Designer Website
This project aims to recreate a new website for designer and technologist John Maeda. The primary purpose of the website is to redesign John Maeda's website in a fresh and creative way. The website aims to inform an audience about John Maeda as well as showcase his work throughout his career. The websites audience is everyone. Whether you are already aware of John Maeda or completely new to his work and looking for design or life inspiration. The website embraces the simple aspects of Maeda’s design and his more complex philosophy and process of work with the use of a limited color pallet and a focus on line and form.
Form and Identity
The website emulates the simple and intriguing form that John Maeda is known for. The layout is simple and rectilinear through out the site. There is a strong use of line to develop the form a layer further. The animated lines bring a sense of movement through the pages and emulate an early style seen in some of Maeda's interactive programmed designs. The identity of the page is dark and simple. The focus is on the content and making the life and work of Maeda the core of the website.
Affordances and Signifiers
The affordances throughout the website are very minimal. The page is scrollable and there are few buttons. There is a menu and a footer that both map to the entire website. The animated lines are an affordance that help move the viewer through the page. The signifier seen throughout website is the use of lines. Just like they move the user throughout the website they signify something can be clicked or pressed. They are used in the menu button as well as on buttons. They website is also scalable and has a tablet and mobile version.
Feedback
There are several different forms of feedback throughout the website. Type buttons have hover states to emphasize they are clickable as well as active states once clicked or tapped. Line elements will spread out on hover and collapse on click. The works page has highlight hover states showing that they can all be selected to get a more in depth view of Maeda's work.
Type and Color
The type used in the website is a sans serif font called Hind Jalandhar. I used this singular type in its bold and regular font. This font was simple and not overbearing. The type is very adaptable when increasing the letter spacing and in changing from the regular to bold fonts. The simple black and white color pallet is used to let the form and identity of the page have more power. Following one of the key ideas that Maeda preached, simplicity, let the colors create a strong foundation for the rest of the website while not interfering with the design and form.
