Advice for Newbies

Advice for Newbies Case Study

The Challenge

This was an open-ended class exercise, using HTML and CSS: the objective was to create a homepage for new students who were just beginning a coding program to become web designers, and to offer the new students some advice.

I decided to take a supportive tack in my advice page. I knew my words might be important to those who might read them (in the same way that I’d been moved by reading others’ advice), but I also wanted colors and fonts that would visually reinforce the same supportive message.

I am a big believer in the power of color, and the way it acts physiologically on our bodies, by causing our eyes to involuntarily move, changing our blood pressure, and more. Powerful stuff that advertisers and others use on us all the time!

Friendly advice laid out in three columns, bookended by a greeting and closing from the web designer.

The Solution

Rather than going for the visual excitement of highly saturated colors, my gentle, supportive message called for something more comfortable and encouraging. And yet I also was drawn to the idea of complementary colors, which when placed next to each other suggest a sense of action because of the way they stimulate our eyes. By suggesting action, I hoped to create, by extension, a sense of movement and progress to the new developers.

I ended up choosing a complementary color scheme of blue and orange, though desaturated the colors to a soft blue and brown.

I chose a round, friendly-looking sans-serif font to deliver my message of support and encouragement.

Visually speaking, I wanted my advice to read less like a spoonful of medicine, and more like a warm sweater on a fall day.