Monday, October 17, 2011

The assignment is to find three good and three bad examples of content layout in both print publications and websites.  I will begin with websites...

WEB Content Layout: BAD Examples


Bear Flag Wines.com

The background is very colorful, but too diverting. I actually like the way the pages load from left to right - one feels as though one is viewing a continuous work of art. There are snippets of artwork all over each page - some of which link to more information. This information appears on a popup window. There is so much visual information, one could get tired and forget why he's there.

TNT Events Inc.com

Zero white space. There are three main colors on the home page: red, yellow, and purple. These three dominant colors converge as if cornered within a room. In this 'corner' a 'bubble' emerges and is crowned with what appears to be a tiara-like object. This bubble serves as the home button. There are two animated gifs that add movement, but the flag (one of the moving objects) seems misplaced on the page. When you roll over the welcome message, a picture of the event facilitators (?) appear. There is no 'about' page so it's uncertain who they are.

Sabletine.com

I consider this site a great beginning. The white space appeals; the rollover on the images changes grayscale to color. It's clear this site offers food - I originally thought pastries only which is not accurate. The lower half of the site is in need of a visual expression of some sort - either text or graphic. Good start. Needs work. "Sabletine" is an unfamiliar term - what does it mean? Why don't they tell you?

 WEB Content Layout: GOOD Examples


Digitalmash.com

It's almost like he's saying hello, live and in person... I may change the contrast of the grayscale image a bit,
perhaps add a bit more color, not much. 'Good' and 'unique' could be one and the same. I like the way this Australian designer has used his own image holding the content of the page. The designer has actually began working for Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook so this site design has changed and is no longer in use.

CraigEarl.co.uk

Simple layout - light background on the bottom, dark on top. Light lettering on a dark background is compelling.
One can go directly to the photographer's work in four different categories:
everyday, landscapes, bands, and people.

melissahie.com

Again, light lettering on a dark background is compelling. Melissa Hie has added a nice effect to the name
which fills some great space - perhaps the thing that sabletine.com was attempting to do, but didn't quite get it.
This is another example of sliding pages.  Nice.


Monday, September 19, 2011

An example of a website with which I do not resonate: www.rentmychest.com

After googling 'worst web sites', I chose PC World's Contributing Editor, Dan Tynan's article on the "25 Worst Web Sites".  

About the source: "Dan Tynan considers himself the Leonard Pinth-Garnell of high-tech journalism. He writes PC World's Gadget Freak column and is author of Computer Privacy Annoyances (O'Reilly Media, 2005)."

After choosing this site, I discovered the article was published September 16, 2006 - ancient in web terms. Nevertheless, I'll share my thoughts. This site is a page of keywords for sale: $15 to $60 depending on size and color. After purchase, your site is linked to this page. Perhaps the authors are mimicking the advertising approach of google's "I feel lucky" option, but one would have to find RentMyChest.com. I found no "about" page so do not know who the authors are.

An example of a site that works for me: www.groupon.com.
This is the 2011 Webby Awards Winner for Breakout of the Year

This from www.webbyawards.com: "The Academy evaluates Web sites based on six criteria: content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience. Web critique, like Web development, is not an exact science. Powerful new ideas and applications arise constantly…"

What I like about this site is the simplicity. The first question asked by the authors: Confirm your city (no threat of being bombarded with unwanted emails - ok...). The next window: Enter your Email (you either escape or continue - you'll be getting emails, but you can opt out later...). The next page: Fun Things to Do in Des Moines (at discounted prices). Not such a bad idea - the nation thinks so, too.



One more site I'm partial to: www.thehabittablet.com


This is a site I built and published using Weebly.com's very simple drag and drop interface.

It was great fun writing and building it.

Keeping the blog current ... not so much.