Typography for whom?

Let's take a look at this interesting site: Typography for lawyers

http://www.typographyforlawyers.com/

Mac tips for PC users

Here is a friendly summary of some nice tips:
http://www.morgandayphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Helpful_Mac_Tips_Shortcuts_for_PC_users_.pdf

A full list of Mac keyboard shortcuts:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

Instructions must die

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Web Critique - The Best and Worst of the Web

I decided to take a look at two magazine sites I'm pretty familiar with. I chose New York Magazine's site, simply because I like the content and read it often, and then I chose Texas Monthly's website because I intern there this fall and am thus exposed to it several times a week for work.

New York Magazine

The Good:
I love this site's content! It's so full of information; I think I looked at this site for everything when I was in the city, and I'm still addicted. There really is a little bit of everything here, from hard news, to fashion information, to dining guides. Design-wise, I feel like the site has lots of bold color choices, and fun yet unobnoxious graphics. It is also easy enough to navigate, and I like that there are drop-down menus with additional subheaders of whatever you could possibly be interested in that has to deal with fashion, entertainment, or what have you.

The Bad:
There is simply way too much going on. The tons of information thing is definitely a double-edged sword. While it's great that there's so much to read, it can certainly get a little overwhelming if you don't know what you're looking for on the site. If I didn't know anything about nymag.com and was directed here, I think I would leave immediately because all the information they show you on the front page is incredibly intimidating.

Texas Monthly

The Good:
Again, the information is a big draw to me. While it definitely is not as visually exciting as the New York Magazine site, the information seems to be a lot more streamlined, and certainly feels a lot more accessible than the former. Also, the simple black and white color scheme is pleasing on the eye, and the fact that all the text is adequately spaced helps to reduce strain on the eyes. Definitely one of my favorite magazine sites, aesthetically speaking. The menu is also very easy to navigate; everything is found either at the top menu (magazine content) or the one at the bottom (magazine production info).

The Bad:
Perhaps a bit bland, but other than that, I really don't see much wrong!

Web critique

I have chosen to evaluate the new layout of the popular user-based content sharing site Digg.com

Good
Digg's new site is soft and aesthetically pleasing. Using warm, light colors such as soft blue and lime green on a white background are good for a browsing site like Digg. If the site's main goal was to direct the eye to a specific place or it had a central purpose then stronger colors would more appropriate, but because it is intended to be for easy looking then soft and mild colors work. The curved edges also help achieve the leisurely theme.



Bad
The light colors are taken to a bit of an extreme, making the page a little too leisurely and borderline uninteresting. The page is very repetitive and its wishy-washy nature doesn't make me want to explore, and nothing stands out.



Ugly
Similar to the old Digg, sponsored sites are integrated within the pages that are prominent due to their popularity, which is clever marketing because it leads passive viewers to believe sponsored sites are popular too, but it is deceptive for the same reason.

Good, Bad and Ugly

I am kind of addicted to movie trailers; I watch them obsessively. I've used a variety of websites and I am going to compare two "good" ones (why would I use a bad movie trailer site?). There are good and bad qualities to both of these web sites so I will discuss some of them.

My favorite site is Apple's movie trailer site. First off, it's highly aesthetically pleasing. It is not inundated with advertisements; the pictures of movie posters are set in simple rows and the format doesn't change when you click to the next row of posters. You can change the order of the posters by release date, popularity, etc. The side bars are simple to navigate too. They offer more information, in lists, about movies currently at the box office.

One problem that I have with Apple's movie site (which is an issue that I have with most Apple software/products) is that when you search for something, the search isn't exclusive to the trailers site. If i were to search for "Karate," the site would come up with Ipad and Iphone applications, songs for your Ipod, etc. Even the top bar of the site is links to other apple products to purchase.

Another site I use a lot is traileraddict.com

It has a similar layout to the Apple site, but has a lot more advertisements along the sidebars which make the site more cumbersome. There is, however, a trailer search right at the top of the page to make it easy to find something that you may only have a few words to describe.

Another feature I like on the website is the "film database" functions. You can easily search for old trailers or clips with one click.

More generally, I like that Trailer addict's website is more gears towards movie news, clips, and trailers whereas Apple site is all about Apple products.

Website Picks

I chose two band websites to illustrate how important clarity, design and usability are.

The differences are really subtle, but I think it's the small things that can make a site truly great and user-appropriate.

One of my favorites is from the band She and Him.

I enjoy using the She and Him website because it has:

• a highly pleasant design that adequately reflects the direction and interests of the group and their fans,
• an extremely usable front page with clear and large buttons that are easily understood by the viewer,
• fun use of pictures and music player,
  
• and enough content to actually flesh out their page correctly.
  

