Infodesign vs Promodesign

Hello!

First of all, good to see a growing number of you guys subscribe to our RSS feed! That's so cool to see (and don't forget this blog is just several weeks old)! I guess it indicates that many of you are interested in what I've got to say, and that's very pleasant. Now let's go straight to today's lesson contents.

There are basically two design types and two approaches to their management (accordingly) - namely infodesign and promo-design.

Now what's the difference between them?

Infodesign's purpose is favorable information presentation, while promodesign's main purpose is image pumping.

When are these two suitable? You should clearly use the first one when creating a site with lots of information (newspapers, on-line magazines, content portals etc.) and the second in cases when you don't have much information and have to attract the user by appearance, not the text itself (promo-sites for new products, portfolios, design portals etc.)

Think of it like the difference between modern glass-and-concrete architecture and classic one.

Of course sometimes you have to mix both approaches, but that's not so difficult as most site's templates fall into one of these two categories. But hey! Haven't you seen buildings combining the two styles together? Looking both classic and modern?

Anyway, what this (in general) requires from us as managers is two different ways of thinking, two different approaches.

Infodesign should be simple, minimalistic, accessible, focused on information. The starting point here should be your goals. Promodesign, in contrast, should be colorful, vivid, figurative and utilize one's imagination and start from a creative brief.

Why am I telling you this? You can use these simple guidelines to evaluate and guide the work of your design team to save time and therefore reduce website production costs.

Don't forget the main rule from "Save the pixels": in design never use more resources than needed, or it will only harm your presentation and lead to more confrontation with the client. From my experience, simple designs are sold easier. There are certain tricks like the fact that designs with photographic imagery of young girls sell better to the vast majority of male customers but that's it: keep it simple! (remember the KISS principle!)

Your designers may think of them as artists but you should always remember (and remind them!) that design is a form of art dead without emphasis on the information it's meant to communicate.

Check out tomorrow's "Smart new way to save on collaboration software" hint for more useful tips on website project management that will save and even earn you money! Also check out the full contents of the future book for more info!

I'd like to know how helpful this advice was, add your comments here please! And as always - I will be more than pleased to answer any questions you might have so feel free to ask them ))