Visual Design

Colour Scheme, Typography, Image Style

The visual design plays an important role in representing what the visitor is viewing. The aesthetics of the colors, the design and overall visual representation have an influence on the perception of the person viewing the site. Nonetheless, bearing in mind that a lot of people with disadvantages are also visiting the website, this has to be taken into consideration as well.

The way we have designed our website was by applying black and white as the main color theme. The reason for this approach is to consider that every user must comprehend and easily navigate through our website. Furthermore, the application of simple colors makes the overall experience of the user very easy and user friendly at the same time.

This video shows the different techniques of choosing colours for our website or any website in general.

Another point worth mentioning is the perception of users with disabilities. Most users may have certain disabilities and it will be difficult for them to navigate through the website. Therefore, the site was made as simple as possible to navigate.

The selection of photos was also taken into consideration. The way we have selected our pictures was in accordance to the overall main theme of the website, in our case: black, grey and white. Stock photos of laptops, desk, books, and office materials were specifically chosen for this website. This brings up the overall aesthetics of the website and the balance between the color theme and the images.

Additionally, a balance between black and white makes an attractive design for a lot of websites. Khoi Vinh’s website subtraction.com, the German magazine Form and the website of Adidas serve as an example for using black and white adequately. The main driver and key for their success also lies in the visual design.

Robyn Collinge (2017) explains how visual design influences the visitors visiting the website.

First and foremost, it attracts attention. Just by simply clicking on a link and getting forwarded to the website, the overall visual appeal may leave a first impression to the visitor. The way we have designed the website was by applying simplistic elements such as readable fonts of text and accessible menus to make it easy for the user experience. The main font of the texts used in the website was “Verdana”.

Upon entering the website, the colors, themes, layout and structure evoke feelings and emotion to the visitor. For example, blue represents coldness and red represents warmth. In other cases, blue may represent calmness and soothing feelings, whereas red could be associated with passion and flamboyance. The saturation and brightness of colors also has an influence of the perception of the visitor. The main color scheme of our website is mainly comprised of black, white and grey. For this reason we have avoided applying contrast, adding hue to the colors or making the overall color scheme more complex for the visitors.

Of course, visual appeal is not always the case, the message or root statement that is visible on the website also leaves a first impression. Taking for example websites that operate for a cause or make donations. This message portrays care, a statement, a mission and it builds relationship between user and website. Our message in this case is mainly focused on informing how the website was being done. Everything was structured accordingly with three menus visible on the top of the web page containing different information with drop-down menus. More information regarding the structure of the website and detailed features can be seen on the dropdown menu Blog > Structure.

Blog > Structure

A last point worth mentioning is the distinction of the website. The website must be made in such a way so that the user can easily identify it and remember it. The overall visual design and structure can make a website distinct, and a lot of people may remember the website by its design. The website was made in a professional way and also easy to read and navigate. The decoration of the website was mainly comprised by the use of images and a three button menu visible on the top of the page.

References:

Boulton, M. (2009). A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web. Penarth: Mark Boulton Design Ltd.

Collinge, R. (2017, June 28). The Importance of Visual Appeal in Web Design. Retrieved from Usabilla: https://usabilla.com/blog/visual-appeal-web-design/