Australian Olive Oil Company

[pauland]

Yesterday I attended a lecture given by a well known web designer.

Who was it?

I think a lot of what was said is quite relevant - the move to mobile platforms is changing interactions greatly, though the vast majority of people aren't there yet.

I think the "Above the fold" advice is premature - I suspect it's related more to the notion that page interactions are changing - if you have a tablet you will be used to flicking to a new page or section and drilling down to get more detailed information. The tablet browsing experience is quite differrent to that of the desktop and I expect that browsing experience to migrate. Windows 8 will push that kind of interface. Touch interfaces require large controls not fiddly interfaces requiring precision.

I think the "above the fold" advice is going to be relevant always, though the fold in question may be differrent to what it is today ( for example, tablet web pages just need a flick to move to new content, that is far easier than scrolling with a mouse, so it's easier to access secondary content, but still the content we see initially ("above the fold") is always going to be the primary initial focus.

Things are changing fast.

There is an excellent intro to web design in the beautifully produced book, also entitled "Above the fold" by Brian Miller.

[angelize]

I would be interested to hear from others on this subject, and Frances if you think this should be moved elsewhere please feel free to pop it wherever you feel is more appropriate.

Done I have copied Abi's post into a new thread in the Xara Web design forum. You can now continue discussing this in the web design forum. Designing for Future Technology
Of course any further comments or constructive critiques for Abi regarding her site are still more than welcome here.

[Abikadabra]

Graham Someone.... I will find out his surname for you next week. He is English but lives in Victoria in Australia. He designs mainly for clothing designers and artists and musicians. He was invited to speak to our class (we are all newbies) whilst he was visiting Perth on business. He was very passionate about his profession, but also very critical. For example, he kept talking about how the pomposity of design and designers ego continually gets in the way of the end result, and that web designers need to listen more to their clients requests, but more importantly, he insisted that older designers (and he is one of them, possibly late 60s) needed to keep abreast of future technology and design predictive websites that cater for this. All the young ones in the class were savvy to what he was talking about and the lecture was very dynamic and interactive. I listened and took notes, but didn't feel I could contribute very much as I don't know very much!

[Big Frank]

He designs mainly for clothing designers and artists and musicians

well that answers my question anyway

[Abikadabra]

well that answers my question anyway

Haha! He spoke of the pomposity of design and designers ego, but I must have missed the bit about web designers snobbery .....

[Big Frank]

95%, maybe more, who knows, of web designers do NOT design for the "clothing designers and artists and musicians" market, they design for a far more mundane market, requiring a totally different set of guidelines. I don't mind that you call me a snob, I admit it whole-heartedly, proudly and with my hand firmly grasping my wallet, but I would mind if you put me in the same bag as the pompous gasbag that lectured to you.

[iamtheblues]

Frank, you are a breath of fresh air, not afraid to call a spade a shovel.
Bob.

[Big Frank]

You are too, Bob, as you well know. It's simply that you are less precipitous than I am. I have an exceptionally large mouth made-to-measure for the foot that invariably finds a home there.

[angelize]

Ahem... you fellas are getting off topic here. Does anyone have any more comments or suggestions for Abi, regarding the site?

[handrawn]

speaking purely as a user I really like that site - and I think the colour scheme is good and on my monitor very legible more than some with dark backgrounds...

as far as the lecture goes, well I personally am turned off by just pictures or flash movies above the fold- and you know why - because I am in a hurry most of the time and I cannot be bothered to scroll around or wait for a flash to load unless I know its going to be worth it - but then I don't use an ipad - art doesn't look as good on an ipad whichever way you look at it, as on a 23inch

frank - just make sure its always your foot.........