Budweiser Beer

this post is focusing on Budweiser's website.  I am a fan of Bud and the site dose not let me down design and functionality wise.  The navigation is very clear and easy to use basically because it is completely seperated from the rest of the site in a strong black band at the top of the page.  On rollover the type lights up to become a bright white that pops off the page.  In its selected state the link remains the bright white color, so it is clear which page you have traveled to.  The architecture of this site is not super deep and it is very easy to follow and undertsnad where and what you are clicking on when going from page to page.

I really enjoy the large image that takes up the entire screen when you click on a main navigation link.  It sot of acts like a splash page but instead of just having it for you to enter the site, they have one for you to enter and explore every page that comes directly off of the main navigation.  I like the use of strong imagery in the site.  Photography is always an effective method with companies like this because they are trying to sell and promote a product.  The customer wants to see and experience this product even before they buy it.  So photography gives them a chance to see exactly what they are getting.

i think that the colors work incredibly well.  they are simply taken from the logo and applied delicately to the rest of the site.  the images pop off of the solid colored backgrounds and really draw the user in to the site.  The main goal of Budweiser's site is to get the user to buy their beer.  So they have created a very inviting site that is extremely user friendly and uses strong imagery and headlines too draw the readers attention.

LRG

This post focuses on LRG, a clothing and skateboard company based in California.  They sell expensive urban attire and the company has grown to become a huge success due to there hip branding and quality of clothing.  The navigation of the LRG site is very basic with a simple horizontal list that has a strong change in its rollover and selected state.  It goes from a simple bold black type, to a green box housing a white type, a large contrast from the original Navigation.  The main navigation always seems more important then the secondary navigations because it remains a strong black type resting upon the very light background.  The extreme contrast of the navigation to the background makes it the first thing that the user sees.  The secondary navigations are usually housed in a black bar and use a lighter color.  They are also lower down on the page so you would naturally look at them after the primary navigation.

The architecture of this site is very deep as it contains a store, a blog, and many other categories and pages.  The store alone would have multiple pages.  The site does not have a flat architecture because when you click on a primary navigation link, another set of links appears down lower on the page.  You are not able to travel anywhere on the website with just one click of the mouse, it may take a couple to get where your going.

i think that the hierarchy in the typography is very clear and strong because of the drastic change in size and weight of the typefaces.  The headings are much much larger than the body copy making them instantly stand out as a headline.  Also the font looks like a web supported font so almost everything on the site is able to be html type.  The layout of the site is very consistent and stays the dame on every page you travel to.  There is always a very large image right underneath the navigation that shows a feature.

I think that the imagery used on the site further intrigues me to want to look at their clothing and other parts of the site because the photos are very well done.  There large size makes them impossible to look over and i think that using photography over some other form of imagery was the best choice for LRG.

I enjoy the color palette as well.  They managed to keep it relatively modern looking so that the clothing seems more expensive.  they also threw in a pop color to add highlights to certain things and i think that it really helps to make the site just a little bit more playful and inviting.  The main goal of the site is to get the viewer to become inspired by the ideas and philosophies that LRG stands for.  They also are trying to get you to buy some of there clothing or products.

Apple

this post is focusing on one of the most recognizable websites ever created, apple.com  In my opinion this website is genius and i think that many other websites try to copy the sleek and clean style but just cant pull it off as well as Apple does.

The navigation of this site is simple and easy to follow and the rollover state and selected state work perfectly so that the viewer always knows what page they are on.  I also enjoy the secondary navigation and how it drops right below the main navigation.  The hierarchy between the two is very clear.  I especially like the secondary navigation for certain products where it drops down as a scroll of images so you can see the product even before you get to it's page in the site.  Some parts of the site may make it seem like it does not have a deep architecture but indeed it does.  This can be seen on the store page where the left and right sides of the site are littered with lists of links that take you to all different pages.  I can also tell that this site has very deep architecture because of the giant community of Apple product users.

The typography used is very simple and the hierarchy between headlines and body type is easily seen just by a drastic change in size as well as color.  The headings are in jet black which pops off of the bright white background of the boxes.  The secondary type is more gray so it falls back into the white a little more.  This type is also much smaller.

