Orange County Website Design

Every now and then I’ll get a request from a client to place certain key elements of the page ‘above the fold.’ For example, I might be asked to place that call to action button higher up on the screen so that the user doesn’t have to scroll down to see it. And that’s what ‘above the fold’ means in web design. It’s the part of the web page that is viewable without scrolling further down the page.

The concept originally comes from the newspaper industry where big stories and eye-catching images are placed at the top part of the page before being folder over. This is the most visible part of the paper. The concept found its way into web design and many people still place great importance on this, but certain studies have shown that it’s really not that big of a deal.

Dispelling the Myth of the ‘Page Fold’

Where is that magical ‘above the fold’ area of a web page anyway? Doesn’t it depend on the screen size of the person viewing the page? It sure does, but from visitor statistics we’re able to tell the screen size of the largest percentage of users. Regardless of this, there are compelling arguments and studies against placing so much emphasis on the ‘above the fold’ concept. In fact it could be a bad idea. I would agree that there may be a few exceptions, but overall it doesn’t make too much sense.

Instead of rehashing what’s already been covered, here are some links to sites that have done a great job of explaining why ‘above the fold’ is a concept we really should move away from when it comes to web design.

• Life, Below 600px
• Wikipedia Article

The Wikipedia article provides additional links. When this topic comes up with a client, I like to offer a different perspective so at least there is the awareness that this might not be the best approach. Many times we go along with popular opinion without thinking too much about the ‘why’, and asking relevant questions.

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Hi folks, Paul here. The dude behind Zel Creative. I wanted to write this quick post regarding the relaunch/redesign of the site. If you’re coming here for the fist time, you obviously won’t notice any difference from how it was. This is actually version 3 of the site. When the first version was created a number of years ago, I was just getting started in the industry and wanted to get something up fast, so I customized a template and that was it.

I’ve learned over the years that when you start something, it doesn’t have to be perfect, just start it. Then you continue to build upon it, refine and develop it and at some point you get to where you wanted to be in the beginning. I’ve found many times it’s the things you try to make perfect from the start that end up failing.

So, some time after that I created my own design and launched version 2. It lasted pretty well and most of my clients will be more familiar with that version. I had been wanting to redesign the site for some time as I felt that it was becoming dated and was just not a good representation of my current style and the type of work I was creating. Business had been increasing and the quality of work being put out was of a higher standard than the earlier days. It definitely needed a facelift, but the problem was that most of my time was being spent on client work.

Then one Sunday evening I was playing around in Photoshop with no real intention to launch the redesign project right there and then. But that’s what happened, as is the case with many new web design projects. You start with a rough layout in mind, then end up drawing a line here, or adding some text there, and the next thing you know, the site starts to take on a life of its own. And that’s exactly what happened with this.

After many hours of designing, coding and testing I ended up with what you see now. The new design went live on October 23, 2010. So much goes into creating a website, especially if you’re a little obsessive like me.

I feel this new design more closely represents our quality and style of work, and does a better job of communicating the image of Zel Creative as a talented and professional design studio.

To all my past clients, thanks for you support over the years and to my potential new clients, we’d love to be involved with your next project and welcome you to the ‘Zel’ family!

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This hilarious video was referenced in a post on the Smashing Magazine blog entitled Why Design-By-Committee Should Die. It makes an important point and wanted to share this here.

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