Site Project
I have chosen to create a site for a company my mother and I recently started, Studio M Designs. We will make paper goods such as gift tags, personalized stationary and invitations, mailing labels and greeting cards. We will also have our personal artwork on the site for purchase. I would like my site to have the following components:
- graphic design examples
- a place to purchase photographs/other products
- a place to order specific personalized products
- my photography
- a blog about my experience with photography and design
- links to my Etsy site and others
I would like the site to be neatly organized so it's easy to navigate. Examples of features that I don't like in websites include any music, background images or textures that distract from what you are reading or viewing, and any flashing symbols or animated characters. I would prefer my site to be user-friendly and have a calming appearance so the main focus is on the work and products, not the site design itself.
Examples of sites I enjoy:
1. Zappos:
From the homepage, the site's navigation is very user-friendly and it's incredibly easy to find what you would like to purchase. Once you're in a subcategory such as Boots, they make it even easier to narrow down your choices by filtering results through such things as size, color, heel height and style. The site offers seven different image views as well as a video on almost every product. Zappos puts a strong focus on customer service and their site makes it fun to search, shop and buy.
2. Paper Source:
This site is another great example of easy navigation and user-friendliness.
Examples of sites that need improvement:
1. The LivingSpace Company:
I recently used this company to install a pressurized wall in my apartment, and while they were fairly easy to work with, I found their site lacking. On the positive side, they have their contact information very clearly highlighted, and there is not a lot of clutter on their site. But I would have liked more information about the options available, pricing and maybe some customer reviews. Instead, my roommate and I just sort of guessed which wall we would be able to get and went from there.
2. Sidetracks Restaurant:
This site is poorly organized and just has too much going on to be user-friendly and aesthetically appealing.
Target Audience
My target audience is anyone interested in photography and graphic design, and anyone looking to order personalized paper goods such as labels, note-cards or invitations. In my experience, this will mostly include women between 23 and 40 with and without children. I would also like to appeal to a younger demographic by designing products using college team logos and color combinations.
These potential customers love to give personalized gifts to their friends (and themselves of course!) and use unique and custom-made products for parties and special occasions. They like creative handmade items like gift tags and labels, and they like the option to have a say in how these items look.
Competitors
There has been a recent surge of crafty DIY-ers selling their products on sites such as Etsy and on their own personal websites. Larger businesses that we eventually hope to compete with include Hello Lucky and Tiny Prints. Both sites are great examples of what I would like to accomplish.
My target audience is anyone interested in photography and graphic design, and anyone looking to order personalized paper goods such as labels, note-cards or invitations. In my experience, this will mostly include women between 23 and 40 with and without children. I would also like to appeal to a younger demographic by designing products using college team logos and color combinations.
These potential customers love to give personalized gifts to their friends (and themselves of course!) and use unique and custom-made products for parties and special occasions. They like creative handmade items like gift tags and labels, and they like the option to have a say in how these items look.
Competitors
There has been a recent surge of crafty DIY-ers selling their products on sites such as Etsy and on their own personal websites. Larger businesses that we eventually hope to compete with include Hello Lucky and Tiny Prints. Both sites are great examples of what I would like to accomplish.
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