WDIGTS - Site Design

I'm thinking a lot about the design of the website [not the development]. I'm the type of person who loves a design for a month, and then wants a new one. It's really hard for me to settle on a design. I want something that will come across as a neutral design, but I know that even a "neutral" design will have to conform to styles and colors. I would love to define an age group, but I know that my audience is not age specific. I can estimate that most of the viewers will be male, based on career statistics and purchases of equipment, but I do not want to appeal to males, only. I want this to be open and welcoming to everyone.

The thought of having a few designs and customizing it when you enter the site crossed my mind, but I don't actually feel like coordinating that. Plus, I want brand recognition, and - because my product is a website - I want to have a standard.

I'm really attracted to so many different styles that I'm not sure what to go with. I definitely want a clean look. Part of the reasoning behind the website is organization of information on the internet, so I do want something that isn't distracting: I don't want grunge, particles, or small detail stuff.

I'm thinking of a very clean 3D look with some soft shadows and high key lighting, only using slight shadows to define and separate text or simple shapes.
















Copyright Videocopilot [Andrew Kramer]

I'm potentially looking for something like this, but with more diffused and feathered shadow, brighter light, and the light source would be closer to the camera, making the shadow closer to the text, itself [not so dramatic].

I probably won't go the 3d route, just to make things easier in the design process and workflow with consistency. But, it may be an option for the logo.

I'm currently tabbing pages in a book that I ordered with a lot of visual inspiration. I'll have some updates [hopefully something to show] soon. I'm going to have to start working on the logo, as a part of the design. I have a little cartoon school stuck in my head, but that really goes against the look and feel that I'm going for. WDIGTS is too long and hard to remember to use as a good logo, probably. We'll see. I've got to put a pencil to paper to get some ideas.