Work
May 30, 2007
Well spring is almost over and I have to say that it’s been really busy and exciting these last few months.
I was in Austin again this year for
There are three projects that I’ve been heavily involved with lately that have recently launched.
March 8, 2007
I’ve performed a little facelift on the front of the site. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while, since I felt the home page wasn’t a correct reflection of content within. The blog is a main section, but I don’t consider this site primarily a blog, and it was one of the most prominent elements on the page.
There are other areas of the home page that also get updated and they were being relegated to the sidebar. I wasn’t very happy with that and I also really wanted to break away from the the big column and sidebar look for the home page. Reducing the the real estate for the blog really opened up the space. Now there’s also more room for the other dynamic elements to balance out the most recent blog entry.
November 1, 2006
The changes may not seem like that much at first, but it’s definitely more of a realignment than a redesign. When I originally set out, I had just few goals in mind that I wanted to accomplish. I kept adding more changes and it ended up being almost a total code rewrite.
My first objective was to increase the contrast. On some monitors the older version had a washed out look. I wanted the graphic elements to be subtle and not overpower the content, but I think they were a little too subtle. So, the colors and the graphic elements such as the pin-striping have been adjusted for greater contrast.
February 23, 2006
Exactly what is it that influences our perception of a nicely designed piece? Well, obviously, the way that something looks plays a large role. I think that it’s also everything coming together as a result of a well-thought out design that elevates our opinion to a much higher level. You know something is different, but most of the time you don’t take the time to really think about it. Subconsciously you are aware of it, but haven’t identified each piece.
First off, it looks amazing, but why do we think so? For me, it is usually clean lines and simplicity. But, lying underneath that, it functions well, and it’s also intuitive. I understand how to use it with little or no instructions.
October 17, 2005
When designing a site, in addition to the overall design, I’ll do custom layouts for certain pages based upon the different types of content. I usually tweak the design of the site again to help everything flow together. I spend a lot of time thinking about how certain elements of the site will interact with each other. Since web design is not static, I make allowances for that in the design and try to anticipate the areas of the layout that will need the most flexibility.
If it’s a site that is going to be maintained by someone other than myself, or even if I am going to be the one making updates, a Content Management System is usually part of the process. This involves breaking the layout into blocks of content, and making templates that have repeating information such as a header and a footer. What I end up with is a basic framework that has one or two areas that I will insert content into.
Darren Ansley is a UI/Web Designer & Front End Developer living in The Woodlands, TX. I spend my days working for the Houston based web application development company Whiteboard Labs.
When I have free time, I spend it working on Designgive. An apparel site which features artists and gives a portion of the sale to the charity of your choice.