She blogs to get the word out about autism news, schools, summer camps and other related topics. So when I started my research on the autism community and other autism websites and designs I started to get a feel for the possible directions I could take to help her improve her site.
Her original site, above, did not fit the correct mood, audience or purpose of the site. So after
discussing with her and researching, I gathered enough data to begin designing. Melissa's requests were simple. She did not want to use the autism ribbon, which I can't blame her, and she felt that there was potential in the rainbow colored ellipse shape that she said has been used to represent autism, which can be seen here at autism.change.org. I immediately felt a connection to the idea of the ellipse like shape and started to create sketches with that concept in mind. I had discovered through reading some of Melissa's blog and other autism educational blog sites that the audience for these sites are often the parents of autistic and/or disabled children. They come to the site for advice, direction and the comfort of a connected community. I knew that because of this the site needed to be bright, cheerful and welcoming. With those key words in mind, I developed a color palette and comp that felt like it was starting to head in the right direction.
I was happy with how this design felt. I thought it had a bright child toy like quality while still being clean and calming. I shared this design with Melissa and she was pleased but I felt like I needed to explore the concepts more. I also always prefer to offer my clients at least two completely different directions. So I decided to explore a brighter color palette and a cleaner look. After some work I came up with the design below.
Both Melissa and I agreed that this design was the best option for her site and with in a day it was up and running!
Check out the final design live - www.theautismeducationsite.com
Please any critiques are welcome! I am completely new and would love to hear from others.
Very nice. and excellent improvement on the site.
ReplyDelete...although I'm not sure why she chose not to go with the patchwork ribbon..
haha! Agh! Yea...just can't figure it out.
ReplyDeleteHi Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your help on all three of my sites, I get compliments on a regular basis!
Rita, the puzzle ribbon usually comes with the thought that children with autism are missing a piece of the puzzle. I don't feel that my children are incomplete in any way and take the neurodiversity point of view regarding autism spectrum conditions. There is a growing autism acceptance/neurodiversity movement and it was something I discovered (and embraced) shortly after my youngest was diagnosed. I hope the explanation helps. :)
Warmly,
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your view on the reason why the puzzle ribbon is not a good representation of autism and the spectrum. Rita is a friend of mine who is also a designer and simply from a design stand point the ribbon is not aesthetically pleasing. So over all it isn't good in general! for visual reasons as well as it's meaning. I read her comment as being sarcastic because the ribbon isn't beautiful visually but now that we understand the meaning behind the puzzle pieces there is even more reason to not like it!
Chelsea