Pt6 Letting the Content Dictate the Design

For the Designer Musings

Find the Message

The goal of design at its core is to promote a message. The design and its style should reflect the content and promote the message through the use of an appropriate style.

Two Design Approaches:

Almost every project is one of the following 2 situations:

Scenario a: Client comes to the designer (who has a notorious style) and wants a website based on the designer’s style
Scenario b: Client comes to the designer with specific goals and wants a website style that fits their content

a: Set Style

Neither position is more correct than the other 100% of the time. Establishing yourself as a designer who specializes in a specific style of design is a legitimate strategy. However, when it comes to design, one size does not fit all. In the same manner, one design style does not fit all messages.

If you deicide to design only with your own style, you must only take on jobs that fit your particular style. Otherwise, forcing your style onto content that is not a good fit for your style will be detrimental to the effectiveness of the design.

Again, there’s nothing wrong with being consistent in a single style. Clients know what to expect, and it can make things easier in some regards. Just don’t be tempted to force your style where it doesn’t belong. Either turn down the job, or be willing to design outside of your comfort zone.

b: Flexible Style

The alternative is the designer who does not have a set style but designs what is most effective and appropriate for the content type. You can easily recognize this type of designer by looking at their portfolio to see if there are a wide variety of styles. If all of their websites look similar, they likely stick to just that style.

In either scenario, the designer should craft a layout that fits to the content and accomplishes the desired goals. Don’t design without content. If you work backwards, the design will be less effective at best.

It’s the same with tailoring a suit. If you don’t have measurements, the fit will be poor. Working from measurements produces the best fit. Content and design work the same way.

How to Design from the Content:

Analyize the content
Find messages of great importance
Arrange the elements in order of prominence
Design a layout that promotes what is most important
Establish a clear visual hierarchy
Determine what content will be static and what will be dynamic
Take stylistic advantage of what will be static
Account for flexibility in the layout to accommodate dynamic content

Conclusion

Starting with the content and building outward produces an organic design that is centered around and founded upon a core message. This allows the message to speak without the design or aesthetics getting in the way. Style and form should be secondary to message and function.

Any artist can look at their work and see it as an extension of themselves, but designers don’t have that liberty.
—The Difference Between Design and Art