Websites Are Like Fashion
Does anyone remember the show, Dress My Nest? It was on Style Network and started airing in 2007. Well, if not, it’s ok. I am about to use an analogy of that show, relating it to websites.
Somehow my mental train went to the Style Network show, Dress My Nest, from 2007. For those who don’t know about the show, interior designer and former “Queer Eye” star Thom Filicia would take someone’s favorite outfit and use it to inspire the room’s design. My mental train down its random tracks to using someone’s favorite outfit to design a website. It’s a great concept.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should. That goes for fashion and websites (and house decor). You can have a fantastic and functional website or you can have a site that looks like you put everything you ever saw making it hard to use and create frustration for the visitor. Or you can keep it clean and tidy with a few accents and a whole lot of consistency.
When you put on your best suit, are you going to put shorts on over your freshly pressed pants, three ties, and two hats? Are you going to add three chokers, 4 Marti Gras necklaces, and a bikini top over your favorite outfit? Do you need 14 pillows and 3 throws and 2 area rugs of all different textures, colors, and styles in one room, around one plaid couch? Most likely not. The same rules should be applied to your website.
So, think of this way. Text and images are the base of the outfit. Fonts should be minimal. Adding multiple kinds of fonts is like adding necklaces, rings, hats, ties, and so on of your outfit. Two is good. Three is doable. Four? Too much, like adding Marti Gras beads. The same rules apply to colors. Within the same pallet, it can be beautiful. Start adding too many and mixing up pallets and you’ve gone from “Home and Gardens” to Frat house after a party. Want to know more about what I’m talking about?
Google “Ugliest Websites” and then click on “Images”. So like most stylish outfits. Keep your website clean, simple, and just a little pop.
