Client Project ATRG

Objective: To produce a slick, stylish 4-5 page promotional website with the express aim of documenting the work of the Advanced Textiles Research Group (ATRG). 
The market for innovative products in the medical, fashion, artistic sectors are great. This promotional website should describe the success already achieved by the group.

Time Plan: To begin the project I created a time plan, making effective use of my time (as shown below).

The second, most important factor I considered prior to beginning the project was the audience. The site will be aimed at primarily Industry, Research Students and fellow Researchers. With this in mind, it is essential that the site is classy, chic, informative and 'to the point.'

I then created a site map, displaying how the pages link together: 

I am currently unsure whether to display links to Twitter and Facebook on every page. A prime disadvantage of this is that the user may become distracted by the social network site. They may navigate away from the Research Group and not return. However there is an option to open their Facebook page in a new window. Alternatively, I may only display the links on the Contact and Home page.
 Research: Before beginning to design the site, I researched into, what I believe are current, well structured websites (as shown below):

Although there isn't anything special about these sites, I really like their appearance and how basic they are. In both examples, it is the images that make the site. This is where I currently have a problem, as I do not have access to high resolution images such as these. 

Taking into consideration that the textile group is part of NTU, I have decided to use a colour scheme based on those as seen on Nottingham Trent's website:

This will prove to be an advantage as it will add consistency to the group. Users who are familiar with Nottingham Trent will be able to recognise that they are part of the University.

Possible logos designs:

With the intention of a new logo, I created those as seen above. The second and third logo are similar. However during the creation, I could not decide which font I prefer. After viewing them together, I prefer the second. After creating the first logo, I decided to alter the font to match the one in the Nottingham Trent logo (adding to consistency).

During the mock-up stage, it is likely the colour of the logo will change.

Wireframes: Following on, I have started to create wireframes of each page. This will inevitably make creating the website easier, as I will know what goes where.

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