Colours, Cultures, and Websites

So I've been taking classes in writing, editing, and design for two years now. In nearly every class, our teachers keep hammering into us that we need to know our audience in order to be effective at our jobs. When it comes to choosing colours for designing a website, the same thing is true.

It's well known that different colours have different meanings associated with them. And, to complicate things, colours mean different things in different cultures. In the western world for instance, white symbolises purity and is used at weddings and baptisms. However, in the eastern world, white symbolises death and is used at funerals. Smart web designers are aware of these differences and design their websites accordingly.

What makes designing websites more challenging is the global reach of the Internet. A wedding website can be viewed just as easily in Asia as in North America. If web designers are trying to reach both markets, they need to take care when deciding on colour choices.

But culture isn't the only thing that affects what a colour means to an individual. Other factors in colour association include the following:

• Age
• Gender
• Trends
• Class

Web designers need to know their audience and choose colours carefully. Otherwise, they risk unintentionally offending their audience.

For more information, check out the links below.

http://www.sibagraphics.com/colour.php

http://webdesign.about.com/od/color/a/aa072604.htm

http://www.topendsports.com/design/color-culture.htm

Jakob Nielson - Usability Guru

Jakob Nielsen is a well known web usability consultant. Nielsen has worked for companies such as Sun Micosystems, Bell Communications, and IBM. At these companies, he was so well-known as a world expert that he pretty much did what he thought needed to be done, whether it was what he was hired to do or not. He is also controversial because while he talks about making website visitors become customers and making sites more accessible to people with disabilities, his personal design preference leaves much to be desired. His own website is ghastly to look at and certainly not what one would expect from a well-respected usability expert.

Here are some links to more information about Nielsen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Nielsen_(usability_consultant)
http://www.useit.com/jakob/ (his personal website)
http://www.webreference.com/new/nielsen.html

W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an organization that "develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding." (http://www.w3.org)

Basically, they help the internet be all that it can be. Supporting businesses include Microsoft, HP, and Nokia. Al Gore also praised the W3C for their committment to making the web more accessible for people with disabilities.

Members of W3C take on a leadership role in shaping the web, promote their image as an innovator, and learn about market trends before the rest of the business does.

More information can be found at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web_Consortium

As part of its mandate, the W3C also develops standards for website designs. The following link lists websites that conform to these standards:
http://w3csites.com/

My Favourtie Websites

I have 3 websites that I really like:
http://www.hr.ubc.ca
http://www.google.ca
http://www.msn.ca

The UBC one I like because it's so clean looking. The site has a common look and feel consistant with the rest of the university websites and it is consistant from page to page. I like that there are lots of quicklinks to make navigation easier. The headings are clear and you always know where you are in the website at any given time.

Google is also nice and clean. And useful. And used at least 10 times a day by me.

I like msn because it gives me a quick glance at what is going on in the world every day. It covers all different topics that are located in the same location everyday so you always know where to look for the weather or the stock prices. It is easy to find what I am looking for.

Facebook

I was one of the last of my friends to join Facebook and now I'm hooked on it. I spy on people, mock ex-boyfriends, and am thrilled to talk to people I went to kindergarton with. It's lots of fun.

http://www.facebook.com

My Hometown

I grew up in Bonnville, Alberta. The population fluctuates between 3000 and 6000 depending on the price of oil. There's a Dairy Queen and a Kentucky Fried Chicken but no movie theatre or McDonald's. In rural Alberta, you know your town's a decent size when you get a McDonald's.

However, I was shocked to discover that Bonnyville actually has a Starbucks now. Well, kindda. They built a huge community centre which is mostly designed to host hockey games and dances (of course). The concession stand now "proudly serves Starbucks coffee." It's probably the biggest news to hit Bonnyville in 6 months.

Anyway, I still read their paper online every now and then. Check it out at http://www.bonnyvillenouvelle.ca/.

My Favourite Blog (OK, the only one I've read in the last 2 years)

Somehow, despite being both a computer geek and a writer, I've managed to avoid blogging up until now. I've never really understood the appeal of telling the whole world the random thoughts that bounce around in my head and give me headaches. It just seems like a pretty self-involved thing to do. However, I did stumble across a blog that gave me hope that I might actually enjoy this whole thing.

Rocks in My Dryer (http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/ ) is an amusing blog that I spent a good 20 minutes reading through. It features the ramblings of a mom of 4 kids, which isn't that unusual in itself. However, this woman is witty, not just wishfully-witty and I can really relate to a lot of the things she talks about. Plus, she's a paid editor at another blogging website and she's going to Africa in February to blog relief efforts there. That sounds pretty cool to me. I might have to keep reading it to see how her trip goes.