Deconstruction in web design

by christoschiotis

Deconstruction, a term used in literature, poetry, architecture, etc. A term we can use it in a company’s web strategy and of course to its website. But what does it mean to go this way and how far, a medium-sized company is willing to go to follow this practice?

The ways non-web companies approach internet are so many, but most of them have a common component: “I want a site like this!”

I personally believe that these customers get the design firm and the site that they deserve, and vice versa.

The rest of the companies do not have any knowledge about internet websites also, but they have a clearer path in their minds. A path that they want their website to follow. The problem is that they still want to show EVERYTHING their company is capable to do. They want to fit in one page whatever (they think) can entice the visitor, and also display it with as many possible (and sometimes impossible) ways.

Here comes a technique that i strongly believe that can work with less risk compared to other solutions.

Deconstruction, simplicity, less is more, and this is the proposal to the employer. Do not show what your business can do, but what can be done well, more specifically, what you can do better than others!

Do not overload your visitors eyes with fanfares and super-wow things. Show only your super trumps from the first moment of his visit and make them the main (perhaps the only) content of your page. If this simple approach is combined with a good level design, then the result has a high probability of success.

But there are times we, the designers, are moving away from the initial idea and starting to fill our layout with stuff we think they will help the client hit his target, but we surely will end up with an overcrowded design, which will simply NOT deliver the message. Perhaps the reason we do this thing is the phobia that we don’t offer to our client the best we can.

My advice to this phobia is one. When you begin to feel this fear, have a coffee (or beer) with friends or alone, take a walk, go to the supermarket or take a shower (the best for me). Do something away from your computer  that calm and relax you. Then go back to your design with clear mind and I’m sure you will find things that you have to remove, change or replace.

In the next part of this article i will try to show some ways to clean up a website and say some words about minimalism in news sites and Golden Ratio.