The tutorial explained the important process needed for creating a web page. Some sections focused on the blue print outline of the pages before you beginning putting the pages together. It explained that the pictures and icons should be used to direct the viewers eyes to the content of the page. It gave some interesting ideas to consider before you begin to design a page.
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/fireworks/articles/frwcs3_webdesign.html
In this article the author gives some practical advice on how to make a successful webpage. One of the strong point he made was that it is important to sketch out the design before you start making the page. This way you will have an idea of how you would like the over all lay out. This option is much easier than freestyling the web page as you go along. He also emphasizes that it is important to see inspiration off the web to assist you in design. Some other good points me make is that it is good to stay absorbent to new ideas. If you can figure out what you need to do take a break from it. Most importantly make sure you gather some insight from other people about your page. Whether it be about their navigation success, or their opinions on layout.
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/web-design-tactics
In this article the author describes some guide lines that be feels strong about in design. He explains that users should not blame themselves when the application does not fill their needs. He says that design is not an art because it follows specific context, verses art being very open to any interpretation or expression. In his opinion simplicity is the ultimate way for good design.
http://bokardo.com/archives/five-principles-to-design-by/
For the banner graphic i plan to use bright spring colors and emphasize on the plant life of spring in my design. I am still figuring out how to work with fireworks.
http://bcts-potomac.aacc.edu/cat/01/bannercontest/banner-contest.gif
For the final project i plan to create a yoga website to help promote classes and my teaching.
For this assignment i learned how to use the different layers in fireworks to create a navbar. After creating the navbar i applied the rollover so that when the mouse is over the button it changes color.
The author explains the first thing is to understand the audience that you wish to attract. Speak in a language that they understand, and deliver the information in a manor that appeal to them. Testing the site for its navigation readiness with other users is key. He say that it is also important to make sure all the content is explanatory and answer the peoples questions. Other important elements he explains that are making sure that the site is well edited , and that the navigation structure is easy to understand.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/dwmx_design_tips.html
In this article the author explains that if the overall idea of the site is good. It make made up for poor design of the page. Some of the sites he uses are myspace.com and youtube.com. He explains that it is his opinion that the design of the pages are bad, but due to high interest in the content they succeed. I tend to agree with the idea that if you have a site that people see as beneficial and a tool, people may over look the design if there are some problems. But to compete with copy-cat sites it is important to address the design problems down the road.
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1075256
For a page criticizing other website designs i am surprised the site itself did not make the list. The page was full of ads and had a lot of menus taking up lot of space. The actual content area was quite narrow so you have to scroll down the page a lot. The content was even worse.
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/worst-web-sites-of-2007-group-2.html
This article described some of the things people dislike when surfing the web. One of these were browsing PDF files. I tend to disagree with this because i think PDF files can be helpful and quite easy to navigate. Other mistakes discussed were links that do not change colors after they have been visited, and search engine that do not fix typos. Which can be annoying when trying to navigate through a page. Some of the thing in this article were legitimate, but some were kind of exaggerated in my opinion.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html
