Markeaton Park Website: Initial Designs

Here is the initial design idea I have for my Markeaton Park website.

I wanted the website to feel very much fresh and clean without over-loading the user into a frantic mess of information. To do this, I've made the background image a very clear desaturated image, not to distract from the main content of the page.

I've then used a white box overlay to create an area for the content to be based inside. This is then made slightly transparent to give the effect of glass.

On each page, there will be one main focus picture to give the user an instant preview of what the park is for and what section of the website they're in. For example, on the front page there's the main picture of the girls on the grass, then 3 photos of the places to visit at the park. The map page obviously has a map at the focal point on the page to show the visitors where things are around Markeaton.

I've used a bold thick soft font for the header so that it's clear and dominating, giving a clear introduction to each page, then the font continues to be large and clear to make it accessible to as many different people as possible.

The navigation bar at the top works as though they've cascaded out from Derby City Council logo, then the Markeaton Park logo, across ontop of the page content. Each link is the same colour, until the user hovers over one of the links and selects it. Once you're on a certain page, the colour of that link shall remain. This makes it really clear for the user to see what page they're on and also gives the website a bit more dynamic colour use, rather than having plain and flat looking buttons. I've also made these slightly more transparent to keep the weight of the website light and airy. In addition, I've included a drop shaddow to stop the site looking totally flat and dull. The effect of adding in the drop shaddow creates a feeling of distance between the main content box and the links. Therefore a flow of air could pass between the two, reflecting the air in the park and the freedom for users to travel around quickly and easily to the places they want to.

For an inital design, I'm very pleased with it and I will probably keep it.
As the project is about creating some sort of content with accessibility involve through the use of javascript, I want to create some sort of device that will either englarge the photos once clicked, enlarge the font, play a voice over or play a video. These ideas may chance one I've received the official breif.