Brooke Fine on tue 2 sep 03
I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate input
as to what you like and
what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential and what
non essential.
What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a website?
Thanks for your help.
Brooke
Catherine White on tue 2 sep 03
Keep it simple and use only a few clean colors. Make sure the font stands
out crisply from the background. My preference is a dark background with a
few brightly-colored "buttons" with a brief description and a few small
pictures. If I use the "Gallery" button and am taken to multiple items that
can be viewed enlarged, pleez!, have a "next" option at that enlargement.
It's too time consuming to repeatedly return to the Gallery page to enlarge
the next item.
Of lesser importance, show the address of the pottery's location on the home
page at the bottom. If there's an "Artist's Bio" button, it's nice to
include a picture of the artist with the bio.
Regards from
Catherine's Studio
(aka the garage)
in Yuma, AZ
=================================================
----- Original Message -----
> I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate input
> as to what you like and
> what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential and what
> non essential.
> What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a website?
> Brooke
David Hendley on tue 2 sep 03
I think a craftsman-person's web site should be simple. No blinking
lights, no dancing pots, no music to get you in the mood.
Most importantly, it should load quickly.
After that, it depends on the individual. If the person has written
many articles, that deserves a page. If they have had many
impressive exhibitions, make a page with pictures to tell the
story. If it is a selling site, have a "for sale" page.
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
> I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate input
> as to what you like and
> what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential and what
> non essential.
> What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a website?
>
Janet Kaiser on wed 3 sep 03
I can only give you a list of personal preferences and
prejudices, Brooke.
1. Avoid all those flash movies, whizzo stuff which freeze up
screens, crash people's computers and take forever to download...
Sitting waiting for something to appear on-screen is no fun and
unless I really, really desperately want to see work, I will just
go away, never to return, let alone see more than the home page.
2. Keep design "classy", simple and consistent from page to page.
I simply hate those sites which jump from pink lettering on a
blue ground, to yellow on green... Indeed, most craft sites need
a neutral background so all the work will look good. Having said
that, a change of background is a neat device for making the
different sections (if any) of a site really obvious to surfers.
3. And of course the all-important images... I cannot tell you
how many sites have HUGE images which take forever to download
(see 1.) It is like watching paint dry. OK I have made that
mistake on our own site, but am gradually changing it to being
really low resolution images and/or just thumbnails which people
can click if they want to see the enlarged image.
4. Another size issue is the font... I need a magnifying glass to
read what I downloaded from the Micro$oft site recently. And that
is the printed version too!
5. Do not try reinventing the wheel and use sideways scrolling...
It may seem boring and uninventive for a designer, but scrolling
up and down is the convention. Stuff at the side can be
overlooked.
6. Remember a web search will land people not at the home page as
links should, but just about anywhere on the site. The ability to
navigate to other parts of the site from every single page
becomes quite important.
7. Many sites show fine examples of work, but there is no
indication of size.
8. Selling sites (as opposed to information only) should have a
simple system and every item should have a clearly noted price.
9. I hate sites where I have to search hard to find a contact
name and address. That also has to be with a good e-mail reply
service... Not someone checking the mail once in a blue moon. I
get quite irate replies from people who expect me to be here 24
hours per day and answering instantly within the hour if not
minutes... That is naturally stupid, but on the other hand, a
reply a week or month later is not good.
10. It is a nice touch to have pages which will print off without
fracturing. This is quite difficult to achieve, but it is worth
considering. I really do dislike printing a page and then out
comes an additional page with maybe just a line or two... Gross
waste of paper!
11. Don't presume everyone has the same size screen. Again,
scrolling up and down and well as right-left is too tedious for
words.
12. I have found that people do not read much online. This makes
content rather than design tricky, because for every person who
wants full information, there are 20-30 who will just skim
through looking at the pictures.
Anyway, that is my dozen... Hope it helps!
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate
input
>as to what you like and
>what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential
and what
>non essential.
>What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a
website?
*** THE MAIL FROM Brooke Fine ENDS HERE ***
***********************************************************
The top posted mail was sent by Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art : Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : Wales : UK
Centre of Excellence for The Arts
Home of The International Potters' Path
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Open: 13.00 to 17.00hrs : Tuesday to Saturday
************** AVG Virus Protected ********************
Ababi on wed 3 sep 03
I hate music and even more macromedia.
I love white background.
Ababi
Libby Krause on wed 3 sep 03
Hi Brook,
Music is the worst! I think it's rather presumptuous to assume one
music style will be appreciated by everyone. The next worst thing is
the stuff that flashes and jumps around.
Things I would find useful:
*thumbnails with big (but no bigger than a page) "large" pictures
*any text must fit the width of the screen and not need to scroll to
the right to keep reading (very irritating)
*easy navigation, if possible when "back" is clicked to go to the same
place on the previous page rather than the "top" of a long page
Hope this helps,
Libby
On Tuesday, September 2, 2003, at 10:13 AM, Brooke Fine wrote:
> I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate input
> as to what you like and
> what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential and
> what
> non essential.
> What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a
> website?
