Date
26 November 2016
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Submit Saturdays: Advanced Web Tips

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Date
26 November 2016

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Welcome to Submit Saturdays, a year-long series of articles in partnership with Squarespace. Be it a professional work website, a shop, a social enterprise or a site that hosts a personal project, Submit Saturdays will showcase the work of creatives around the world who use the online platform Squarespace. This is a great new opportunity to share your projects and ideas with our readers.

Once you have a website and everything is running smoothly, there are plenty of options to stretch what each platform has to offer and show your work in ever more impactful ways. We spoke to McLane Teitel, a designer at Squarespace, to ask him about what you need to know in order to push what your website is capable of.

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Hattie Newman’s website

Once you have a Squarespace site, what skills might be useful to acquire in order to stretch the potential of what can be achieved?

Creating a website with Squarespace is a simple, intuitive process. As such, users can spend more time focusing on the quality of content they’re offering. Developing an understanding of the principles of photography, including light, colour, composition, shape and form, is one way to help stretch your site’s potential. If you run an online store, having quality product photos can have a major impact on sales. If you’re a designer or agency, including photographs of your work in real-world situations is sure to appeal to potential clients. Or if you’re a blogger, accompanying your entries with elegant photography can make your posts even more compelling. Having strong photos can also help you take better advantage of several of your website’s features, such as parallax scrolling and full-bleed backgrounds.

What are the key things to consider when ramping up the appearance and functionality of a website? How best should you approach the process?

The key thing to remember when ramping up your website’s appearance and functionality is to keep its purpose in mind. It’s important that visitors understand what you or your site is about without having to think too much about it. This can manifest itself in several ways.

Firstly, make sure your website’s navigation is easy to locate, and contains links to all major pages or sections of your site. Secondly, keep your pages concise. For example, showcase only your best work instead of all the work you’ve ever done. Finally, consider how your site appears and functions on different devices. A proportion of your site visitors may be consuming your content on mobile, so you need to make sure your site is just as beautiful and functional there.

Left

Jeremy Vitte’s website

Right

Nolan Paparelli’s website

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Left

Jeremy Vitte’s website

Right

Nolan Paparelli’s website

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Nolan Paparelli’s website

Who, in your opinion, has produced a website that sets itself apart from its competitors? Can you explain what they have done/used to achieve this?

Through elegant typography, beautiful imagery, and smooth transitions PaperMakeStack has created a unique layout for a portfolio site.

Blender Agency uses a combination of vertical and horizontal scrolling to create a dynamic, fashion-focused website.

With a full-bleed video background, Elm Coffee Roasters tells their story immediately upon landing on the homepage.

What are common pitfalls or errors that people make when trying to create something special, beyond the existing capabilities of the Squarespace Platform?

Losing sight of the purpose of the website by focusing too heavily on aesthetics, animations, etc., and thereby comprising user experience.

People often rely on the web for sources of inspiration for their website. But so does everyone else, which means it’s easy to end up doing what everyone else is doing. To avoid this, try looking towards alternate sources of inspiration, such as printed books and magazines, life, etc.

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PUT PUT’s website

In partnership with Squarespace

Squarespace is a creation tool enabling individuals to create a great website by giving them the tools to create an elegant solution and get their voice heard in the world of online publishing. Whether for experienced designers or for someone putting together their first website, it makes forming a beautiful platform simple.

If you’re not currently using Squarespace to host your site, the kind folks over there are offering It’s Nice That readers 10% off their services. Sign up here or upgrade your account using the discount code SUBMIT to get 10% off.

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About the Author

Owen Pritchard

Owen joined It’s Nice That as Editor in November of 2015 leading and overseeing all editorial content across online, print and the events programme, before leaving in early 2018.

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