Design Challenge #3
Where do I begin… This week’s challenge was to design a 404 error page. If you are unfamiliar with what that is, I will explain it to you here but if you already know you can jump to the second paragraph. A 404 error page on a website is when you try to go to a page on a website that does not exist. One of the most common ways to get to a 404 error page would be if you bookmarked a specific page on a website and the website owner removes or renames that page. When you select your bookmark and the browser goes out to find that page, when it comes back as that page not existing, you get a 404 error. Most websites nowadays have a custom-built 404 error page and determining what type of website you are on will ultimately determine the look and feel of the error page itself.
Now for the real reason most of you are here 🙂
I created my 404 error page for a charity that I would start if I ever won the mega millions. I am the person where if we go to a party and the person has any sort of pet, I would disappear to spend time with that animal. Anyway, back on topic, I created the logo and layout for the 404 error page and also the 404 error image on the page itself. This layout is super simple and gets the point across that you have landed in an area that does not exist but is playful about it.
I started my research journey by going to google and looking up the best 404 error pages of 2020. What I came across was a bunch of websites touting that they had the best list of 404 error pages the internet has ever seen. The website/blog post I chose to use for my research came from Search Engine Journals post titled: The Best 404 Pages: 37 Examples You Need to See. This page had everything from serious layouts to jokey style layouts. I chose to go with a simple layout but to also reflect my personality and be as punny as I could. The final result is below…
Hi, I’m Justin Pierce. I am a newly certified UX Designer with a background in Graphic Design, Web Design, and am a part-time hatchet-throwing photographer. To say I am new to this blogging thing is an understatement. I have added blogs to client websites before but never actually had to sit down and write one myself. Here goes nothing…
Originally published at http://justinwpierce.com on November 6, 2020.