Homepage Research: Annapolis, MD

Annapolis:

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N/A

Critique: I really like the Annapolis site. Everything is laid out really well, information is easy to find, and the variations of blue balance it out well. I can only nit pick at a few things, like how the welcome images aren't clickable. I'd also change how the navigation links blink when you scroll over them.The dropdowns are nice and quick, and I especially like how the two navigation drop-downs are alternate colors - one is blue, and the other is white. There seems to be too much empty space above and below the main navigation, though. I'd position that navigation lower and maybe place a simple line/design element above. Maybe social media links since there aren't any on the main page.

Homepage Research: Pheonix, Arizona

Pheonix:

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© Copyright 2013 City of Phoenix, all rights reserved

Critique: The overall site isn't bad. It's organized pretty well, but there's nothing directing your eyes. The main purple and gray colors of the site are scarce and spread out too much, so the all photos make everything too chaotic. If they made room for a background color and added solid backgrounds to the header and body, the welcome photo would feel more included. I'd also get rid of the photo links on the right side of the body area and just replace those with text links. I'm a fan of the simplicity of the header and footer, and it would make a world of difference of the 'eServices' block to the left of the welcome image matched up to a color in the welcome image. And the featured video area has too much white space.

Homepage Research: London

London:

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© City of London 2013

Critique: The site as a whole is well-designed. My favorite part is the color-coded drop down menu, however, I'd change the colors on it to match the site better. The red and grey scheme is very attractive, and rainbow doesn't really tie in well. The same goes for the blue and such bars underlining the categories of information. The text in places like "Most Popular" and in the logo is a little blocky, so smoothing them out would help. Aside from that, I love how the split navigation is set up, and the large image is very beautiful against the rest of the site as they use the theme colors in the shirts. It's an easy way to change up the site colors and add variety for when they decide to change the photo.

Homepage Research: Westminster, MD

Westminster, MD:

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© City of Westminster

Critique: A huge flaw is that nobody has updated this site for the spring, so there's still snowy landscape pictures and Christmas trees on the main page. I feel like there's too much blank space in the header image, and the white house on the end of it feels random. An opaque image of some neighborhood landscape covering the background of the header might help with this. It also feels like there's too much blue. Changing the background to gray could help with this. The blue underlined links need to be fixed, the footer links could use better organization, and the blocks above the footer ought to go. Instead of the blocks, they could have those same links, and possibly the same images, being presented in their flip-book in the middle of the page. The current pictures that are there have broken links, and the space could be used for the more important images of Westminster, like the Arts Center.

Homepage Research: Los Angeles

Los Angeles:

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© Copyright 2013 City of Los Angeles

Critique: The copy feels positive and welcoming, but the colors in my opinion are boring. I'm guessing it's taking on a beach theme, but it feels bland. The weather updates in the top right is a cool idea, and helps decorate the search bar a little. My favorite design element is the footer, where they have a simple mountain, city, and beach laid out. If an even simpler version of this was used for the header with the same colors, it could help with the site's appeal. I also really like the picture info box that slides out when you click on the camera of each image. On the navigation, I'd take out the small text above each link, and use a different color than orange for the hover. I'd also take out the three floating menus that hang out on the bottom of the page. 

Homepage Research: St. Louis

St. Louis:

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©2011 City of St. Louis

Critique: I really enjoy the simplicity of this site. The panoramic photo is kept thin and neat, with the background playing well against it. The white space separating the photo from the background and navigation is also visually appealing. I really don't like that they didn't change the color of the links, though. The blue detracts greatly from the professionalism the rest of the site offers. It'd also be a nice change if they didn't have the navigation links become underlined with hovering over them; the change in background color is good enough, and is a nice touch. I also noticed the body links turn red when hovered over, which really needs to be changed. The footer is decent, but I don't like how bulky it is, and the only social media link is tiny and tucked away under the city address. 

Homepage Research: Baltimore

Baltimore:

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© Copyright City of Baltimore

Critique: Overall, it isn't a terrible site. It's downfall is how chaotic everything appears; for the way it's laid out, your eyes scatter all over the page from one random topic to another. There isn't much info that doesn't belong on the front page, there just isn't much flow. Aside from that, they used a multitude of different backgrounds (from gradient to opaque to solid) in a way that separated one category of info from the next, and I found that to be a good idea. The background doesn't distract too much from the central info, but it doesn't help with how chaotic everything appears. I think the 'Stay Connected' box in the footer needs to go,  as does the random pdf download int the box above it, and the pinboard. The background's light to dark blues are visually appealing, and the social media links to the mayor weren't a bad idea either.