> Thanks for your help.
> Brooke
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Bob Nicholson on wed 3 sep 03
Here are a few simple things that are often overlooked. These "rules" are
written for art groups and guilds, but many apply to individual artist sites
as well:
Include your group name, type of group, and geographical location on your
home page as text (not just in an image). Search enginess will index this
information so that people can find your group. (For the webmaster / techies
among you, this info should be in the KEYWORDS and DESCRIPTION tags as well.)
Include a short description of your organization and what it does
(2-3 sentences).
Put this near the top of your home page, and search engines will
typically show it
in the search results.
If you have a physical location (gallery, studio, meeting place), include the
complete address of the location, plus directions or a link to one of the
online mapping services like Expedia, MapQuest or Yahoo Maps. Be
sure to include the hours you are open!
Include a complete mailing address with ZIP / Postal Code! (People still
use snail-mail to communicate.)
Include a contact phone number, if possible. Some groups use a messaging
service like onebox.com; it costs less than $10 per month.
Include a contact e-mail address. If you don't want to list an e-mail
address (which can be "harvested" by spammers), provide a contact
"form" that will generate an e-mail message (like the Contact form that
we use). Your webmaster or hosting provider can advise you on how
to set this up.
Submit your site to search engines and various listing services. Almost all
web traffic comes from just a few search engines; it's important to submit to
Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Note that directories such as Yahoo have started
to charge for listings, but still offer a free listing for non-profit groups.
Ask other groups if they will link to you. This will, over time, increase your
rank in search engines.
Make sure you keep your site up to date! Studies have shown that about a
third of the links on internet are out of date. A site with broken links and
out-of-date information creates a very poor impression of your organization.
Include your website address on everything that your group prints or publishes.
[from http://www.artchain.com/resources/]
wayneinkeywest on wed 3 sep 03
Brooke:
All of the responses you have received have been good ones. I offer one
other:
Find an old 286 or 386 system that still works and has a 28.8K modem.
Try accessing whatever website you design on THAT system.
If it loads reasonably quickly, you've done your job properly.
Not everyone has the newest, fastest, and biggest, especially schools.
Just MHO, of course.
Wayne in Key West
where we all have our fans pointed east, to blow Fabian away :>)
> > I am taking a class in web design and would very much appreciate input
> > as to what you like and
> > what you dislike in a website. Also what you consider essential and what
> > non essential.
> > What,.in particular, should a craftsperson have or not have on a
website?
> > Brooke
Janet Kaiser on thu 4 sep 03
Funny how many painters (getting worried about using the word
"artist" around here) prefer white backgrounds, like Ababi.
I chose a black ground with white lettering for our first web
site and naturally I got all the artists, designers and makers I
knew with a PC/Mac to take a look. I must say that we were quite
taken aback by the number of people who told us to change to
white instead... One even went so far as to say that black always
indicated it was set up by an adolescent male!? Now I know I
wanted my bedroom ceiling painted black around age 16, but
really!
Then again white print on a black ground was not a new concept
for computer users until relatively recently and I quite miss
that if truth were told (but didn`t like the green / yellow on
black even if it was supposed to cause less eye strain)
Then again everyone is naturally used to black print on a white
ground in all printed matter, however I must say that I enjoy the
added freedom that this electronic medium provides designers,
without having to worry about printing costs. OK I went a bit mad
on the last make-over of our CoA website and now I have seen in
on this new PC the colours are not in the least like the
original! Do not ask me why this should be so, but they are much
harsher and more definite, boarding on plain yucky... Certainly
not what I would chose or intended no matter which browser and I
absolutely HATE to think what it must look like on a MAC!?
As for the music... Well, I have included a little gentle harp
melody on the home page to indicate the type of site it is and
where, not specifically to create any mood in the viewer. Out in
cyber space I get really annoyed with sites which have no
indication where in the world they are geographically. Once again
it is because up to now, printed matter was not usually
distributed beyond the immediate locality. National coverage cost
mega amounts and international exposure... Well, only Hollywood
movies and the multi-nationals ever got that!
Music is a subtle way of indicating The Chapel of Art and the
International Potters' Path are in Wales, "The Land of Song" and
also the harp. (Yes, we all like harping on!! :-)
I personally get around not hearing all the awful noise produced
by some web sites AND computer actions which make me jump out of
my skin, by (a) turning off all the latter and (b) turning my
speakers right down or even off completely, especially if I surf
at night when Eckhard is asleep.
Talking of which...
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser -- change of exhibition completed! Now awaiting the
"Blackberry Visitors" as they are locally known... All those
without school-aged children who spend a remarkable amount of
time gathering blackberries, much to the disgust of the local jam
makers and hedgerow foragers...
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>I hate music and even more macromedia.
>I love white background.
>Ababi
*** THE MAIL FROM Ababi ENDS HERE ***
***********************************************************
The top posted mail was sent by Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art : Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : Wales : UK
Centre of Excellence for The Arts
Home of The International Potters' Path
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Open: 13.00 to 17.00hrs : Tuesday to Saturday
************** AVG Virus Protected ********************
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