11. September 2009 by Haley.

Victory Lane Chrome Shop though chrome might get a lot of street cred, this website certainly doesn’t.

- It’s overwhelming. Where do you go first?

- Navigation is redundant and haphazard. Redundant navigation is so annoying. You never know if you’re going to get the same thing, or some new, helpful information. Also, the cursor for the gray navigation bar on top is a text cursor (I’m not sure what the technical name for that is, but scroll over it and you’ll know what I mean) which is confusing for people that don’t have design/internet experience. Do you click? Or are those words there as a teaser??

- There’s no aesthetic cohesion. There are several navigation sets, all using different fonts, different backgrounds, some links appear as buttons, some appear as text, and some are simply icons. Super confusing as well as ugly.

Posted in Bad Link 3 | No Comments »

11. September 2009 by Haley.

Visual Complexity is essentially an index of aesthetically masterful complex visual references.

- The large, colorful thumbnails pull the audience into the focus of the site: the images/projects themselves.

- Each page features a gray header containing essential navigation links: home, about, stats, search etc.  making basic navigation accessible and effective.

- Colorful icons to twitter and other applications are tastefully (and helpfully) displayed in the top right corner, again emphasizing accessibility.

- A helpful filter on the right allows the user to narrow their search of visual references by method, trend, year, or top author. They are also arranged in sixteen subsections.

- Boring math brains could easily navigate and enjoy this website, but it’s just as enjoyable for people more aesthetically minded.

Posted in Good Link 3 | No Comments »

8. September 2009 by Haley.

Flying Concrete is an American who has lived and worked in Mexico for half of his career. A potter who has branched into architecture, his work is perhaps not in line with Calatrava, but I think it’s awesome! He uses a readily available material to create inexpensive yet thoroughly unique, customizable architectural elements and buildings. In addition to being inexpensive, they’re fairly efficient and, word has it, sustainable. One would imagine that his clientele would be avant garde, with intermediate knowledge of design and, surmisably, some solid experience with technology. Maybe those are pretty quick, broad generalizations but I don’t think they’re far off the mark. Anyway, this artist/architect’s website is NOT a reflection of anything avant garde, design concious or technologically advanced… the javascript menu is clumsy, not to mention a little difficult to see and the menu font is significantly smaller than the text of the main body text, diminishing the importance of navigating … (which sort of makes the menu pointless…) This is an example of a website that is NOT harmonious with technology and the needs/desires of its target audience.

Posted in Bad Link 2 | 2 Comments »

8. September 2009 by Haley.

Martin + Osa is a division of American Eagle, Inc. brands. Named after the modern day husband and wife explorers, Martin & Osa Johnson, the brand is devoted to creating a personal, exclusive shopping experience on a broad scale for modern, middle-aged Americans with a contemporary lifestyle. The website illustrates harmony between technology and audience. The site isn’t overwhelmingly flashy but the index page is appealing … a bar at the top of the page has a rotating list of reasons why shopping at Martin + Osa is a superior experience (free returns, etc.) The content is very well organized, and mouseovers highlight related categories, which makes the content appear more succinct and easier to navigate. One can shop “a la carte” or by outfit. The basic, simple technology on the website is right in line with its target audience.

Posted in Good Link 2 | No Comments »

1. September 2009 by Haley.

I am Always Hungry: portfolio website, highly interactive, great design

Aaron’s Stats 261 Page:  no interactivity. EVERYTHING is spit out onto one page. the definition of no interactivity….

Posted in Bad Link 1, Good Link 1 | 1 Comment »