Ever since I was in lower school, I’ve always been obsessed with making things look aesthetic and pleasing to the eye. I would always make sure my planner for the upcoming school year would match with the color scheme of my class folders, and I would always utilize different fonts and highlighter pens to make my notes stand out. When I started moving to a more digital planner/ note-taking method, I was keen on making everything look clean and organized while making sure it still had a bit of my personal style to it. It was then that I realized the importance of making digital revisions to my notes. I went through a couple of years with cluttered google doc notes where everything was in Arial 12 pt font and single-spaced. When it came time for finals, it was super hard for me to find any specific information which made my stress levels rise even more. Yet, once I figured out the importance of utilizing stylistic choices such as having a numbered/ unnumbered list, images, different fonts, e.t.c, I was able to find specific information easier and it was more pleasing to read.
As I have continued to work through this unit, I have found multiple style websites and the Rosenzweig reading to be very beneficial to me.
Web Style Guide by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton
I personally found this style website to be helpful as it describes the multitude of ways in which different styling can make a big impact on your target audience.
Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton go on to explain that without a strategy or roadmap for your website project, it will end up looking messy and unpleasing to the eye. Some things to keep in mind:
Strategic planning is not about predicting the future, it is about eliminating risk. For example, for all of my blog posts, I always map out what I am going to say and where I am going to add headings/ pictures on a google document first before starting on my final draft. This preparation step helps make the final blog post look more organized and refined.
You should create a roadmap and focus on what you want to draw attention to. For example, I mapped out before hand that I was going to use a bullet point list for this section as it helps to draw the readers eye to important, specific information that I want to stand out.
Site structure should provide stability and stay consistent. For example, in many of my blog posts I use dividers when switching to a different topic of discussion. This helps to separate thoughts and make the post more organized and easy to read.
Rosenzweig Reading
Rosenzweig's Designing For The History Web provides another element of why the design of a blog is so important.
Some websites actually benefit from having a more clunky look to them. This is due to the fact that if it is not meant to be read by professionals, the audience will be more forgiving and it will add to the unique look of the blog. However, because I want my blog to look more clean, I have tried my best to make my blog look consistent. I do this by making my blog posts similar in structure, so my audience knows what to expect.
Yet, even clunky looking blogs still need to follow the basic principles of good web design. They should still be easy to navigate, follow, and read. For example, I made some drastic changes to my blog after taking some suggestions from my professor and this Rosenzweig reading. I first made the home tab all one column so it was easier to follow. I also deleted the repetition of the featured post section as I realized it was not necessary and was actually drawing attention away from the rest of my blog.
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