"Business Creative" Web Design

Stu Macik_Broken Sky Studio Web Design and Development Denver, Colorado

One of the best pieces of advice that I can give anyone looking to acquire or build a website for their business is to take the time to learn a little about where the web is trending in terms of look, feel, and usability. I’m constantly amazed at the large number of websites out there that look and feel like they came straight out of the way-back machine (circa 1995-1998). What’s even more disturbing is that many of them were built in the last couple of years by web design companies who haven’t seemed to noticed that “what works” (and more importantly for business, “what sells”) has changed since 1998.

Perhaps you’ve heard or read the term “Web 2.0” used and wondered what it means. Well, quite simply Web 2.0 is where web design evolved to emphasize aesthetics and usability (along WITH content) to create websites that are visually more appealing and easier to use. In my opinion, we are currently at another transformation (Web 3.0?) that adds to what Web 2.0 gave us.  Now we also have options for displaying content dynamically with Javascript (jQuery, MooTools, etc.) that add to the user experience by creating interaction which, from a business perspective, can help a potential customer stick around and check out your site.

I guess what I’m saying in a nutshell is, give sites that just feel “better” a longer look and take notice of what makes them different. I think what you’ll find is that “modern” sites have a design aesthetic that feels clean, uncluttered and polished (as opposed to cramped, crammed and multi-colored). They have navigation that is user friendly and they get their message across quickly and succinctly.

If you can understand exactly what it is that you like about those sites you think are “better”, you can then find a designer who specializes in current design styles or at the very least have a better idea of what works and sells on today’s web.

-Stu

Stu Macik_Broken Sky Studio Website Design and Development Denver, Colorado

One of the nicest compliments we hear from clients at Broken Sky is that we’re able to design and develop websites that are aesthetically very attractive while also being very business centric in purpose. This is because we believe that “thinking different”, in terms of design, is critical to our clients marketing success in what amounts to hand to hand combat out on the web.

Personally, I like to think of designing for business as “coloring between the lines”. While there are definitely some rules that need to be followed on a business site, they don’t all have to be regimented or black and white. You CAN be creative and pragmatic at the same time. Here are a couple of tips from a “modern design” point of view that may help you realize more success from your site.

First off, consider that less can be more. The generous use of white space can have a profound impact on your design. Use white space to highlight and off-set important information as eyes will travel directly to those areas. Also make sure that your text has “room to breath” by making sure that your text size and line spacing is sufficient for the font your using. Nothing is more frustrating than straining to read information that is too small or cramped.

Second, consider “flow” from left to right instead of top to bottom. With the advent 16:9 and 16:10 monitors (instead of the old 4:3 CRT monitors) modern web design has widened to take advantage of the new technology. This allows you to use that screen real-estate to get more information in front of your potential customer with less scrolling.

At any rate, these are just a couple my “best practices” for “Business Creative” design. Hopefully, you can take advantage of these ideas and have both a great looking and performing website.

-Stu