Week 2a: Design Objectives

For the Central PA Comic Con website, my design objectives are as follows:

• Create a place for users to come during the event to find information about what is happening currently.
• Design a site that represents the event visually so the viewer knows immediately what they are looking at.
• Draw the user in with interesting visuals.
• Design a site where the information is displayed in a way that makes sense and is easily accessible.
• Make it so viewing and using the site is an enjoyable, stress-free experience. 
• Create cohesion.

These are my core design objectives. The website has a lot of content that is good, but not well displayed and looking at it how it is currently, I don't see how someone at the event could effectively use it while they are there. That is the biggest thing I would like to address, because at a larger event like a convention especially, it is important to be able to look at the website for direction on where to go for certain things. One way of doing this is by having the page of events at the Comic Con displayed in a way where you can either view it in a schedule format, or you can select a time/date and see what is happening then. They have something that allows for the purchase of pictures or autographs from their guests and I think this could be included in my proposed idea. Another big thing for me is making it obvious this website is for a comic/ pop-culture related event. Right now, it is plain, boring, and not well designed. There is little cohesion or good information architecture. Someone might be turned off immediately just by how it looks, without even reading about the event. I want to change that through interesting and captivating visuals. Obviously, one of the most effective ways of doing this is bringing in pop art style visuals. I can imagine a header with bright pop art illustrations that fades into the background. I could study comics to see common colors and themes and then apply them to the website. As for the information architecture, the tabs on the left just are not effective. Many of the options there could be combined so that there is less menu options for the viewer to pick from. Some other small issues in the page that need adjusting is that there is a huge awkward empty black space that extends to the bottom of the page. Both the menu and the main content are squished into a small wrapper area. The readibility of the buttons for the menu is not very good as it is white text on a lavender background. The cyan color of the main body and "header" text is also very jarring to the eye. These small fixes are all encompassed in designing the site so it represents the event better. Overall, there is a lot to do here, but by defining my design goals, it seems easier to tackle.