by Fashionmista aka That IT Girl and Katie James
Here is another reason to trust your gut: this article on gender based design discusses a study by Gloria Moss and others at the University of Glamorgan. My take-away was how a design by a woman tends to appeal to women, and a design by a man tends to appeal to men. Generally speaking. If you think about it, there are lots and lots of male designers, even at the big fashion magazines. The male design tends to be linear and list-like. The women design tends to be round and colorful.
Thanks to a friendly moderator a forum I follow, here are some examples of male geared design (linear, lines, list like):
Exxon/Mobil - exxonmobil.com
Ford Motor Company - ford.com
Citi - citigroup.com
IBM - ibm.com
General Motors - gm.com
And here are some examples of female geared design (round, colorful, boxed accross the screen):
Jessica McClintock - jessicamcclintock.com
Ann Taylor - anntaylor.com
Liz Claiborne - lizclaiborne.com
Nordstroms - nordstrom.com
Jones Apparel - jny.com
There are many sites out there that we look at to be "normal." But many of them were built by and designed by men. But if we don't think about it, we'll just think these sites are "normal." To be fair, rounded corners are pretty, but do involve more effort to build. The web works in corners with 90 degree angles. So the web can't make a rounded corner on its own. The designer has to create graphics to form the top and/or bottom of a box, which is design time ($) and can add to the load time if there are lots of them. But I digress.
My point is, when you are involved with designing your site, trust your instinct on what you see. If you like what you see, or elements of what you see, see if you can pinpoint it and work with it. If you wish for something more from the design elements, consider pursuing what you're wishing for. Espeically if your site is targeted toward women, and you are a woman (I'm assuming you are a woman if you are reading this Ladies Who Launch blog). Good luck with your designs!
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