Integrating FENG SHUI into Web Design

A fresh look at Page Design by using a new matrix

[martinibuster]

(Matrix: Something within which something else originates or develops)

I have thought about this for awhile but have been to busy to learn about Feng Shui. Well, someone has done it for us. Makes for an interesting read. You can find it here [newmediastudies.com].

Admittedly, if you have a good handle on design, some of these things should be obvious.

Still, it is interesting to see the concepts re-conceptualized.

[creative craig]

The vector-based design platform of Macromedia Flash encourages curvy images and is therefore blessed with positive ch'i.

Not to sure about this one :)

Make sure it has an appealing entrance area - the 'splash' screen and main menu page.

Not a great fan of that either :)

Good points all the same though.

Craig

[quiet_man]

Well it made me laugh anyway. It says 1999 at the foot of the page, and I think it shows. Look at the final paragraph ...

>>Make sure it has an appealing entrance area - the 'splash' screen and main menu page.<<
I remember now, splash pages were big in the 90s.

>>Only have a smallish number of carefully-selected links. Long lists of links are stagnant in appearance, and the ch'i rapidly escapes through them.<<
Is PageRank the new ch'i?!

>>ambient music, in small files ... would probably be good for the feng shui of sites,
Thank goodness that idea didn't take off!

[martinibuster]

The ambient music thing was a bit much.

How about this one:

Macromedia Flash is blessed with positive ch'i.

Nevertheless, it's still an interesting thought.

(Oh crud... It's a slow and rainy day.)

[kevinpate]

Well, computers are faster than back in the 90's (duh, still a master of understatement) and more folks use the internet than ever before, so before the anceitn concept of Feng Shui needs to speed along as well ... go ahead, try it, just start trying to say Feng Shui over and over as fast as you can.

You may find yourself annoyed
you may find yourself giggling
you may find yourself pledging to never do this around people who carry firearms

Grasshopper says Feng Shui of website is acheived:

when surfer bookmarks site so surfer may more rapidly
delve into your harmonious content on next visit

[tedster]

Actually this lines up with an interest of mine - which is the proportions and relationships between content and space on the rendered page. We can't totally control all of this (somehow, that is part of the charm, I think) but there is an art in there somewhere that I can feel but not always articulate.

It's one of the reasons that I don't often create totally liquid payouts. When screens get too wide or too narrow, the content may all be there and usable -- but there's an elegance that is lost, and the reader's eye knows it.

But similarly, huge empty spaces are also an eyesore. Some white space is important for ch'i and for the eye. But when a monitor is set for 2400 and only gets 620 px of content it looks really odd - even if it's centered.