Well-Being Australia chairman, Mark Tronson, was part of that workshop as this subject interested him on two counts.
In the first instance, he recently heard a speaker at the Tweed Heads Chamber of addressing the changing nature of set-out and design for newspapers and online media.
This speaker drew attention to the modern designs, which have moved away from set columns and into various visual highlights such as boxes and weird and wonderful shapes. He suggested we look at any of the web-sites our kids are using, and we will see the differences from the traditional newspaper for ourselves.
In the second instance, Mark Tronson was recently revamping his own ministry web-site into one of these multi-layered weird and wonderful designs. To do this, he had sought advice from those more technically competent, who have helped his Ministry to 'keep up with the Jones's' (technologically speaking) for many years.
Therefore, at the conference, he was interested in the experiences of fellow delegates from Christian publications from around Australia and New Zealand.
As he raised this subject, there were knowing nods around the room in the workshop as others too had noticed these changes. The consensus, however, was that the large percentage of Christian publications were retaining the tried and tested column format.
It was also pointed out that these creative web sites with the multi-shaped designs were in fact imprinted on a grid, so although they may appear to be higgledy piggledy, in fact the designers were working to a tried and tested square grid. They may appear to be intriguing to the eye, but the basic design is not randomly based at all; although of course the designer deliberately uses a pattern that pleases his or her eye.
Mark Tronson came away with a clear imprint that everyone was aware of these visually 'busy', non-linear web-sites, but that the Christian media on the whole, were not intending to go down such routes at this stage.
Meanwhile, Mark and Delma Tronson had met with a young female executive from a large Sydney Pentecostal church whose web-site was based on this seemingly random pattern. She impressed upon them the absolute certainty that should they wish to reach a broader base and a younger generation of readers, this was the way to go.
Taking all that on board Mark and Delma Tronson decided to forge ahead with their new design and place the whole range of their ministry activities in a pattern that Mark, as an artist, finds pleasing. Notwithstanding the wealth of information, there will be a lot of white space (essential on-line to rest the eye) and a sense of design, although it will appear higgledy piggledy.
He asks all readers to please take a look at their new website. Please give voice to your opinion to your family, friends and associates; and please also give feedback to the Well-Being Australia team as to whether you like it, or find it informative.
"We are at a stage of creative development, using the most up-to-date methodologies," Mark Tronson explained. "It is now that we can easily change our designs if they are not meeting the needs of the readers – but we can't improve if we don't know what the readers like. So please email us on the 'contact' form and let us know what you think."
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