As we return from our three week hiatus from Web Design, we begin to embark on the journey of our second project. Right now, before we begin actually creating our own webpage and portfolio’s we are learning some important fundamentals. The two main concepts we are exploring is the idea of “Designing for Emotion” and the importance of Web Typography.

I don’t know about you guys, but I had no idea a website could have “personality”, and the font the designer chooses is a crucial decision. After reading and talking about these two ideas this week, I am beginning to understand why these two concepts are so important to Web Design. When it comes to emotional design there are some things you need to keep in mind. In order for a users needs to be met an interface needs to be three things. First, an interface must be functional. I know for me personally if a site is not functional I don’t spend much time browsing on the page. Second, the interface must be reliable. This is simple in the fact that, if the site keeps crashing or exiting out then you won’t use the webpage. The last basic is that an interface must be usable. I love when a site is easy to navigate and perform tasks on. Always makes me feel smart, efficient, and accomplished. Below is a site that is not functional or usable.headhunter.jpg

The design the company chose was very misleading. Users commented that they were unsure if they wanted to take them boating or cut their hair. The menu bar was disorganized and hard to read due to the icon and font, size, and color. If I was researching sites to get my hair done, and came across “Head Hunter Hair Styling” I would not follow through and make an appointment due to their disorganized web presence.

We talked about the importance of your site having craft and personality. This idea of having both craft and personality lets users see the humans at the other end of the connection. I realized that typography can make or break a webpage. There is a big importance behind the idea of “readability”. Readability combines the emotional impact of design (or lack thereof) with the amount of effort it presumably takes to read. As a web designer, each decision you make could potentially effect a readers understanding, causing them to lose interest and leave the site. Typography is one of your greatest design assets. The font you choose to use is also how you are choosing to deliver the message. We have a long way to go before we are able to fully understand “the language of type”, but as we embark on this second project try and take the time to learn the language. By learning this new language it has the potential to “take your typography from mere words on a page to something that resonates.”