Kent Shaffer
Bombay Creative
If people don’t know you, the only thing they can go off of is your design.
Bob vs. Tim (Which is which in the picture to the left?)
These types of effects of category labels on lower-level perception are becoming a concern for researchers in cognitive and social psychology because their existence suggest that we may not ever be able to see what’s actually there but will always be influenced by what we expect to see.
Potential users have perceptions about who you are based on things that you can’t control. And they way you can change perceptions is to begin a relationship. But you can’t get a relationship (with a website) without a great first impression. In comes design.
The reason people "buy" a product is 60% color. Aesthetics matter greatly. Make sure that your "product" is marketable. Make sure your site solves the question they are asking… "I have this problem, how can this church/service/ministry/product help me?"
Judging Websites
If you can snare people with attractive design, they are more likely to overlook minor faults. People enjoy being right…. so people will continue to use a website that gave them a good first impression. It helps "prove" that they are right.
Potential readers decide whether or not to stay on your site in 50 milliseconds. (Holy cow, this is crazy!)
Yesterday’s best is today’s bad. That’s how quickly our perceptions of things change.
90% of sales are for an emotional reason. How does that effect your web design?
#1 Who am I?
Your design should be a reflection of your brand.
- why was your ministry created
- what is your ministries mission
- who are you called to reach?
- rank your taget audience in order of importance…
- Dang, he went too fast!
If you could communicate a single message about your ministry, what would it be?
A good logo is distinctive, memorable, timeless, aesthetically pleasing, scalable, simple, and looks good in color and grayscale.
Kent’s favorite logos…
See his list on his blog…all have a clean look, are 2D etc. Easy to work with.
#2 Who are they?
"Go out to your customers first and design from that." Scott Cook, founder of Intuit
#3 Am I serious?
Your design needs to be taken seriously. Goofy is no fun in ministry sites. Don’t try to be too humorous.
#4 Can I deliver?
You can’t be something you’re not.
Don’t project an image you can’t deliver.
Be careful how you use copy to build up your church, ministry, or event. Use descriptive terms and not circus quality descriptions. That negatively effects trust. It’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than visa versa.
#5 Am I professional?
People’s perceptions of your ministry are affected by the quality of your delivery. You need to stand out in your simplicity instead of trying to be something that you aren’t.
#6 Am I contemporary
Unless intentional, your design should never date you.
#7 Am I clear?
The only time it’s ok to be unclear in designing a site is to design for other graphic designers.
Referenced Designing Brand Identity. Check it out
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