Tweet
Tweet

Slide 1

Slide 1 text

Designing for WordPress and Web Design Bridging the Gap Between Design and Development Ngaire Ackerley

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose. - Charles Eames “  

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

Who am I? •  A Kiwi (NOT an Australian) •  Computer graphic design background •  Working in design and web industry for over 7 years •  Front-end WordPress development for about 3 years •  Work for LBDesign

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

What’s the plan today? •  Designing for Users •  Design Principles - Guide the Eye / Hierarchy - Unity / Consistency - Balance - Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) •  Using WordPress and Web Design to implement design principles •  Top tips for designers and developers!

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

What I won’t be covering •  Responsive design •  Every design principle under the sun •  The best themes & plugins to use •  How to design & what programs to use •  How to develop

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

Designing for Users

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

https://rageshctech.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/computer-frustration.jpg

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

How do users think? A typical website user: •  Appreciates quality and credibility •  Doesn’t read, they scan •  Is impatient and insists on instant gratification •  Doesn’t make optimal choices •  Will follow their intuition •  Wants to have control Based on: http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

How to help users •  Don’t make users think •  Manage to focus users’ attention •  Strive for simplicity •  Don’t be afraid of white space •  Communicate effectively with a “visible language” •  Research the target audience Based on: http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/31/10-principles-of-effective-web-design/

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

http://news.submitinme.com/images/happy-internet-woman1.jpg

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

Website Design Principles and how we can implement them in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

Guide the Eye / Hierarchy •  Consider the goals of the website •  Consider positioning •  Make important information easy to find

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

No content

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

No content

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

No content

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

Guide the Eye / Hierarchy in WordPress and Web Design •  Slideshows •  Good plugin: Soliloquy lite

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

Guide the Eye / Hierarchy in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

•  Customise blogs or news items Guide the Eye / Hierarchy in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

•  Advanced Custom Fields Plugin Guide the Eye / Hierarchy in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

Unity / Consistency •  Making website elements relate and work well together •  Written content/messages should also be consistent

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

Inconsistencies in a design are like spelling mistakes in an email. They lower the quality and professionalism of a company.

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design •  Templates •  Sidebars •  Branding ! function my_custom_login_logo() ! { ! !echo ' ! !h1 a { background- image:url('.get_bloginfo('template_directory').'/ images/image.jpg) !important; } ! !'; ! } ! add_action('login_head', 'my_custom_login_logo');!

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

No content

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

No content

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

No content

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

No content

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design •  Image sizes - Featured images in the admin settings - Template files - functions.php if ( function_exists( 'add_image_size' ) ) { 
 ! !add_image_size( ’newimage', 220, 180, true ); //(cropped) 
 }!

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design •  Related/partner logos of different formats? •  Social media icons too colourful? •  Too much copy?

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

•  Colours - Tones and density - Bold and sub colours - Let images bring in more colour Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design http://colorschemedesigner.com/ http://colrd.com/image-dna/

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

•  Fonts and styles •  Menus – different levels and responsive •  Consider the little things •  Style the core tags

,

,

, ,

, ! !

    ,
      , ! Unity / Consistency in WordPress and Web Design

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

Symmetrical Balance

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

Symmetrical Balance

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

Asymmetrical Balance

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

Asymmetrical Balance

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

Colour Balance

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

Colour Balance

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

Colour Balance

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

Colour Balance

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

Colour Balance http://designshack.net/articles/accessibility/tips-for-designing-for-colorblind-users/ http://iamcal.com/toys/colors

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

Layout Balance •  Grids •  Consider symmetrical and asymmetrical grids

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

https://960.gs

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

Balance in WordPress and Web Design •  Posts per page and pagination •  Length of sidebar vs length of body copy

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

Balance in WordPress and Web Design Balancing sidebar and main content areas: •  get_template_part;! •  include(‘breadcrumbs.php’);! •  Widgets •  Custom excerpt lengths •  the_field('field_name');
 (Advanced custom fields plugin)

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

Balance in WordPress and Web Design •  Line heights •  White space – empty/negative space •  Content positioning – don’t want to scroll for important content

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

-Smashing Magazine “  Minimalist design has been described as design at its most basic, stripped of superfluous elements, colours, shapes and textures. Its purpose is to make the content stand out and be the focal point. From a visual standpoint, minimalist design is meant to be calming and bring the mind down to the basics.

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid •  Minimise content •  White space •  Simple design – create limitations for yourself

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid

Slide 49

Slide 49 text

KISS in WordPress and Web Design •  Default themes/Starter themes: - Twenty ten - Twenty eleven - Responsive

Slide 50

Slide 50 text

KISS in WordPress and Web Design •  Widgets •  Limiting plugins •  Clean admin •  Recycle content

Slide 51

Slide 51 text

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. - Antoine de Saint Exupéry “  

Slide 52

Slide 52 text

Top Tips for Designers (or working with them!) •  Talk to the client and developer! •  Make designs as pixel accurate as possible •  Size images, icons, fonts correctly •  Consider web fonts vs print fonts •  Consider browsers and devices •  Design with hex values •  Consider grids and consistency of these •  Show the developer designs before the client!

Slide 53

Slide 53 text

Top Tips for Developers (or working with them!) •  Talk to the client and designer! •  Communicate your preferences and what you expect •  Decide responsiveness •  Check designs carefully •  Ask about things like link hovers and drop down menus if they haven’t been designed

Slide 54

Slide 54 text

Resources •  Eye tracking study reveals 12 website tactics http://www.directcreative.com/blog/eye-tracking-websites •  Minimalist Web Design: When Less is More http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/12/minimalist-web-design- when-less-is-more/ •  How Limitations Improve Design http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/08/how-limitations-improve- design/ •  The Invisible Side of Design, by Vitaly Friedman https://speakerdeck.com/smashingmag/the-invisible-side-of-design •  Understanding Visual Hierarchy in Web Design http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/articles/design-theory/understanding- visual-hierarchy-in-web-design/ •  Colour Scheme Inspiration http://www.colorsontheweb.com/colorwizard.asp http://colorschemedesigner.com/ https://kuler.adobe.com/create/color-wheel/ http://colrd.com/

Slide 55

Slide 55 text

Any Questions? http://lbdesign.tv [email protected] 07766 838 938 http://designack.com http://kiwifootprints.com [email protected] Twitter: @ngaireackerley