What Is Your Site’s Personality?
As I mentioned yesterday I’m in the planning stages for redesigns on all the properties that I am a part of. These involve:
What I am finding interesting is that when I think of the personalities that we are trying to portray on these sites not all the designs seem to match. I think 9rules fits perfectly with what we are trying to achieve. It’s great content, with a laid-back feel to it. We want anyone to feel as though they can post a Note without worrying about stepping into the realm of geniuses, but we also want them to have faith in the fact that we have selected the best sites across the web to guide them towards.
Wisdump is sort of in the middle. The site is mostly seriously topics, with a bit of a crazy spin on things, but I do think it could have a more personal feel behind it while still retaining its professionalism.
Oreo CEO I love. I have a new project coming out in 2007 so some minor changes need to be done, but the personality of the site matches exactly what I want to convey.
ScrivsTyme is not even close to the personality that Tyme and I have on the show. You have a serious looking site, with two people who have nothing but fun. Definitely needs an overhaul.
I think a lot of site owners would have a problem answering the question of what their site’s personality is though. Everyone wants professional, but doesn’t understand that professional comes in many forms. Nobody ever seems to ask for polished or playful and if they do they probably don’t think they can get them both at the same time.
If one of your selling points is that you provide a wonderful community for people, then shouldn’t the site have a community feel to it or should it feel as though you just walked into a corporate boardroom? Slashdot’s design has always matched the community behind it I feel. An elitist type of personality to match the geek crowd where everyone thinks they are right.
I used Apple in a post yesterday and I get to use them again today. Don’t you think their site matches their personality? Clean design. Easy to use. Fun.
A final example that comes to mind is the New York Times. The design just fits the personality of the paper.
I know it might seem like a silly question but ask yourself does your site match the personality that you are trying to show your audience? Do you wear daisy dukes and flip flops on your first date or a suit and tie to the beach?
Related reading:
Great post Scrivs.
I don’t think 5411 shows exactly what I am trying to convey, but the next ieration seems to be spot on. What I find is that I started my site, then found a place and a voice and have been trying to get my design to that same place with each iteration. As my voice evloves though, I seem to leave the design behind.
I think Rundle is damn good at matching a site’s look to it’s voice.
I think the Apple site is old and outdated. Those tabs are killing me.
By Mike Papageorge on November 14, 2006 5:56 am
Excellent question. Personally, for me, my site doesn’t match my personality. This is mostly because my full time job is a web developer for a book publisher. My personal website seems to be what takes the backburner. I don’t do freelance, so my site is not there to sell myself. As it stands now, its pretty much the default wordpress installation - where I could start getting content in place.
Now, as a professional web developer - my own site NEEDS to be a better reflection of me and my personality. I will be overhauling it over the Christmas season, custom framework - new (simple) design - and switching to new servers. It’s tough for me to call myself a professional web developer, and have my own site lack my personality. Believe me, I have struggled for a while - but I devote the majority of my time to barbourbooks.com and the other sites within that domain, that my site simply takes the backseat.
I think your site is a good represenation of the ‘personality’ of the site. Very clean, very serious - and the content is key.
By Nate K on November 14, 2006 11:15 am
Hmm good question I think my design relays who I am for the most part. But I find as my skills increase it allows me to express myself better. I also notice maturity in my designs as I gain life experience.
An issue that I see sometimes is that when a designer designs something for a client that doesn’t portray the clients personality (aka branding). One has to somewhat check their personality at the door to some degree. Apply their style/technique, but not their personality. You see great designers, artists, architects, and photographers do this all the time.
By John Labriola on November 14, 2006 11:21 am
Papa G: While writing the entry the thought did occur to me that many times when we first create a site for ourselves we might not be aware of the personality that will evolve a year from now and I think many times that plays a role as to why many people redesign so often. Sure they get bored with their design, but they also might be growing and changing and therefore they want the site to change with them.
Just because Apple uses the same old tabs I don’t think you can call the site outdated considering the rest of the pages. Surprisingly, I think the store page is the worst designed page on their site. Go figure.
By Scrivs on November 14, 2006 12:24 pm
I think my site does a pretty good job of conveying not only who I am (professional, quiet but passionate, funny) but also how I design and develop sites (attractive, clean, no extraneous elements, understanding the hierarchy of information).
But your post is making me consider how to make my site depict me and my work even *more.*
By Dale Cruse on November 14, 2006 1:03 pm
I find that “personality” is something that is easier to do on sites where I am the client and designer than when I am doing it for someone else. What we call “personality” is often perceived by the client as “something that makes their site different from others.” Obviously, that should be a wonderful thing, but it scares the crap out a client that is comfortable with the status quo. It is easy for them to say “give my site Apple’s personality” but it is very difficult for them to understand that they should be striving to create their own identity. Does anyone have any pointers about how to convince a client that they need their own personality?
By Adrian on November 14, 2006 1:09 pm
Though I managed to achieve the look I wanted with my website, I got too carried away in adding functionality and ended up forgetting about some of the basic design rules I preach about to others.
There’s a serious lack of whitespace, the typography is too “tight” and
somemany HTML tags aren’t properly defined in the CSS file.I’m definitely giving it an overhaul soon, and not a 1.X one, I’m starting fresh again from 2.0. And the style I’ll be pursuing will be a clean one, with a good sense of design, but with usability and readability in mind.
By Marco (Griffith) Jardim on November 14, 2006 1:42 pm
WRT Apple, the site is nice, but the tabs hit me first and you know what they say about first impressions.
They don’t look clean and cutting edge to me, but then, I don’t use an Apple, so maybe they don’t speak to me the way they speak to Apple users. (Which is kind of why those Apple Guy v. Window Guy ads tanked, no? They resonated to Applers but were annoying to Wincers…)
And that store is horrible. Can’t they do better then osCommerce ;-)?
By Mike Papageorge on November 14, 2006 3:24 pm
That’s definitely a question and perspective I’ve not taken a look into for my website(s). What’s the personality behind all that professionalism?
As a designer, high tendency of being clouded by merely design principles or the conceptual meaning of the design but doesn’t communicate enough of what the personalities are behind the the company.
Great reminder. :)
By Danny Foo on November 18, 2006 12:29 am
On a personal note I think this site is a better design than your Oreo CEO one. The latter is difficult to read, especially the hyperlinks and block quotes.
In saying that, it would be nice to see some imagery to brighten this site up.
Keep up the good work.
By David Airey on December 7, 2006 1:41 pm
Most designers, if not all, treat color as a major tool to establish a look and create a pleasant appearance for the entire web site.
There are just four personality types and each has its own distinctive characteristics and typical responses to a variety of situations.
You can check
http://www.featurepics.com/Editorial/Colors.aspx - Specific colors and a way to vizualize them.
By FPImages on January 10, 2007 1:48 pm