Overall the site has a very consistent and simple gris system that is only deviated away from slightly in the store section of the website.  this is probably just because of the amount of secondary navigation links needed on that page.  I also think that the imagery used on the site is beautiful.  It all feels very modern and sleek and clean, which is just what an Apple customer thinks of when they think of a MAC or an iPod.  i think that the color palette of the whole site works perfectly especially the slightly gray background.  That one color just seems to add a much more polished and modern feel to the whole site.

the main objective of this site is obviously to get people to become Apple product buyers and users.  The user friendly appearance and easy to use website further attracts customers.  The focal point of this site on every page is a large main image that displays a product and shows its beauty.

FOOD & WINE

This post is focusing on the website for FOOD & WINE magazine.  I recently redesigned this website but i definitely took some inspiration from the original as well as other sites like this one.

The navigation on this site is pretty well done and I think that the selected state, as well as the rollover state work well.  The navigation very easy to follow and I think that the user will usually know where they are in the site because of the simplicity and clarity of the main navigation  bar.  The main navigation bar remains in the same spot as you move throughout the site and compared to the secondary navigation, it seems much more important.  So the hierarchy of information is working pretty well in this site regarding the navigation.

This site does seem to have a pretty deep architecture because there is a lot of information that would fall under the main navigation categories.  There is also subscription and renewal pages as well as shopping pages.  These can be quite in depth and the process of doing these things may take you through many pages of the site.

I think that the hierarchy of typography is very strong in this site and the information organization has been very well executed.  The big contrast in bold vs. regular typefaces as well as the drastic color contrast helps this and I am always aware of what is a heading and what is not.  The more important things definitely stand out more.  Content-wise, the navigation was spot on and when i clicked on restaurants and travel, I was able to find anything i wanted to know about restaurants and travel.

I think that the imagery used in the site is one of its strongest traits.  When talking about food and wine and travel, good photography is always important.  People want to see it before they eat or drink it.  so I think that the photographs are great and that they should make them even more interactive.  A very large image on the home-page would be nice and it could represent a featured article.  Then there could also be a slideshow to cycle through the best images and articles.  One thing that i think could change would be the colors used in the site.  at the moment they are black and orange and I'm getting an Autumn sort of feeling from it.  This could work if it was October, but it doesn't seem to fit right now.  They could possibly change there palette to represent the seasons and the food that come with that new season

The Food & WINE website is a good example of something that started out decent but just couldn't make it to the top.  Their main motivation is to get people to browse their site, like what they see, and subscribe to the magazine, or buy something from the site.

TAWS CAN DO large format printing

This post focuses on a company based in Philadelphia called TAWS CAN DO.  They are a large format print shop that could use a lesson or two when it comes to web design.

To start things off lets talk about there navigation.  Where is it?  The primary navigation should be one of the most recognizable features on any website but on TAWS website, it is almost impossible to find.  The problem is that there is no rollover state for there navigation which surrounds the main image of the site and is contained in red boxes that are mixed in with boxed images.  I think that this site would definitely benefit from trying out a simple horizontal navigation instead of this hard to find one that they are using now.

This site does not have a very deep architecture and i know this because i was bale to click through the entire site in a couple minutes.  Many of the pages are mostly just lines of type that are changed from page to page, so the layout of the site is consistent throughout.  There is an exception to this however.  the main navigation shift from the center of the page to the left and still holds the weird format that it has on the home-page.  Other than that the grid and layout used are consistent.

The typography on this site could definitely use some work as well.  The hierarchy of type and headings is very weak and i think that it could easily be improved with the introduction of another typeface or another color.  At the moment al of the type including headings is white.  I think the headings could take on a red color as seen in the logo.  This would help me to know what is what a little better.

I think that this site would benefit from some stronger imagery because the pictures that they are using now are pretty weak and i think they are not relevant to the company.  They should use some images of things that they have printed or images of the inside of the store and the staff.

The color palette of the site is pretty harsh and hard to look at because of the white type on the black background.  I think they should lighten up the background and try using some darker type for the body copy.  I believe that this would give the site a more modern feel as well as make it seem more professional.

