About the Project

This was a site I developed for our Web Development course, and was one of the first sites I developed during the DMT programme. A fictitious Bed and Breakfast site that was located near the real Icelandic-settled town of Gimli, Manitoba was one of several website options we were given. Gimli is located on Lake Winnipeg. There are year-long residents who live there, but there are also lots of summer cottages and people who only spend summers there.

Before I even began designing the actual site, I had to create a pre-production package. This included coming up with keywords to define the goals and orientation of the site. In my case, I chose 'gracious living', 'local character' and 'home & hearth'. After that, I had to further develop the site concept and site goals and define my target audience. As the site took shape, I developed a site map and wireframes, and considered the navigation and page titles and content for each section. Progressing to the final design stages, I evaluated the aesthetic possibilities which would best do justice for the site theme.

About the Site Features

I based my fictitious bed & breakfast website along the keywords 'gracious living', 'local character' and 'home & hearth'. I tried to imbue it with gracious living by featuring gourmet regional cuisine, and special features such as an authentic Icelandic sauna and a music room.

The photo of the music room is actually a photo I took of my friend Bonnie's piano room. Another photo I took in Bonnie's kitchen features my friends Bonnie and David posing as the fictitious host of the Bed & Breakfast.