...making Linux just a little more fun!
By Mark Seymour
There's nothing like a foot of snow on the ground (as I write this) to make you think of winter, so this month we'll again work on the website for our winter sports equipment company:
Last issue we created a colorway, a color logotype, and a logotype variant for use on a color background (go here to refresh your memory), along with the home page for the company. We also created a first-level internal directory page.
This month we'll extend the line to include a raw product line page.
To put some flesh on the bones of the line, here's the revised version (I'd like to thank the Grivel equipment company for the ice axes loosely described in these pages; see their site for accurate information.)
That leads us to a specific product page:
These pages have also been sized to be non-scrolling and the photos have been kept small for quick opening. The specification link on each product page, if active, would take the viewer to a different page grid, allowing for much more text or detailed photos. There are also links to industry certification of the product, along with one to a QuickTime video of the product being made in the notional AlpineGear factory. Note that we've also allowed for non-US customers by providing a currency conversion page that, using pop-ups (like those here, or you could avoid all the programming and just let the customer use that site in a new window), would automatically convert the price of the product into any of the 180 or so major currencies (assuming your credit card company allows you to accept payments in colons, leks, pulas, or takas). There are also direct links to the shopping cart, allowing the customer to add or remove the product without having to view the cart.
While this has been a look at a very simply styled website, and presents only a few pages of what could be a several-hundred page site, I hope it has helped you visualize how choices of color and style will shape the presentation of information.
Next month we'll return to the basics and talk about building a logo or a logotype. As ever, if there's something specific you're interested in, let me know.
I started doing graphic design in junior high school, when it was still
the Dark Ages of technology. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were both eleven
years old, and the state of the art was typing copy on Gestetner masters.
I've worked on every new technology since, but I still own an X-acto knife
and know how to use it.
I've been a freelancer, and worked in advertising agencies, printing
companies, publishing houses, and marketing organizations in major
corporations. I also did a dozen years [1985-1997] at Apple Computer; my
first Macintosh was a Lisa with an astounding 1MB of memory, and my current
one is a Cube with a flat screen.
I've had a website up since 1997, and created my latest one in 2004. I'm
still, painfully, learning how web design is different from, but not
necessarily better than, print.