Nowadays, every company needs a corporate website. Of course, the needs and purposes of each corporate website is unique, however, every firm should have a site that represents its professional image to customers. The aim of these sites is to provide general information about the company and its services or products. There are several things that a corporate website design has in common with kids: it is useful, if infrequently; it comes with its charm, like finger-paintings on a furniture; usually, it is admired only by its creators. Why? Because design trends make their way into corporate web very slow. As a result, despite plenty of money, numerous companies are lost in primitive designs.
Corporate Website Design
In order to create an effective corporate website, a designer should be aware of two basic principles:
- Design is in artistic representation of a company (colors, typography, logo)
- Quality design strategy is crucial to create an effective corporate website design (culture, community, quality, brand).
Generally, a good corporate website design should have the following “ingredients”:
- Colors
People make a subconscious judgment about an item, environment, or person within several minutes, and that assessment is based on colors. This fact proves the importance of colors in corporate website design. Graphic designers should be careful when creating the visual identity of large corporations as it makes a strong statement about the company and its business. A designer should first of all take into consideration different color theory, color meanings, and color combinations. Colors should always emphasize the strategy and philosophy of the company.
- Typography
Clean, well-proportioned fonts can make all the difference on a site as all texts should be readable. Therefore, qualitative typography creates “there is something about that” feeling in consciousness of the visitors. For example, Helvetica showed graphic designers and typographers that simple can be good. It changed the world of typography being clean, well-proportioned and one of the most successful fonts.
- Logo
Traditionally, a logo is created for immediate recognition. People identify a company by its logo. The names of the corporations should immediately pop into their head when they look at the logos. At the same time, a great logo alone does not mean anything until the company makes it worth something. So, in order to create a good logo for a corporation, it is recommended to create an abstract image that carries very little meaning, and then wait until the company adds that meaning.
- Culture
When speaking of culture in design, it means the values, knowledge, manners, and tastes that are favored and shared by the community. However, if a company has a community formed around its brand, it does not necessarily mean that it has a healthy culture. Actually, a bad culture can destroy a corporation’s reputation with future prospects.
- Community
Many companies tend to ignore this element of their business. Apple was the first large company that recognized it. This corporation created an enthusiastic, dedicated community, which eventually paid off in the long run. However, companies should always keep in mind that without quality services or products, they cannot project a positive image to their customer base. From this perspective, recruiting company product evangelists is an effective way of creating a community. It is a form of word-of-mouth marketing when companies nurture customers who believe in the products of the company. As a result, these people become active promoters who try to convince others to buy them. As they are not affiliated or paid with the company, these individuals are perceived by others as being credible. There basic steps of creating communities: 1.Creation of quality services or products targeted to a specific audience. 2.Encouraging individuals to meet and share 3.Focusing design on key aspects of the service or product and associate them with the philosophy of the company.
- Quality
Quality is one of the key elements. It defines a company through its responsibilities, procedures, and policies to its customers. Companies that offer quality services or products have a great chance of having returning customers. Quality should be seen in all aspects of a company: how it handles its clients and prospects, the kind of services or products it produces, how it does business, etc. The same is true for the corporative website design, too.
- Brand
Brands define a corporate business. A strong brand motivates clients and builds credibility. The name of a company can also serve as its brand. Its value shows how a corporation is perceived in the market. Branding is about getting prospects to consider the company as the only one that can solve the customer’s problems. Therefore, any company should lay down brand objectives from the start. These are the company’s characteristics, and they should reflect its image, processes, philosophy, etc.
To conclude, it may be difficult to define corporate design. It refers not only to visual effects, but to design strategy, too. This means that corporate website design should not be just graphical in nature; it should also achieve certain goals. Therefore, in order to achieve success, a company should understand this and include every form of design into its strategy.