Web Design 101 Research

Monday, May 6, 2013

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.

Homepage Research: Annapolis, MD

Annapolis:

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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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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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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.