Project 1: ImPrint Refelction

With this project came a lot of new things. This was my first time to really even think about doing something with web design or anything other than print design. Coming into this project, I was expecting things to be a lot easier than they actually were. How hard could it be to simply lay things out on a web page, right? I never really struggle with starting at a blank screen and not knowing where to start, but for some reason the fact that this project was so different than anything I’ve done, I was super intimidated and felt super clueless as to where to go. I felt like my head was flooded with ideas, but I couldn’t figure out how to execute them at all. This entire process was a lot more mentally taxing than any other design assignment I’ve had to do. There were just so many elements and restrictions to consider. All of the crazy factors: being limited in the fonts you can use, the colors you can use, the grid, the size of text, and hierarchy, all had to come together and make a solid and readable design. In most of my design work, I tend to try and push myself in a direction that hasn’t been done yet and in a way that is unique and appealing. My biggest pet peeve is seeing things that I can name where they came from. This also brought to surface a new challenge. I found myself for the first time wanting to push the design direction in a very simple way. I ended up wanting to use as little embellishment as possible. Which if you know my style is a big deal! I feel like this realization is a positive thing though and will continue to improve my design in the interactive area for the years to come. Like I stated before, this type of work is really different than anything else and with that is a lot to learn. I already feel like I’ve learned so much with just one project. I want to continue to work on seeing websites as a whole and being aware of all the small factors (negative space, shading, type size, ect.) that make a great website a great website.