Web Design;
When designing my website I wanted to look at different sites, some of which are card design websites, and some that I think I like and look good, this is so that I can get ideas for my website, find out what trends there are and how I should design my website so that it can be most effective.
www.marthastewart.com;
Looking at the aesthetics of this website, it is very simple and easy to follow. It isn't very colour or anything special, although the information on there is very useful, and reasonably easy to follow, although could have a few more instructions as to what to do and to see how the cards are made. This website has lots of different aspects to it, it is used to shop, educate people of how to cook, make cards and organise parties. It is very much a handmade crafts type of website, this is somehting that I want to go for, although I think I would prefer my website to be a bit more interesting and appealing to the eye.
This website is something that will influence mine a lot as it shows you many different card designs for many different holidays and occasions. There are three different examples and templates that can be printed out for each of the holidays, there is a materials list and a simple step by step guide on how to make the cards.
I printed off a template and attempted at making one of the cards myself, using just printer paper, I found that it worked really well and the steps are really easy to follow. The only thing about this that I thought could be improved was that, it showed an envelope, but there was no instructions for an envelope, I think that it either shouldn't have showed an envelope, or should have showed the methods to make one.
www.ohsobeautifulpaper.com;
Oh so beautiful paper is one of my favourite websites, it was launched in September 2008, Oh So Beautiful Paper covers inspiration
and design in everyday life with a focus on my favorite things: wedding
invitations, paper goods, calligraphy, entertaining ideas, and delicious
cocktails. Oh So Beautiful Paper is updated 10-15 times per week. The only thing about this website that lets it down, is the many different adverts at the side of the entire page and on every links, although I know this is so that the website can make more money, I just think that it takes away from the design and effective the website is making.
One of the main things I like about this website, is all the different personalised wedding invitation, they are all individual and different. Although on this website there isn't instructions on how to make the cards, as they are too detailed to reproduce that way I think, there is a description of how the cards were made, and why they were made for that particular person. I want my website to have a varience of detailed cards that look really elegant like this one, and some that are more simple and easy to produce.
www.notonthehighstreet.com;
This website is has many different aspects to it, it is a website to sell, includes jewelry, gifts, clothes ect. As it sells a bit of everything, I don't think that the website is very specialised, although I really like the card designs on it.There is a huge selection of cards, from Christmas cards to wedding invites, they are all very creative, I think that this website will influence the design of my cards.
There are many different kinds of cards, also the website is laid out so that you can narrow down the search into different holidays or certain effects, this is good for the website, so that people can find things easier. This is something I will have to consider when I am designing my website, whether I want it to have a filter into different holidays, or have all the different things that the site offers on the front. Some of the card designs also offer the option to have the cards personalised, this is also something I would like to consider with my website, as they will be hand made and personal.
www.pinkandposh.co.uk;
Pink and Posh is a website purely for handmade cards, for special occasions or just when you want to get a card, it is just for purchasing, not like the other websites where they either show you how to make some of them, or selling other things. As 80-85% of card buyers are women, therefore Pink and Posh is appealing to the right market, as I think that this website is very girly and its target audience is women.
There are many different types of cards on this website, some being anniversary some being mothers day, which are examples above. What I have noticed about this website is that every card that has been photographed all have coloured curled ribbon across the cards, the colour of the ribbon matches the card, this makes the card more appealing and may make people want to purchase them more. This is something I need to think about when I am creating my website, how it is photographed, they need to look presentable and look professional, this is something that Pink and Posh does really well. Also the layout of this website works really well, its quite simple and narrow, there are no distractions of adverts popping up all over it, therefore I think that this is quite a success by drawing my attention to the right things, as soon as you click on the website you know what you are going to get rather than having lots of pop ups.
www.richardphotolab.com;
This is a website for photography and sending in your own shots and film roles to be professionally printed off. Although this is nothing to do with my subject I thought that I would use it as I will take a lot from this website. The reason why I have chosen this website is the colour scheme, I think it works really well and is appropriate for the audience and the subject matter, also I think that the layout of the links and different pages work really well and are aesthetically pleasing.
Something that I really like about this website is the simplicity, it is really clear and the vector drawings make the process easier to follow. The colours work really well especially as all the information is in negative space.This is something I want to do with my website, make it simple and easy to use whilst also making it aesthetically pleasing.
Something To Avoid;
www.rubydoocards.co.uk;
This is an example of website which I really want to stay away from, it looks very unprofessional, for a site that is selling handmade cards, it looks so impersonal as cheap. This has been created by someone who doesn't know what they are doing as it just looks like the bottom half of the ebay site after you have bought something showing the description. I am showing this example so that I can be aware of bad websites and things that I need to avoid, and this is definitely something I want to avoid.
www.shipmycard.com;
This is another website that I have found and don't like, this is because I find the colour tacky and they don't work very well together, the cards have been photography terribly, they look so unprofessional, and I would never buy a card from this website. I need to be aware of the presentably of the cards themselves on the website, not just the layout of the website itself.
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