Visual Design for Web Sites and Web Apps

Now that your screen flows, site maps, wireframes, and sketches are done, you're ready to dig into the visual design of your Web site or Web application. In this half-day workshop, Jon Follett of Hot Knife Design, Inc. will provide an overview of techniques that can help make your design aesthetically pleasing and compelling for your visitors and users.

This workshop will cover:

• Selecting Typography: Of all the visual design disciplines,typography is one of the oldest and richest in resources. The more that we can bring good typography to the Web, the better.
• Using Grid Systems: Since the 1930s, graphic designers have used grid systems for laying out pages. Over the past 5 years, Web site and Web application designers have shown an increased interest in the technique as well. Let's get obsessed with lining everything up.
• Choosing Color Palettes: Tips and tricks for selective and effective use of color.
• Spacing, Alignment, and Balance: Getting pixel-perfect with your layouts.
• Capturing Inspiration: Keeping track of new ideas may be the key to strong visual design output.
• Suggested Software Tools for Visual Design: An overview of the best software for the job and suggestions on open-source and low-cost alternatives.
• Judicious Use of Special Effects: Adding depth to your designs,without going overboard.

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About Jonathan Follett
Jon is currently the president & Chief Creative Officer at Hot Knife Design. Jon is an internationally published author on the topics of user experience, information design, and virtual teams. He writes for Web industry publications “A List Apart”, “Digital Web”, and “UXmatters”; recently contributed a chapter to O’Reilly’s forthcoming book “Beautiful Data”; and speaks on Web-related topics for Boston area technology groups. His articles have been translated into Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Jon has been creating compelling user experiences for Web sites and Web applications since 1996. His visual design work has garnered several American Graphic Design Awards, an Horizon Interactive Award,the Apex Award, and other industry recognition. Jon’s first design job was for Saul Bellow’s literary magazine, “News from the Republic of Letters”, and he has a passion for typography, its history, and its proper use in design.

Jon is an Advisory Board Member of UXmatters and is active in professional associations including the Boston Web Innovators Group, the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), the Usability Professionals
Association (UPA) Boston Chapter, and the User Experience Network (UXnet).

Logistics

The event is hosted at Bentley college. Breakfast coffee and snacks will be provided.  A computer lab will be available and attendees are not required to bring a computer. Aspects of the workshop will be hands-on.