UK Corporate Website Design at the Identity: Image Interface Constraints and Enablers

Increasingly the first impression of a company is its website, as this becomes the first contact point, promoting their operations through time and space. Currently website identity-image interfaces transfer static text and images to a digital counterpart 'webpage' with little consideration of dynamic digital potential.

The research focuses on whether the website interface could be improved to clearly portray companies by paying greater attention to website corporate design. This would include design strategies addressing conceptual creativity, innovation and design processes. The principal argument is that all conventional works to date address business image by slowly perceived discrete mechanisms, for example, print and 1V. Websites change this, as homepages communicate information by cojoined information units text, sound and imagery. Current findings indicate that the majority of web sites tend to follow similar preordained design formats, constrained and enabled by prescribed design processes. Additionally, corporate identity is considered to have reached maturity, yet digital potential creates new approaches.

To advance this complex topic and argwnent, the literature review considered identity - image key terms, their creation and linkages, including their current website identity-image interface status.

Contemporary business and creative contributions to corporate design are evidenced by participant observation, website ethnography, and illustrative case study with data collection by observation, interviews and questionnaires to both CEOs and designers. A website analysis schedule constructed from these first stages created taxonomy addressing design element categories and evolutionary developments. The current homepage design status is analysed through 100 websites, accessed May 2006 - June 2007, to identify the occurrence and frequency of attributes.

Contributions to knowledge encompass: triangulation research methodology; clarification of corporate identity: image communication and related terms across conventional media applications and websites by definitions and diagrams; design strategy convergences and divergences; and then constraints and enablers in website corporate design processes.

This thesis is restricted by request of the author. Please contact UAL Research Online for more information.