A brief history of....Website - Numiko talk

Designing for screen
David Eccles and Thomas Squire

Numiko
digital agency
year 2000
going on for 14 years
based in leeds

Myths in digital design

You need to be able to code
Designing websites gets boring
Web Designers lack understanding of design principles
All the big clients are in London

Design For Europe  http://designforeurope.eu/

• European union star was used which represents Europe. They looked at the angles within the star. Then created a colour palette from all the European flags and combines the colours and angles from the star into different abstract forms.
• A lot of agencies don't think how a brand works online. more restrictions with print, more branding guidelines whereas less with web. Means more freedom, although sometimes it creates more work.
• Mash Creative - font used
• Alternatives they made consisted of using different countries and own individual lines fitting in within the shape, which created separate logos. Although the client didn't like the idea of them being separate logos as they're all about the countries coming together.
• Went on to play with gradients within abstract forms and pushed it further. Used the designs for posters.
• A grid was created from star and then the iconography was made along to ft within the star grid. Everything was thought out and fits,  they created a very consistent design. The brand fits along the print and web.

Design Council  http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/

• Created a responsive website, which means that no matter what device your on, your able to access all the content. 
• Everything on the site had to be thought about responsively. The website it adaptable as well as the content. The graphics minimize, get thinner and then startt to stack upon each other when using smaller screens on devices.
• Icons implemented are also responsive. Svg files are used for illustrations which are vector files so they appear to be crisp. The file size of SVG is very small too. They had to think about the file types for retina screens too which is why they used svg files as they don't appear distorted.
• The more simple you want it to appear online, usually is more complicated to design/create.
• Always updating websites as technology evolves and clients want things changing. Maintenance is still required after setting up the website.
• Using the design councils red colour across the icons to keep brand consistent. Icons were also made to be responsive.

Wahoo for WaterAid   -   http://www.wahoo.wateraid.org/uk/ 

• Donation of £15 to clean water for rest of someones life
• Illustration and videos used to help create/outline/explain the stories for people who needed water. Website was also responsive along with the illustrations and videos.
• Before and after format was used to demonstrate the effect and change the water has made on their lives.
• Designing for good causes is rewarding!

Why graphic designer make great web designers
Typography is King
Understanding of Brand identity
Iconography & illustration
The grid - Underlines everything in graphic design, it gives you structure and allows you to do anything. 


We received a brief from Numiko. Its not a mandatory project but it's something I might consider partaking in.

Numiko Brief  -(sketches / mood boards for crit)
Context
The world needs more people to volunteer their time and expertise to a cause they believe in.
We believe that the web is a great way to raise awareness and get people's support.

Choose a cause that you believe passionately about
Create a digital experience that convinces people to help.
Think carefully about how to grab peoples attention, explain your cause, why it matters, what people can do about it and then persuade them to do something.

Considerations
Think about how you can visually communicate your cause
We'd like to see bold use of typography
Think about how people can interact with your page. Can you use video, animation of interaction design to drive your point home?
Think about how the length of a page can be used to tell a story
Think about the components of a story - The What/Who/Why/When/How
Think about how it works on mobile and desktop mediums.

I enjoyed their presentation they delivered. It was really interesting to see what type of work web designers do and listen to how they approach their projects. I've never considered web design but seeing as theirs a gap in the market for developers and designers Its a possibility for the future. Seeing a graduate from last years 3rd years in a job already was also quite motivating.