Site Seeing: “Home is a cluttered place indeed!”

- The author talks about the basics that make up a home page: the introduction, entrance, and announcement. Each of these properties allow the home page to set itself apart from other pages in the web site. For major project 2, the CT Campus Compact home page will act as a point of return for the visitors and allow them to get up to date information.

- Generally when you are putting items on the home page, you want them to be useful as well as it be frequently used. If the item is frequently used, then the visitors can easily navigate to your home page instead of going to a different page.

- The author talks about the rules to abide by for home pages. This is “if it doesn’t help your audience understand your site, then it is probably hurting their ability to understand your site.” Unnecessary flash intro movies or large images can slow the page load time down drastically.

- A home page provides visitors with a first impression of what you do and what the purpose of the web site is. This is the first page that the audience sees so it is important to make a mark.

- The right amount of contrast can direct a viewer to a certain area of your page. Color and typographic contrast are good example of this. The CT Campus Compact site has a white and grey background but with a red navigation system. The red, attracts the eye, allowing the user to see his/her options clearly.

Site Seeing: Fundamental Particles: the elements of web

- The author talks about having the footer look the same from page to page. This is very important because it allows a sense of consistency to flow through the website. The user looks at the footer and knows what it is just because they have seen it in the exact same spot on every other page.

- Navigation systems. I author stresses how important this is throughout the entire book. I have a basic navigation system that I will be using for major project two.

- You can add visual pertinence to a navigation system by adding a design style to it. This is a good element in attracting the users attention while at the same time visually appealing.

- Placement of a navigation system is extremely important. It normally fits to the side or top of the page. For major project two, my navigation will be on the top of the page, where content can easily be recognized.

- Body text can sometimes be an overlooked element of a web site. It needs to be readable because if it’s not then the user has no idea what you are talking about. So, making the text a standard readable font style and size, allows the user to read it.

- Different issues of typography can be brought up in making web sites. Leading allows for a clean space between paragraph lines of text. It can also be an added visual element.

- Images on a web site tend to attract attention. It can be a good way to get your point across to your audience. In major project two I will be using a coupe different pictures to express what the Campus Compact organization is about.

- Images included in a heading, for example, can be very appealing to a viewer. Its as if the image is involved in what is actually going on the page.

- It is important to keep images small so that the web page doesn’t take long to load. You want your users to experience the fastest load time possible so that they can experience all your web site has to offer.

- Forms can be a good way to generate some feedback from your audience. By putting a simple questionnaire or survey on your website, you can get feedback from users and what they like vs what they don’t like.

Revised Mission Statement

For the second major project I will be pursuing the Connecticut Campus Compact web site. The goal for the web site is to attract and recruit students and faculty interested in reaching out to the community. The site will be visually upgraded to provide the audience with more color and detail.

Site Seeing: Who are you? Get a personality!

- I find it interesting how the author talks about personality and how non-living things can have personalities. I never really thought about it like that, but now that it has been brought up I can see where the author’s point.

- A designer needs to have a certain personality be portrayed by their website. They can achieve this by establishing a certain look and feel that would separate their website from other websites.

- Even a unique element can add personality to a website, like a differently placed navigation side bar, or different image placement styles.

- If you have no intention of having a personality for your website, then people will automatically assign it one. This is why it is very important to establish a personality. You don’t want people disliking your site because they have labeled it as bad.

- A brand can often be a personality. A brand is consistent and lets the audience know that your website is established and more personable than those without. The audience will more likely go to the company that has better branding.

- Choosing the right personality is important because it connects you to the audience. The audience judges your website based on the personality of it. So it is important to have say a shopping website convey a comfortable and convenient personality instead of a unsafe and cluttered one.

- It is important for a web site to be unique because this distinguishes it from the slew of other sites out there. It also allows the site to stick into the audiences mind and generate a buzz, which results in more traffic.

- You want your web site to be inviting because you want your audience to feel comfortable at your web site. This allows them to have a full and engaging experience on your site instead of them not even entering in the first place.

- Color is very important in establishing a personality. Black is more of a dark theme, when light colors are more inviting and welcoming.

- Contrasting colors draw the user’s attention to your web site. The contrast stands out and acts as a visual guide to the audience. For example, if you have a red box on a black and white photo background, the eye will be drawn to the red box.

- I like the author’s ideas of mixing a monochromatic and polychromatic color scheme. The monochromatic can be used to highlight the site in general while the polychromatic can be used for content.

Mission Statement: Connecticut Campus Compact

The goal for the Connecticut Campus Compact web site is to attract student and faculty alike to participate in the program. The site will be upgraded to provide the user with a more visual experience. I plan on using the same colors as the regular campus compact, but I will not make the web site identical.

Site Seeing: Birds of a Feather, Flock Together: Visual Organization Principles

- I like the point the author makes about pictures being a vital piece in visual communication. A picture really does say a thousand words. All you need is one glance of a photo and a story is told.
- The author talks about how seeing information is important. A designer needs to be able to show similarities and differences between shapes and objects so that the user can distinguish it’s function and easily recognizable.
- A hierarchy is very important to the visual display of something. It is arranged in ways that will grab the viewer’s attention and then direct it to the next piece of information. For example, a poster for a band. The band’s name would be the largest text on the composition because you want the viewer to recognize the band’s name first.
- It is important to explain to the users where they are on your web site. You have no idea how they got there, so it is important to identify your site to them, as well as where they are on your site, so that they can easily navigate your website and not be frustrated.
- If there is related information on your web site, it is important to keep the attributes fairly similar. For example, same font or same colors just so that the user can easily recognize relative information that they are interested in.

Site Seeing: Technically. It's a Lexicon: Technical Considerations


- The author lists some technical considerations for web usability and they seem to be right. You need to have your web page be accessible to as many people as possible. This includes doing things like responding to customers quickly and so forth. This makes it easier for web traffic to move along smoothly and efficiently.

- It is important to optimize a web page for download time. You want your web site to be as small as possible. The smaller it is, the faster it will load, the easier it will be for other people to view it.

- If a user is downloading a large file from your site, it is important to provide them with feedback telling them that the download could take a little bit. Otherwise, the user might not know what is going on and end up leaving your site. If you put feedback, that tells the user that your website or file is actually doing something.

- When creating a website, you need to remember that the Web presents its own language. On a commerce site, a shopping cart signifies a place where the items you want to buy are stored. If you replace a shopping cart on your commerce site with something else, this might confuse the viewer.

- Links are very significant to a website. If you are linking to web pages within your site, than you would want to use an internal link. This keeps your audience focused on your site and allows them to browse.

Mission Statement- Atlantic Freedom Tour

The goal of the Atlantic Freedom Tour web site is to attract students, parents, and those interested in the Amistad's seven week trip. The site will graphically display a map of the ships ports and will be easy for the user to navigate and choose which port they want to learn more about. The site will also contain relevent links to the trip like student blogs, photos, and contact information.