Generation of Ideas

The first lecture for the Digital Collaborative Practice module was basically an introduction to the module and the tutor. This introduction comprised of a general look at web design, why websites are created, and a brief look at certain tools/programs used to create them. One point that was noted during the lecture was that the tutor stated that we should be generating ideas for the design of our particular websites.

Generating an idea for a website seems to be the first and one of the most important stages of design, as with out any form of idea or materials to contribute an idea, the websites look or feel will not exist. This requires one to generate ideas for the general outlook of the site.

“Before setting to work with your web page design software, switch off your PC, get pen and paper and note down your initial ideas: what you want to achieve from your website” (Austin, 2004, p13).

Whilst we are not creating a site for a particular use we still need to generate ideas for the design, colour scheme, typography, and layout of the site. Methods of idea generation can differ from each individual but certain methods exist, one that would be most useful for an individual would be a mood board. A mood board is a collection of real world stimuli that the individual feels would be appropriate for their design. It can include images, photographs, magazine cut-outs, colour schemes, material samples, drawings, doodles; anything that one feels is suitable for the design.

To begin gathering stimuli for ideas I decided to walk around town and with my camera and photograph any stimuli that I preferred the look of. Some of the results can be seen below:




Bibliography

Austin, B (2004) Web Page Design in Easy Steps. United Kingdom: in easy steps.