Conveying your message
In other words a theme should help you to convey your message and impart a consistent look that runs throughout your website. Begin by deciding upon the title of your site. Then study examples of successful websites. Using the ideas they provide develop a plan that expresses your theme and create a homepage that will demand further investigation.
The importance of following a themeDetermine exactly what your site is all about ... an interest you want to promote, a product or service you want to sell, information you want to share. Keep this focus as you design your pages.Your site should not attempt to be "all things to all people". Observing some limits also involves NOT using every graphic, javascript, animation, music or HTML coding trick that you have available on one web site.
You may have a fantastic picture of ocean waves, but it should not be on the same page as an animated cartoon character... ideally not even on the same web site. And while the javascript producing rippling water is beautiful, it would be out of place on a web page selling truck tires.
Your theme should embrace your website's title
If you have chosen a title for your website or business, think about what theme would compliment that title. Let your imagination take over here and think of several ideas and write them down. If you don't have a title or name chosen, think of the content, graphics, color scheme and/or photos you're going to include on your site. Deciding on a theme might help you come up with a unique name.
Examples of website themes
A theme can be obvious . . . such as a greenhouse using gardening tools, flowers, etc. Or it can be a metaphor. For example, a website about babies could also use a ''gardening'' theme. The metaphors of seedlings, growth, nurturing, feeding and caring for tender plants would translate very well.
Using color
When the theme is a particular color or color combination, the links, buttons and graphics should all reflect that color theme. Use this type of theme for websites that don't fit neatly into any particular category, such as a news site. Stick to your color combination on every page of your website.
Using a logo
If a logo is used as the theme, that logo should be incorporated on every page as well. A logo can be any graphic that hints at the central focus of your internet site. For example, an automotive website might use images of cars, tires, tools, etc. to convey their message and products.
Use your theme to tie your site together
What you are doing, with a theme, is providing cohesiveness to your site - letting visitors know they are still in the same place no matter what website section they are viewing. Web users don't like the feeling of being ''lost'' and will leave a site if they feel they don't know where they are or how to find information.
Site covers and homepagesSite covers and homepages are doorways into your website. Site covers are often confused with splash pages. A splash page is traditionally used for a first splash of color or art - as a doorway into your site. Normally, it automatically transports you to the first real page of the site although, in some cases, the user has to click on ''Enter''. A site cover or homepage, on the other hand, is more like a magazine cover that advertises your site and its contents.
Designing a site coverThis is what a site cover should contain. It should have a splash of art but it also should contain a title and text links to the site divisions so that visitors know exactly where they are and what to do. Site covers allow the designer to use their imagination, but they should contain certain elements. They are: |
