Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Interface & Information Architecture, Part II



Schematic: Defines placement of global elements (repeat on every page in the site), navigation, variable content (i.e. projects) on every page, as defined in the sitemap.
Page size: 800x600 max; 730x400, recommended. A grid determines page layout, so that elements maintain a consistent position.

A portfolio site contains three types of material:
1. Unique page content (images accompanying captions.) When you start to layout the schematic, select your largest image and the longest project description – don’t want to discover halfway through something’s not going to fit in the layout.

2. Navigation (links to main groups; secondary navigation to maneuver around inside a group.) Generally, horizontal navigation works better when there are fewer items to navigate through. Vertical is more efficient when there are more items and their specific numbers vary.

3. Global Information (brand ID; contact information.)


Look and Feel:
As the schematic takes shape, we almost inadvertently stumble into a Look and Feel of the site; type size and navigation have already fallen into place, now you just have to keep brand ID (style/theme?) and target audience (considered earlier in this blog) in mind.

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