Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Containment of content within Web pages is critical to showing off your best
work. Pop-up windows are good examples of content containers which set off
work from the rest of the Web site. Containment also offers organization to a
Web experience. An example of this would be PDF files that may contain
external documents for viewing or downloading. Isolating documents within a
Web site gives priority to them and allows the user and effective method for
gaining access. Larger documents that do not convert well to dynamic Web
pages are perfect for containment within the PDF browser environment.
Containment also occurs within flash movies. The movies act like containers for
multimedia content which gets placed inside the framework of a Web page. The
flash movies are developed and saved as self-contained, self running multime-
dia snippets that can be swapped out for new content quickly and easily without
affecting the overall stability of the Web page. Containment also helps in
hierarchal structure and the management of overall content presentation.
Weight
Weight refers to the visual value placed upon the items on your Web page. A
heavy weight graphic could be over sized, distinctively colored, or oddly
positioned to imply that it has dominance in the visual space. We want to
establish strong weight to our portfolio pieces and work items and a light weight
to our navigation items. Logo and headers should have light to medium weight
so they have impact, but do not overwhelm the page or distract from the impact
of the work. The overweight nature of many interface designs seen in my
research leads me to believe that focus is not as centered on content as it needs
to be.
Another way to exhibit weight is to use bold text within large text blocks or for
links. Bold text is also effective when used in rollovers to show visual feedback
when the mouse goes over the navigation. Weight can be seen in borders and
rules used in Web page designs. These items can be effective in distributing
weight and breaking up white space within a design. Make sure the weight of
borders and rules is consistent and not overwhelming to the eye. Rules and
borders should be kept under two points to avoid a heavy look.
As you begin to perform visual design on paper and using computer graphics
applications, think about weight and how will have an affect on your Web
portfolio pages.
