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A couple of examples could be a brochure, product or services site that adds on a section that's intended as a directory, or a section that's strictly information, with articles, tutorials, etc.
Do all all parts of a site absolutely need to be the identical design, or is it acceptable to have some that are different? If some difference is acceptable, how close do they have to be to maintain the look and feel and still adapt to the different content needs?
I worked on a project not long ago where the company I built the site for has multiple divisions. The divisions have different logos and color schemes. We used the same overall graphic layout but went in and changed colors and pictures used.
What we ended up with is consistent site design that changed colors depending on which division you visited. Eventually those divisions will get thier own URL but for now, the budget did not permit it. Each division has their own header, left nav and footer. They also have individual style sheets for color control.
It was an exciting project and one that the client is quite proud of, including the divisions.
Colors can vary, and PORs example above illustrates how you can have it both ways, but I think overall a site should stay with a theme and a look. Otherwise the user gets confused.
My website is divided into 3 sections. The first two are information resources and follow the same scheme, but the third is a service. The service section of the site uses the same logo branding and basic design but with a different colored motif; there's no confusion about still being at the same website.
Marcia I think that is a very important point. IMO as long as there is some obvious consistency that assures the user that they are still on the same site then you are OK. Otherwise they may feel like where I am now? and lose a bit of trust in the site. Changes of colours in the design I think are useful for representing different areas of the site or different divisions in pageoneresults example but there must be the constants in the design so that the user feels they are on the same site.
my 2p...
Navigation can't be identical across all site pages, not on all the pages across the site. So I'm trying to figure a work-around so that it'll be possible to keep it all on one site instead of going with another domain altogether, but still have all pages recognizable as the same site.
I'm trying to think of how many elements it would take to maintain a level of consistency with the minimum amount of similarity possible. I've got more content ready to put up, and the same layout just isn't working.
I removed the "familiar" site navigation menu and replaced with a "date of reports" menu and put very clearly at the top and bottomof this menu a "return to the main "foo" page" link, so the only place they can go is back to the main site, once they've read what they came to read...
I removed all graphics and instead put a Text heading at the top of page stating the site name and where they are I incorporated the main site's theme color by making it the "new" menu's background color...with the content text now being black on white for ease of reading/printing..(the text on the rest of the site is navy on a pastel)
I never had a site which had to have an inconsistent section, until this one, but in this instance I "instinctively" felt it would better for the reader, because of the quantity of text on the pages...and hope that I've covered the "you're still in the same site" issue as best I can...
Good Luck
Suzy
i.e.
<header>Company Name - Page Title
<small header>reason for style change
<link> Back to main page
<horizontal menu>if required
<!-- the above could be on a background color for consistency -->
<content>lots of text</content>
<link>Back to main page
<consistent footer>
therefore allowing maximum width for your content and telling the user why, you can't be fairer than that ;)
Suzy
ps you could use a seperate sylesheet for this section, which could be styled to remove the unnecessary headings/links when printing....
If you've got the same background, no matter what changes you make to navigation placement and content, the visitor will always see the same background and know they haven't left the site. Using the same colors for navigation will also help to maintain continuity throughout.
You'd still be able to set up some of the pages a little differently to allow for printing and/or readability, but you'd have the continuity necessary so the visitor won't be totally confused and left wondering if they've been transferred to a new website.
I've made and seen sites where every single page is different and they were exceptional communicators. I've also seen sites where every single page was identical except for the content, and they didn't communicate squat.
Point is, you need to look at what you are communiating and examine your audience, then determine how best to send that communication to them. At that point, it should be obvious whether or not all of the pages need to be the same format.
Richard Lowe
it's your site, you decide if the design needs to be consistent.
Exactly. There are no hard and fast rules - "all sites should ..." - it has to be what makes sense for your audience.
I think some designers are such sticklers for "consistency" that they sacrifice creativity and functionality.
A consistent user experience may mean different things for different sites. For one it may be just a similar color theme, another it may be layout, another it may be cookie-cutter pages.
I think you can get away with navigation in different places, given that the different pages have different functions - assuming that there is some theme on the page that will let the users know they're still on your site.
In the print world companies spend a lot of bucks on developing a "look and feel" but the results are applied in a variety of different pieces. From trifolds to annual reports there are a few key elements that are consistent - the typeface, colors, and logo.
If you apply the same thinking to web site design then the format should be able to change as long as you still use enough visual cues so the visitor still associates what they see with the company. The strength of the brand is what will make it easier or harder. Think of the Nike swoosh. You probably wouldn't need anything more than just that trademark on a page for it to be associated with Nike. If you have a weak brand/company identity then you need to bolster it on all documents. The stronger it is the less it needs the support of visual cues.
One last thought, most companies of siginificant size have an Identity Use Guide (or some such title) which basically gives designers the rules for typefaces, colors, and logo useage. I would strive to follow this if one is available.
<added>If the layout must change I would indicate this someway to the visitor - give it a different label or put it in its own section but somehow differentiate the sections where the layout is different than the layout established on the home page.</added>
