Designing a Victorian-style website.
How to make a website that says ‘Victorian’, but without the need to resort to sepia images of steam engines, top hats, or sewing samplers; When the content of the site is intrinsically Victorian and you don’t want to do a Steam Punk rehash of blogger.
The editor of the Wilkie Collins Journal, the academic review of all things touching Victorian sensation fiction, approached me about his plans to take the Journal from its more traditional paper format and make it available to a wider public on the internet.
The project would involve taking the previous printed editions and republishing them online, and also making the publication of new volumes as easy as possible for the Journal’s editorial staff.
In the discussions with the Wilkie Collins Society’s leaders it was decided, in fact, to publish two sites. One purely academic, the “Journal” and separate the more convivial “Society” site for the members. Whilst the two sites would be sisters, twins even, they would not be identical.
While steam power and needlepoint motifs were out we needed to establish a simple, clean look that wouldn’t distract from the text, which is after all the raison d’être of an academic journal.
The solution was a simple white backing to simple black text on a coloured background wallpaper, with complimenting coloured headings.
The two site have distinctive colour schemes, both classic Victorian looks. The society takes its colour from the green of the Chatto & Windus editions of Wilkie Collins books. The Journal takes its theme from Sir William Henry Perkin, who in 1856 literally coloured the Victorian world with his Mauvine dye.
The pattern of the ‘wallpaper’ reminiscent of Victorian Aspidistras and embossed, flock wall hangings. As a nod to the society I added the same wallpaper to the background on the image of Wilkie Collins used as the site’s motif on the home page.
On the whole the clients and I agree that the look and feel of the site is the right balance between the functional and the Victorian style that we both wanted to achieve - readable text, clear navigation and not a hint of crinoline or steam oil.
"Starting from scratch Tim created two linked websites for the Wilkie Collins Society with a Victorian look and simple but effective functionality. Always patient about our many demands, changes were made quickly and efficiently. We can now update and manage the sites ourselves."
Paul Lewis
