I have always said that it’s the details that matter. The Edmonton Journal website is a clear example of a website that pays attention to quality, consistency, and the little details to improve readability.
EdmontonJournal.com
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Edmonton+Journal+scores+audience+study/3631378/story.html
Their website is mobile friendly, something that is rarely done well. Most importantly, the site focuses on great typography and consistently styling of the many elements on the page.
In comparison to EdmontonSun.com, the Ejournal website has larger text size, better usage of white space, and a more understandable layout.
Quality websites tell users that they are professional and mean business! Think about when you go to a job interview, you stress over every detail of what you wear, how you present yourself, and what you say. Why not take the same approach to your website? After all, websites are often customers first impression of you.
Too many projects, not enough time. I dream of growing this site, but it’ll have to wait until I weather the storm.
This is a large government website that I completed late in 2009. This was the second time working with the marketing firm DDB and provided us a great wealth of knowledge about the dangerous world of sexual predators and the internet.
This site provided a great learning opportunity as the target audience was young children, and the site used quite a bit of transparent imaging.
See the portfolio for more information.
This is very exciting. I started building this website about 5 months ago and it’s finally seeing the light of day.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jordan McIver and I am a web-developer living in Edmonton, Alberta. I’m passionate about all things design and have ambitious plans for this site. My goal is to have a weekly post so please check back often or follow me on twitter.
Enjoy!
Coming soon... New erlc.ca website
I think “The Agony of Critique” best describes the normal feeling designers get when they are polishing their web-work. Especially if you’re a details person… like me.
Do I use 10 pixels for padding, 15 pixels? Maybe 25? Or perhaps choosing a colour can be an agonizing experience. Light blue, sky blue, navy blue etc..
Sometimes your design decisions come easier and they flow like a stream, and other times you just can’t seem to get it right. This is where Persistence will pay off. I’ve often found myself re-designing a website over and over, but eventually it gets to that almost perfect state where you just know you got it right. Even this simple website/blog took me several versions.
To summarize. If you think you can’t get the job done, keep trying. Eventually you’ll get there. If you think you are spending too much time on the small stuff. Don’t worry, the key to success of any project is looking after ALL of those little details. Perhaps the user won’t notice all that work you did, but they would notice if you didn’t.
Web-design and development is hard work. There are hundreds and possibly thousands of decisions to be made while progressing through the project. Keeping your eye on all those little details will make sure you succeed.
Above is my latest project for ERLC. I battled, I struggled, but it’s getting to the point where I am nearly 100% satisfied.
In the beginning, Jordan created this blog/website. I’ve always wanted to do this but it’s pretty hard to build your own website when you are constantly building other websites.
However, I’ve finally made it. This website will serve as a platform to demo my projects and generate discussion around everything related to design. I believe that knowledge belongs to the world, so hopefully this blog can aid in creating better design and maybe a better world! That sounds ambitious, but life is about constant self-improvement and making the world a better place.
For all you users out there, feel free to jump in discussions and be critical in things that I say. The world of web-design and technology-design has years to become mastered and I am by no means an expert on everything.
Ready? Set! GO!!!