Verizon

This post is focusing on Verizon's website, mainly there Verizon Wireless site.  The navigation for this site is very clear  and bold.  It is the first ting that the viewer sees when they enter the sight.  The site has a few levels of navigation and the secondary navigation is a large drop-down menu that comes directly off of the rollover link in the primary navigation.  I am not a big fan of the large drop-down menu especially when it covers up the main image on the page.  This main image usually has some sort of important message within it ad a drop-down that covers the whole thing seems to be counterproductive.

This sites architecture is very deep and the site contains pages upon pages from device information, to purchasing pages, to customer service pages and forms.  I can tell it has a deep architecture simply from looking at the secondary navigation.  There is a massive amount of terms that wold clearly have even more subcategories on their pages.

I think that the typography of the site is done very well and is organized very nicely.  Headings and more important pieces of information really jump off of the background mostly because of color usage.  the red found in the Verizon logo is used to create hierarchy as well as type size.  All of the navigation pages were very clear and when i rolled over one, i found what i was looking for and got what i expected.

The basic layout of the site remains similar when traveling from page to page and the main navigation is consistent throughout the website.  There seems to be a large main image that is the focal point of almost every page.  This seems like a good decision because customer satisfaction and usability are two traits that a buyer would want when purchasing a new cell phone or signing a contract.  These large images often include either a new product with a deal attached to it or an image of a happy customer using a Verizon product.  There are not many icons used in the site but instead they decided to simply use strong type and color.  the names of the categories seem pretty clear so additional symbolism would probably be unnecessary.

The main goal of this site is to recruit people to become Verizon Wireless customers.  The site uses strong imagery and delicate slideshows to help enhance the experience on the site and create a small sense of interaction with the user.  One feature that i found extremely helpful was the search filter bar when browsing through phones or other devices.

French Paper Company

This website review is focusing on the French Paper company's website.  The navigation of this site was very hard for me to locate since it seems to blend in with the background of the site.  Really the only thing that triggers a reaction is the rollover state of the navigation.  The color changes from white to blue but when you click on it, the selected state stays the same as before so it does not indicate what page you have moved too.

This site has a relatively deep architecture but you would not know that at first glance.  There is no clear secondary navigation, but since you are able to buy and order paper, there tends be a good amount of pages that you will need to go through to complete the process.  Almost every image on the page links to another page but there are so many images and boxes that it can sometimes get confusing.  It seems like the site is to cramped and the boxes and images need more room to breathe.  I think that if the website was laid out more like their blog is laid out, it would be easier to look at and easier to navigate.

I am having trouble finding a real focal point of the pages on this site as well.  There are so many images using very bright and poppy colors that they seem to all be on the same level and nothing really stands out to me as something more important.  I think the images could work more effectively if they were separated by some secondary text or just some more white space.  I do think that the gray background was a smart decision because it makes the bright colors pop off the page but there needs to be another consistent color that separates the very bright images so they don't get jumbled against each other.

The main objective of this site is to sell me something and  to inform the viewer what products French paper has to offer.  However, i don't really feel this site swaying me towards french paper more than towards Mohawk or any other paper company.  I wish there was a little more interactive parts of this site just to create more interest because right now it seems a bit static and boring.  I can tell they are going for a younger feel with their imagery but the layout and overall confusion of the site is a turnoff for me.

This website review is of a portfolio website for a portfolio website that belongs to one of my all-time favorite graphic designers, Scott Hansen.  He also goes by the designer name of iso50 and is also an accomplished musician.  When making music and playing shows he goes by the name Tycho.

Scott's website is beautifully designed and his navigation is clear and easy to use.  On rollover, the color of the navigation button changes and a carrot comes up next to it to further show that it is a button and can be clicked.  After clicking, the navigation choice remains the rollover color.  Another thing that Scott introduces that many other websites don't have is sound.  Upon rollover, a noise is made to even further show that the word is clickable.

The architecture of this site is very flat and simple.  It is basically just one page with images and colors that change to show that you have entered a new category of navigation.  I think that the flat navigation is very effective in this site because it makes the portfolio work easily accessible.

the typography of the site is very fitting because it is a style that is seen throughout his work.  I think that the hierarchy could be a little stronger, possibly the use of some larger type or different typefaces would help.

