Before I begin, let me introduce myself. My name is Travis Simpson, co-owner and lead designer here at Arizona-based Webflo Studios. I graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Digital Art. While I was going to school I learned a lot about design, but outside of school in the "real world" I learned a lot about marketing.
Unique web designers and web designs may not be as common as your typical layout, but there are a good number of them present on the web today. However, the issue with many of these websites is the inability to mix functionality with an attention-grabbing design.
Attention-grabbing design is basically when the web designers reach equilibrium between functionality and powerful design/art ideas. It allows the user to have an experience or remembrance when entering your site for the first time, but also allows for the least amount of frustration for the most amount of content.
The main goal of any business is profitability, and in order to achieve the end goal one must have a steady flow of traffic and repeated visits. There are a number of ways to tackle this issue, be they usability, navigation, or speed. Today we are going to focus on usability and how to mix it with an attention-grabbing design.
Usability:
Usability for web designers is one the many facets of web design that I usually develop and plan first and foremost. Before even stepping foot into unique design or art direction, one must think of ways to direct the user's attention to the content of the website and build the artistic content around it.
More often than not, when web designers try to rely solely on an artistic design, they end up losing their viewers since they are far too distracted by the art direction.
So instead, one should focus on design that will accommodate the content instead of clash with it. Anything from subtitles for borders to unique flash banners can achieve this effect without dwarfing the content.
I have come across a large number of Arizona-based businesses that would surely see a return on their investment if they would deviate ever so slightly from an extremely ordinary site.
The ability to keep the most pertinent content in the center of the page as well as any necessary functional add-ons easy to find is a simple concept to grasp. Make sure that no matter what category your business is in, viewers have the ability to distinguish between your site and another business's website within the same vertical. More often than not, I see far too many businesses here in Arizona with a website that is far too similar to their neighbor's down the street. Usability mixed with a potent dose of art direction and web design can be a powerful ally in the fight to keep customers coming back.
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