Today I did more research on layout designs, but I went offline this time. I head to the library and got every book about layout, graphic design and web design. I checked them, photocopied them and studied them. I learned to be a bit bolder and try different structures than the usual old frameworks online. The challenge now is to find a good web designer to do the website for me. I went to illustrator and photoshop and created loads of different layouts.
I knew what I wanted, a simple design but with a twist. Something interesting that could pop up the attention of the reader. I checked different fonts and colours, because I'm a big Helvetica fan so it was good for me to try and check other fonts and how they would work with my layout. I changed the initial big slideshow and put more articles instead. My main inspiration was the Dazed website, so I went to others, like Purple Magazine, 032c and made my main colours: black, red and white.
It made my research more interesting I think and my work in creating the website more enjoyable because I was playing with different things and creating more. It was a good piece of advice. My design now is going to be better. I still struggle with finding the perfect design, but I know this is more me being picky then the actual work. I think I need to focus on the user experience and how they are going to use my website more than following my own creative objectives. It's important to keep in mind the user.
So, to go a bit deeper in to the user, I got books about UX design and user experience and how to create a website that is good for them to use. I wanted my website to be good and easy to access, so people would know what to do before I even tell them. That's my goal.