Web design, slicing, layers

Web design has always been something that is way beyond me. I've had classes where we touch upon it, learn very basic HTML or 30minute overview of Dreamweaver, but I've never really had the opportunity to design my own website. After reading Information Architecture and watching the video about slicing in Photoshop, things are starting to become a little more clear. However, I now am realizing that there is no one way to create and design a website. The possibilities are endless. This being said, the concept of building my own website is even more mind boggling. I think things will become clearer once I just delve in and begin playing around with various tools such as Photoshop, InDesign, and other web builders.

Design: A Powerful Tool

Design is incredibly powerful. We live in a very visual world so creating dynamic, memorable designs is important. Although it is something that I knew, I never realized just how influencial design really is until doing the readings for Photoshop this week. While reading Note for the New Millennium, what really struck me is that even the simplest of designs can be used to better our world or make it worse. Furthermore, the concept of design and how it has evolved alongside our consumeristic tendencies is both startling and understandable.  In the beginning designers believed "that design was alive with social implications" (Ewen , 192).  However, as we've become more reliant on the free market, design has become a means of selling.

This being said, I suppose design was always used for selling, just in past it was predominently used to sell ideas, where now it is predominently used to sell products.

Our other readings focused more on web design. Pairing this with the Note for the New Millennium reading, it is easy to make the connection how design is not only important but also very prevelent since the creation of the World Wide Web. Now a design can reach everyone all over the world. This also means that with so many designs out there, there is more pressure to ensure that your design will be unique and powerful enough to have the impact and effect that you want.