I reviewed the iPoint projects and have the following comments:
Three design ideas I liked:
1. Amy Chin - I liked her placement of the contact information on every page
http://mat.miracosta.edu/MAT165/studentwork/chin/midterm/
2. I liked the side-by-side comparison of the public and private sectors. One of the nicest displays of the sectors for the midterm (I think)
http://mat.miracosta.edu/MAT165/studentwork/lheureux/midterm/Ipoint/services.htm
3. I liked how the Services page has "more" links to view the complete text. I don't know how to do that yet...
http://robertsfamily3.com/SRobertsP1/services.html
Three designs ideas I would change:
1. The logo doesn't work for me. To me it looks like a pair of sunglasses with a reflection of a bridge.
http://mat.miracosta.edu/MAT165/studentwork/jentzsch/midterm/Jentzsch_iPointAdvisors/
2. Daniel Howard - The main navigation buttons are awkward, too large and don't look like nav buttons. When I first accessed the site I didn't know they were nav buttons. The Contact Us button is a different style than the rest of the buttons.. seems they should be consistent.
http://mat.miracosta.edu/MAT165/studentwork/howard/ipoint_advisors_clients.html
3. The layout doesn't look complete, the page doesn't go down under the main nav menu.
http://mat.miracosta.edu/MAT165/studentwork/rodriguez/midterm/Rodriguez-P1/clients.html
If I were in charge of iPoint advisors I would pick Suzanne Roberts' site because it works. The nav is easy to use, the layout is consistent, the colors work well and I really like the drop down text on the Services page (don't know what it's really called). The one thing I would have her change though is the pictures... I think they need to be optimized for the web because they load really slow.
http://robertsfamily3.com/SRobertsP1/index.html
Things I would change about my site:
I would put more time into the design of the site, developing a logo, picking colors, choosing pictures... items that would make the site "look" nice. I would fix the focus issue when you click on a button and I would learn how to do the drop down "more" text for the Services page.
That Girl
Monday, May 2, 2011
Blog Topic #11: Project Research
I planned to do my final project for a friend who runs a Horse Nanny Service, she already has a website but wants something better. Unfortunately two of her horses died last month and she wasn't able to get me material for a new website, so I am doing a fictional website for her type of service. I looked at many websites while for ideas while writing the proposal and will use the following two for this assignment. The first one is my friend's existing website, so I thought it would be a good place to start.
http://www.horsenannyservice.com/Home_Page.html
http://ponynanny.com/index.html
What are the site's communication objectives?
Both site's communication objectives are to get information to the reader.
How is information structured on the site(s)?
The first site uses very brief description of services offered in a paragraph type format. The second site uses many forms of structuring the content. Some areas of content are in paragraphs, some are in lists, some in colored boxes. It's very disorganized looking. There are buttons within the site to navigate to other areas of the site - it's a maze to navigate through.
What content is emphasized?
The first site has just the headings emphasized. The second site has all kinds of things emphasized, there are orange buttons on the left of the home page only, the next page uses bold and underlining, the next page uses bold and/or italic for the text with no obvious reason for the difference. The next page uses different color boxes with bold and underlined headings in black. There Contact Us page has a red button in it, the text is White and bold (or large font). There is a lot of color and different types of font shapes and colors, but it's hard to tell what should really stand out.
Is there a theme?
The first site has a theme, the colors and layout are consistent, as well as the picture.
The second site doesn't appear to have a theme beyond keeping the main nav buttons in the same place. The layout and background colors are different on every page, the headings are different, and the text changes between black and white.
How do the design elements function to reveal the theme(s) and objective(s)?
The first site is consistent, the layout is the same, the colors are the same from page to page, the text style is the same, the objective of getting information to the reader is consistent.
The second site doesn't reveal a theme. Seems the objective is the same as the first site - to get information to the reader, but it's confusing. All pages look different so when clicking on a link it isn't apparent if you are taken to another site or just another different page.
Describe what you've learned about designing your final project site based on this competitor/idea research.
I liked the color theme of the first site (blues), but decided against using blue font for the headings (I think the blue font makes them appear to be links when they aren't). I plan to keep my site simple, with consistent layout and use of font styles. The headings and emphasis will be consistent. The second site confirmed my belief that simple is good - KISS - and that consistency between pages, layout, text styles... is comforting for the reader.
http://www.horsenannyservice.com/Home_Page.html
http://ponynanny.com/index.html
What are the site's communication objectives?
Both site's communication objectives are to get information to the reader.
How is information structured on the site(s)?
The first site uses very brief description of services offered in a paragraph type format. The second site uses many forms of structuring the content. Some areas of content are in paragraphs, some are in lists, some in colored boxes. It's very disorganized looking. There are buttons within the site to navigate to other areas of the site - it's a maze to navigate through.
What content is emphasized?
The first site has just the headings emphasized. The second site has all kinds of things emphasized, there are orange buttons on the left of the home page only, the next page uses bold and underlining, the next page uses bold and/or italic for the text with no obvious reason for the difference. The next page uses different color boxes with bold and underlined headings in black. There Contact Us page has a red button in it, the text is White and bold (or large font). There is a lot of color and different types of font shapes and colors, but it's hard to tell what should really stand out.
Is there a theme?
The first site has a theme, the colors and layout are consistent, as well as the picture.
The second site doesn't appear to have a theme beyond keeping the main nav buttons in the same place. The layout and background colors are different on every page, the headings are different, and the text changes between black and white.
How do the design elements function to reveal the theme(s) and objective(s)?
The first site is consistent, the layout is the same, the colors are the same from page to page, the text style is the same, the objective of getting information to the reader is consistent.
The second site doesn't reveal a theme. Seems the objective is the same as the first site - to get information to the reader, but it's confusing. All pages look different so when clicking on a link it isn't apparent if you are taken to another site or just another different page.
Describe what you've learned about designing your final project site based on this competitor/idea research.
I liked the color theme of the first site (blues), but decided against using blue font for the headings (I think the blue font makes them appear to be links when they aren't). I plan to keep my site simple, with consistent layout and use of font styles. The headings and emphasis will be consistent. The second site confirmed my belief that simple is good - KISS - and that consistency between pages, layout, text styles... is comforting for the reader.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)