904149F AC2 – Product Design
SACE Number: 904149F
SACE Stage 2 Multimedia 2007
Product Design
Photographer Website
Investigation
http://www.photographer.com.au/
(This is just one investigation - I did many. The word limit means I can only present one)
The first result when you search Google.com.au for “Photographer”
Bland yet informative front page.
Javascript needs to be activated just to enter the site.
Large flash element in the middle of the page, encompassing all but the text right at the bottom.
The Flash initially loads on the About page.
Clicking on the various links on the side opens new pages in the area on the right. The ‘Case Studies’ option spawns a new menu with sub-options of various studies.
Each page has static images (generally on the right hand side) and a thin text area with a scroll bar on the left.
I find the ‘front page’ unnecessary, as it presents information and things that are already presented in the website behind it, the wording has obviously been designed to direct search engine hits, and as such is a bit awkward to read. Plus it is bland and boring. I think it would be better without a front page and just go straight to the site. The issue with getting rid of the front page is that Flash has poor support for search engines, and as such rankings and information found by the search robots could be damaged.
The site itself looks good, and is a good width and height. It also loads quickly.
A few issues with the flash pages are that the text column is very thin, which means excessive scrolling and the scrollbar remains visible and interactive on pages with no scrolling element. The flash app also needn’t be so big; the text above and below at least could have been easily done with HTML and CSS. In fact, the entire site could be done with HTML and CSS with the same results, and only a little bit more work. This would enable search engines to crawl then entire site, and also enable people without flash or image capabilities to view it.
Brief
Company Profile
Travis Ranson Photography is a new business formed out of a hobby for taking pictures.
New business
Specialising in action photography.
Go out and take pictures of people doing sports or activities, take photos of events and sports.
Services such as ‘shoot your event’ or get pictures of you doing your thing for promotional material, or just to have a document of what you do, something to look back on.
Sell high quality photos of events and sportspeople to the public, themselves and event organisers for promotional material (eg websites, brochures).
Background
As we are a new business, one of our first priorities is creating a presence in the market – and we feel that a website will be an effective method for us.
We have found that most photographers - due to the nature of the business – have websites, and most of their business can come from those sites
Aims and Objectives
· Generate interest and customers therefore Business
· Showcase work to the public – not necessarily for immediate profit, but for reputation etc
· Provide idea of quality and style of work, skills and abilities
· Information about the business and me
· Create an atmosphere and leave a lasting impression (mostly the job of the Photos)
· Links discussing the sale of images
· Display a selection of best shots.
· Contact information.
Target Audience
People involved in activities that involve Action – hence probably predominantly younger Males. - seeking photographs for promotional or archival or other reasons.
Generally customers from the local area (Adelaide).
Either the participants themselves, or event or carnival organisers may be the people commissioning the photos.
Second audience is the rarely capitalised web surfing population;
By being a cool site to visit and look at – can gain massive traffic through social networking sites. Then can capitalise on online photograph sales, and word-of-mouth reputation.
Design Examples
Clean, simple, stylish.
Atmosphere – wonder, amazement, awe etc
Relatively plain and simple – minimal loud colours - in order to let photos stand out and do the talking.
Look and Feel
No existing branding, so image/identity will need to be considered and created alongside the website.
A logo is the main element of this, and should be prominent on all pages.
I will be producing the Copy text for the pages.
Page navigation should be quick, intuitive and obvious.
All pages should hold a similar shape. i.e. same structure, different content.
Customisability
All elements should be easy and simple to customise and change, with no major restructuring.
Minimal trouble and time invested for major changes.
Dynamic and innovative.
Graphic Specifications
Logo/header image prominent on all pages
Graphics to blend in with the page for a smooth, crisp feel
Photographs for the gallery will be provided, but will need to be converted to a reasonable file size and resolution for viewing over the internet, and so they look good scaled in the gallery.
Method for adding new pictures and gallery pages must be relatively simple and easy to manage, in small or larger amounts.
Even though this is a photography website, page size is still an issue, all non-photograph pages should have the information load instantly, the readability should not be affected by or rely on images. All photographs and images will need to be compressed at a reasonable level, so they are quick to load, yet still look good.
Information Specifications
Text will need to be displayed in a simple and easy to read manner, but matching the theme and feel of the page.
· A Home Page, with brief introduction, and directions to parts of the site to interest visitors quickly.
· An Information/About me page. Will have 2 headings - Photography and Personal – each containing a paragraph or two.
· Gallery Page – with a gallery of best selected images.
· Contact Me page – with contact information and directions, also repeating details about purchasing photos.
All text needs to be easy to edit, change and stylize quickly, and on a regular basis.
Functionality Specifications
Target audience will generally have reasonable internet/computer proficiency – so design, slick navigation, and atmosphere will take priority over big buttons to make things really obvious, but this does not mean that the website should not be simple and clean.
Content should be presented to the viewers in one click, and on every click.
E-commerce Specifications
Minimal online money transactions, and definitely not needed to be core functionality.
An ‘Email for Purchase Information’ link is all that would be required, with a brief statement/link to a page describing options and prices.
Email links should be protected from spam harvesting.
Prototype website stages:
(viewable at www.users.on.net/~anne_walker/ac3docs.html 1 - 7)