RATIONALE

http://uts.universalfavourite.com.au/thu/an_phuong/Home%20Page.html

My website proposal is for CMYK magazine. CMYK is published quarterly and covers many creative fields including art direction, copywriting, design, photography and illustration. The aim of CMYK is to “bridge the gap” between emerging creative artists and industry professionals by welcoming submissions. It provides a place where new artists and design students can showcase their work.

CMYK has an existing website (www.cmykmag.info), but it tends to feel very “busy” and doesn’t have the most attractive look. The intended audience needs a website that displays the magazine in a stylish and informative way, with simple and intuitive navigation system. I have chosen to create a “mini” website which can act as a first point of access for people who want to browse the recent issues of the magazine. A link is included to take them back to the main CMYK website if they wish.

The main features I have included on my mini-site are:

• A link to the CMYK magazine site;
• Covers of the current issue and 8-10 back issues;
• At least three two-page spreads from each issue;
• A “special features” page – basically a gallery of design work;
• A subscription page (web form) for the magazine; and
• A feedback page for people to leave comments about the magazine or website.

My main design features are:

• Black background, which is easy to read and makes images stand out while also having a stylish appearance;
• No text or minimal text visible on every page. Because the mini-site is aimed at designers, I want the look to be as visual as possible and the navigation interactive. Directions appear (in white text on magenta buttons) when the user moves the mouse-pointer over a button to see what it does;
• Option to click on smaller images and thumbnails to see a larger version;
• Reasonably large on-screen format, as most of the target audience has higher resolution monitors.

In putting the website together, I have tried to keep images small (for faster loading) and used thumbnails wherever possible. I have also included alt text options for people with slow browser speeds or browsers that do not support images. The website was built using Dreamweaver.

I asked a number of fellow students to test the website for me. They found the layout appealing and really liked the interactive nature of the buttons and images. They also were happy with the navigation buttons in the “Special Features” section, and told me that the whole site had good usability.

I believe that I have created a successful mini-site that allows users an easy way to discover what CMYK magazine is all about, while allowing them access to the main site if they need to get more information.