Highlighting
Empathetic
Applications
The first website I ever helped design, GabblePost was created with a cooperative business structure to showcase stories for an informed public. It also provided a unique opportunity to showcase writing skills. It was this experience that fostered my interest in UX Design, eventually leading to a career transition coming out of the pandemic.
GabblePost
Learning on the Fly:
A simple yet pleasing design was chosen for GabblePost. The corporate colors of orange, white, and dark grey were used throughout the website. White backgrounds made reading long articles easy and familiar to expectations. Meanwhile a dark grey header and footer was made to contrast. A subtle orange line under the header created a subtle bit of visual intrigue.
The groundwork was set for a strong consistent branding and design. This layout matched other similar news organizations. The design also allowed the content within each article stand on their own.
Since GabblePost was originally meant to be an outlet for my writing skills, many articles were written. Current events, opinions, and sports made up a bulk of the stories. Each one provided a unique opportunity to improve my non-fiction skills. This helped me feel more capable as a writer when combined with my narrative fiction work.
What started as a nice writing opportunity grew into a crash course in web design, and by extension UX Design. Despite not knowing anything about the field of UX at the time, it became essential to learn proper accessibility guidelines for a functional website.
A Writing Opportunity:
Lessons Moving Forward:
With a new appreciation for web design, my curiosity had been stoked. When I eventually learned about UX Design and it’s applications in 2022, I found a new passion. What began as a chance to grow my writing skills, unexpectedly turned into a realization of a new way to express my creativity. I learned what makes a website functional, user friendly, and accessible.