were you on the receiving end? Most of your issues can be evaluated according to those factors. For example, take the issue of the front-page navigation: 1. Pragmatism. Not everyone will 'get' this'. It's certainly not very keyboard-friendly. And, I imagine, it's not very touch-friendly, either. Those 3 points will each diminish your potential audience to some extent, and to different degrees. 2. Creativity. This is a nice, attractive effect, which certainly isn't commonplace. It's a "look at me" kind of feature, and it offers a brief amount of enjoyment for the visitor as they sweep their mouse across the letters and discover what's underneath. It also adds a nice dash of colour, and is friendly and playful. 3. Morality. Does it matter to you that some people won't be able to use this interface, and may feel aggrieved or even angered? Are there improvements you could make for keyboard users (clue: it may be as simple as adding :focus where you currently have :hover in your CSS)? That's just one example - your screen width issue is also ripe for this kind of evaluation. I'm not trying to answer these questions for you; these are your decisions to make. But I think it's worth thinking about the design in these terms, and also bearing in mind that, whilst these factors compete to some extent, they can also be made to work together, keeping compromise to a minimum. Some of what I consider to be the 'best' websites nowadays do exactly that. BTW, I think that, overall, your site is attractive, funny (in a good way!), and fulfils its purpose very well. Good luck in your venture. - Bobby ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [cs...@lists.css-discuss.org] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ List policies -- http://css-discuss.org/policies.html Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
