One Page Sites
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — Apr. 21, 2006
The Design Element
The one page web site is in someway's the epitome of efficient communications.
It lumps all of the content in one nice list. This clearly will not work
for everyone, but for many situations it is a great idea. I think that often
times we get so caught up in having a page for everything we loose sight
of the fact that we might not really have that much to say. Portfolio sites
are a perfect example of this. It seems that creating all sorts of copy and
content around every sample is major over kill
On a portfolio site the real goal is to grab the attention of someone who
is potentially going to be paying you to do work. It seems there are two
key elements to make this happen:
One, present the portfolio in the nicest
way possible. This is especially important for those of us in the business
of making things that look good. We clearly have to do our best to make
it stand out visually while showing our work in the best possible light.
You have to stand out from the herd.
Secondly, enable them to see your work
as easily as possible. I think the one page portfolio does this in the
best way possible. A nice long flow of the stuff you have done. It isn't
as easy to overlook any of the great pieces since you don't have to visit
20 pages to really see everything. Not to mention the fact that a large
page of stuff looks impressive.
In non portfolio situations the single page site can still make sense. Depending
on the needs it is just a matter of not over complicating things that don't
need to be. I don't think you should force a fit. Take the
More
site for
example. They could have easily made this a 4 or 5 page site. But when
you look at the amount of content they have it is kind of a relief that they
put it all in one page. Simple easy consumption.
I don't by any means think this type of site fits everyone's needs. I do
think it is something that should be seriously considered though. It is
the type of thing we tend to forget about even being possible. I know that
my instinct on even the smallest of projects is to make a template and
crank out pages with out even considering the possibility of a single page
design.
Sample Usage
Links
One Page Folios -
The ultimate one page site list
One-pagers will be the hit of the 2006!
