Simple Web Sites

There is a movement towards minimalism in web design. End users are tired of and turned off by overloaded sites that are difficult to navigate and slow to load. Faced with organizing vast amounts of content into a structure that can be accessed quickly and easily, many designers have created techniques that make designing more manageable. This book offers insight from top designers on creating simpler web sites, while offering the reader visual inspiration. Stefan Mumaw owns and acts as Senior Creative Director for Big Man Creative, a Laguna Hills, California, graphic design and Web development firm. The design firm specializes in creative design solutions, both for online and offline projects. Stefan also teaches Web design and Macromedia Flash development at his alma mater, Chapman University, in Orange, California. This author lives in .

• 1. Content Organization for Simpler Design
  • Redefining Content Presentation
  • Designing with Few Assets
  • How to Communicate Just Enough
  • Who Needs Copy
  • Dissecting the Content
  • Designing without Content
  • Storyboarding the User Experience
  • Purposeful Content
  • Highlighting Strong Content
• 2. Using Design Principles to Encourage Visual Minimalism
  • Working with an Abbreviated Time Frame
  • Hundreds of Items Organized into One Clean Design
  • Using Navigation as the Primary Design Element
  • Design as a Subtractive Process
  • Draws in Users
  • Using Color to Aid Visual Simplicity
• 3. Simplifying the User Experience
  • Designing for the Design Firm
  • Designing for a Documentary
  • The Designer as Client
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Design That's Driven by a Company's Philosophies
  • Communication as a Two-Way Street
  • Letting the Site Map Evolve
  • How to Inform Intelligently
  • Remaining Objective about Personal Design