Web Design 101 Research

Monday, May 6, 2013

Homepage Research: Pheonix University

Pheonix University:

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Critique: I think there's too much white overall. The lack of color variation makes the site boring to look at and leaves and unfinished feeling. With that considered, it is a nice touch that the header isn't a segregated box, which ads an interesting flow. The black bar at the very top gives a bit of definition, so if this element was pulled down and used on the navigation, it might help make the site look more complete. Having a thick border on the drop-down menus isn't very attractive and should be thinned out a little if they plan to keep it. Also, the pale blue color of the links should be used more throughout the site so the links don't feel so out of place. There's a little too much information in the footer that should be condensed. If there was a background color and variations of body area colors for each category of information, the site's good organization would stand out more.

Homepage Research: Towson University

Towson:

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Critique: The contrasting navigations are eye catching and clean while doing well to utilize such a small space. The secondary navigation doesn't distract from the main navigation since white text on a black background stands out more than black text on yellow. Plus, the yellow hover color on the main navigation is a nice touch. They do a good job with spreading out the two theme colors and using them to organize the whole site. The three body area columns organize a mass amount of information really well, and is an overall good design with how they're spaced apart from each other. Overlapping the columns on the headline image box also adds a nice dynamic to the page. I'm not sure what's going on with the green clouds background, though. It's really out of place. Even just changing the green to a light gray would fix this. The footer takes up more space than most footers seem too, but it balances out with the weight of the header. Again, the color of the quick links on the footer ought to be changed on this site, as well.

Homepage Research: Carroll Community

Carroll Community:

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Critique: The Carroll site isn't awful, but it could use a lot of work. Having an actual background would do wonders for the site, rather than having the four color bars stretch out from side to side. If they're sticking with these four colors, the links should be changed from blue to a shade of dark gray. The header is also a bit empty. Adding social links or an image would be an easy fix to this. They could also take all the quick links and move them into the header as a secondary navigation, which would free up that first section of the body for a larger image and maybe one headline pertaining to the image. All the image links, like "Make a Gift" and "College Calendar" need to go. If they want those on the homepage, they'd be better placed in the footer. The footer itself should be divided from the rest of the page, and should be stretched across the three columns in it's own div tag, rather than being placed in the middle column of the body. Again, the site need a lot of work, but at least they made a decent font choice.

Homepage Research: MICA

MICA:

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Critique: The layout of MICA's homepage is very non-typical. The header being placed slightly further down is a unique touch, and it works well as a divider. The fact that it stretches across the width of the screen really draws the eye, and its colors change to match the featured artwork, which keeps it from being too distracting. The navigation is kept neat within the header, and is kept uncluttered by only including the more important links. Despite the various images being so different from one another, the page is still easy to navigate. It probably helps that all the images vary in size and are organized around the text, which is consistent in copy style without blending. The one thing I'd like to change are the link colors in the navigation. Purple on orange is difficult to read, and the hover color isn't very attractive against the orange, either. You can tell right away that this site belongs to an art college, which means it does it's job in representing the college.

Homepage Research: Boston

Boston:

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Critique: The navigation and header are very neat and simple, and I like how the photo in the header changes for nighttime and daytime. Everything throughout the site is neatly aligned, like with how the "City of Boston.gov" box is square above the "Service requests" box. The service requests box is in the same spot and changes according to the page it's on, which helps keep the site very organized. I'm not a fan of having the social media logos placed on the same page so close to each other: Just having the bar that's aligned along the right side is good enough, and is one of my favorite designs of this site. It's unique. I'd like to see a little color variation, because all the blue seems a little monotonous, but it isn't terrible. The site as a whole is very simple, clean cut, and efficient.

Homepage Research: New Orleans

New Orleans:

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Critique: The site looks very professional, mainly due to the header. Not having a background on the header really helps the white logo and type stand out; it's uniform with the rest of the page. The drop-shadow on the navigation is a nice touch, as is the slight color change on the navigation's hover. The info on the rest of the page is organized pretty well, but the colors and lack of separation makes it all feel cramped and blended. Adding a line between the two columns in the body could help a lot with this, or having a slight difference in background color - one a light gray while the other could remain white. On the footer I notice that the blue box behind the links is really off-center. I'd also change the color of the links in the footer to white instead of the sort of cyan blue the have right now. Overall, the site's pretty appealing, especially because of the deep blue background.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Homepage Research: New York City, NY

New York City:

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Critique: The New York site is kind of disappointing. It's just weird that the wrapper is aligned to the left, and the header photo looks like something from instagram, plus it clashes with the color scheme of the rest of the site. The color scheme itself is really bland, and makes me think of a forum. A more interesting background might perk up the site a bit. The side navigation and its content is redundant and needs to go, a link to the index page should be added to the top navigation, and there's just way too much information for an homepage. They have a good start with the three column layout and how the information is organized, but overall, it ought to be redone entirely.