The layout of the website is very consistent as i said before.  It is a one page site that uses new images, sounds, and colors to show you have moved from one section to another.  The main focus of the page is the image of the work.  i believe this is how it should be executed because it is a portfolio site and the work is the most important thing.  The colors work very well and seem to fit into his artistic style.  Also he uses textures that can be found in much of his work such as wood textures as well as patterns.  The brighter colors bring the content of the page forward and make them much more important than what is going on in the background.  The strong images also pop well off of the light background.

The overall goal of the site is to showcase the work of Scott Hansen.  I think that this goal is achieved successfully through the simple layout and architecture as well as the very large and strong images of his work.  I think that one aspect of the site that enhanced my overall experience was the addiction of his music playing in the background.  it was very soothing and seemed appropriate while browsing through his work.

Denny's website is a very inventive and fun website that really gets me in the mood for some breakfast food.  The navigation of this site is somehwat complictaed because there are multiple ways to travel from page to page.  There is the quick navigation button which brings up a normal navigation bar but there are also little arrows on the sides of the page that cycle from right to left from page to page.  The only problem is these scroll arrows are not visible unless the user rolls over a certain part of the page on the right or the left.  I was a little confused at first but once i realized how it worked, i found the site to be quite fun to move around in.

the sites architecture is not very deep.  n fact there is only one navigation bar and a secondary navigation seems to be nonexistent.  I wish that there was a navigation bar that would stay up consistently while i moved from page to page.  It is a pain to have to click on the quick nav button everytime i want to switch pages.  I think that the flat architecture of this site is successful because it allows the user to browse through the site quickly.  Not many people are going to want to sit and read through a bunch of crap about Denny's, they just want to find out what is on the menu and what the deals are.

The typography seems very appropriate for the atmosphere of Denny's and works well to compliment the pictures of hearty breakfast foods.  the type is fat and chunky, just like most of Denny's customers and the colors of the type stand out off of the yellow background to help create hierarchy within the site.

The layout of the pages stays consistent as the user travels from page to page which is a good thing because there seems to be a lot of information on each page.  the user is able to clearly see what page they are on and then can scroll down to see more content that is relevant to the section of the website that they are in.

The strong photography is working very well in this website especially on the menu page.  Customers like to see what they are buying rather than just reading a description about it.  The images also make the viewer hungry provoking them to travel to their nearest Denny's to get a bacon sundae or a country fried steak, yum!  The colors are working well in this site.  They scream food and grease, and that is exactly what Denny's is all about.

The main point of this website is to ultimately get people hungry, and it works.  If I could go to a Denny's right now i would.  I think another main purpose of this website is to promote deals and events going on at Denny's, such as Baconalia.

Basil Thai Restaurant

Basil Thai restaurant is a simply laid out website with a primary and secondary navigation. I could easily tell where the navigation was right when i entered the website because of its placement in a green bar. This color popped off the screen so i automatically wanted to look there first.  The secondary navigation is as very clear as it appears when one of the primary navigation buttons is clicked on.  The secondary buttons are housed inside of gray bars and the buttons are also in a different typeface than the primary navigation.  All of these factors seem to make this site easy to navigate.

The sites architecture is not very deep and I dont believe that it needs to be.  Since this is only a website for a small restaurant with two locations, it is not very important for them to have a deep architecture that could confuse the user.  Usually when a viewer goes onto a restaurants website they want to see a select few things such as the menu, hours of operation, and directions. This website is architected to highlight those points very clearly while still having smaller interesting sections regarding their awards and the chefs.

The typography on the page seems to be working well and the hierarchy of the type is very clear.  The use of smaller type as well as grayer type help to show that some things are secondaryb to others.  the headings are large enough that i am able to see cllearly what section I am in.

The grid structure of the website is very simple and is consistent throughout each page.  With each click of the mouse, only a small portion of the page changes inside the concrete grid structure.  This helps to make the site very user friendly.  The large photograhy seems to be working well for this site.  I wish that there was more variety on the secondary pages however, possibly something like on the homepage which has a simple slider. The colors are working wel al around, they are very clean and sleak and the green pops off the page very nicely.  The photos really stand out well against the white background as well.