John McSweeney
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May 10, 2008, 12:21 am
Website Design
Form and Content
Form and content were endlessly debated when I was at art school.
Is it possible to paint a picture, using a purely formal language
of shape and colour, and yet convey something meaningful, or spiritual? I have always
argued that yes, it is possible.
(Mark Rothko and
Barnett Newman
were, and still are, personal favourites.)
Is "deep and meaningful" content, produced with noble intent, enough
to create a good painting?
Most definitely not. What is more, from personal experience I can vouch for
the fact that the latter is far easier to accomplish than the former.
Where the Web is concerned, I think most would agree that poorly designed pages will detract from the content. Similarly, no matter how slickly designed a website is, it can never disguise a paucity of content. I have no hesitation in stating that form should always be at the service of content.
Frequently I try and provide an honest answer to this question:
"Do I really need this colour/font/graphic/Flash movie/mouseover/and general
all-round, wizz-bang web gizmo, to convey, or enhance, the content of this page?"
If the answer is yes, I will use it. If not, it's consigned to the bin
marked " **** Ideas".
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