Designing Thoughts.
So, what are my thoughts on what makes an excellent website vs. a mediocre one? Let us first start with what I view as mediocre, or even poor in design.
A mediocre or poorly designed website usually will leave you lost in too many distractions. These distractions can be overpowering graphics, excessive advertisements, excessive use of dynamic buttons, text that is aesthetically unappealing in color, size, or focus.
A mediocre or poorly designed website will lack organization of content, will often say too much, or in an attempt to cover for lack of thoughtful ingenuity, they will often be filled with hype which looks like many other websites.
Turning thought into practice.
There are so many wonderful things that you can do with graphics, and graphical interfaces that will convey a mood, a thought, or even a personality to whom the website is about. I am not against these things used sparingly and wisely, yet I chose to design my own site in the way that you see it to show what can be done with good layout and simple text.
Graphics & Layout
Good Layout can bring balance, a sense or relaxation and focus. It can draw the eye further into the content when there is balance. It's like creating "the yellow brick road" per se, which will eventually lead us to the place where we get all of the answers to our questions. Excessive graphics can be like the "flying monkeys" that keep trying to snatch us off the path to Oz.
Text Fonts
Choosing the right text font can set the mood for what you will convey. It can be nostalgic, playful, serious, or even mysterious. Text can portray hardship, luxury, adventure, and many other ordinary, or extraordinary life circumstances we can relate with.
Photos
Meaningful photos that portray a thought are invaluable if they match the textual content, and they make what you are saying in print more real and livable. Excessive use of photos, or photos of unlike subject matter will distract the mind.
Organization
Have you ever been on a website where you feel like you are buried so deep in pages that you can't find your way out? I have, and sometimes it gives such a sense of confusion that you forget all about what they are trying to say.
Too many options wastes time. Some of the most successful restaurants in the world have the simplest dinner menus. That being said, your website menus should also be simplistic enough to keep someone from feeling overwhelmed with choices. They should be organized in such a way that they tell a story from one chapter to the next.