One of my not-so-favorites is from the band Bloc Party.

I don't enjoy navigating the Bloc Party website because it doesn't have:

• clear options of where to go within the site and
  
• a very visible menu.

Not having a clear cut menu on a page makes it almost excruciating for me to read. The menu doesn't have to be obscenely large or stereotypically placed, it just has to be visible and useful.

What I like- and what I don't

Well hello thar everyone,

I decided that I would share both a website that I hate and one that I appreciate a lot more.

Let's start with the one that's gotta go:

Lamborghini.

I know I know, it's the roaring and timeless Lamborghini- which is exactly why I wish their home page wasn't so humdrum. Fire engine red Murcielago anyone? Please, don't be under the impression that it stops there, things get better. You have to click through two almost three subheadings sometimes before you even get to their video/photo content. The website is just downright counter-intuitive and annoying. I actually don't mind the monochromatic I'mreallyclassy look, but it's just completely snooty to ignore the value of putting an image right next to the specs and other information. I was really baffled by how much clicking you have to do before you can be visually stimulated- especially for a brand that's known for good looks.

On to what's a whole lot better:

Bentley. Ah yes.

You mean I get pictures as soon as I'm on the website?! They shouldn't have!

But honestly, from the time you hit the website you are reminded of why everyone who has a Bentley is so awesome, and why you're not. As with any website, I really want a visual to draw me in, and Bentley takes care of that straightaway. Also, the image seen in the snapshot above is actually a clip from a video showing the unveiling of their latest beauty, so you immediately have video content as well. I really am a person of simplicity when it comes to navigating websites, so it was oh-so-refreshing to have only four tabs and then drop-downs with the appropriate information. In fact, in spite of all the wonderful images and video, the best part of this website is it's functionality.

-Destinee

Web Critique: Sprinkles Cupcakes

Click here to get to Sprinkles Cupcakes website.


I chose this website to critique because I really like the design and contents they use.


1. Usability

• Tabs: they are organized and easy to find the right page you're looking for. 
• Layout: no need to scroll up and down to find something; the only downside is that the content is on the left side and there is a huge white space on right (I think it's the screen resolution...)
• Accessibility: there are links to social media (facebook, twitter), which allow them to connect customers through various ways

2. Design

• I really like the colors and fonts they use
• Simple design
• Great images!

-Pauline

web site critique-Erdman

Capital Metro's web site

This isn't the most exciting web site, but it's extremely functional and has great usability. The layout is clear, and navigating the site isn't complicated (see the side menu).

The body text on the main page is a little lengthy, but usually pertinent.

I use the site all the time and especially like the interactive features like Trip Planner and other options.

Publish Post

The Best and the Worst of the Web - Ryan's Picks

When it comes to determining if a website is "usable" or not, I look for a layout, design and navigation that provides an incentive to stay.

The Good

In the "good" category, I believe the food blog Serious Eats is a great example of a website design and layout that both is functional and attractive.

Each subsection of Serious Eats is nicely presented at the top via tabs, emulating an old fashioned recipe Rolodex. Although rotators are typically the bane of my existence, some slick Javascript implementation stuffs a lot of information in one space, it really helps.

Food always prompts great conversation, so highlighting the recent comments in the sidebar is great.

The Bad

In the "not-so-good" category, no site makes me want to pull my hair out more than The Huffington Post.

I could have a entirely separate discussion about the content, but I rarely get far enough to see any of it thanks to the sensory overload their front page throws at you. It's like it never ends. I'm a sucker for organization, and I have trouble discerning any sort of navigation, be it by time of publish or type of story (outside of the little headers) on the HuffPo front page.

The article pages themselves have their own problems. Any site that lets the main content get so distant from the comment section is doing a poor job of maintaining cohesiveness.

Worst Web Site

The George Hutchins campaign really dropped the ball with their Web site. A tool meant to organize supporters and attract new voters definitely swings hard and misses badly.

All of the links on the Web site are absolutely conflicting with the background. There's no consistency on the page, no defiant "look." It just looks like a huge scramble of images. It's hard to find any information on this site because you're just too distracted with all the colors and random imagery.

The site's webmaster makes a valiant effort in including some tube video clips, but they seems to be in random order. The videos are the only redeeming quality about this site, especially since all the text really detracts any reader from paying attention.


See George's site for yourself.

Poor Website Design

I found this website that was created this year for current Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Basil Marceaux.

I chose this site because, despite its recent creation, it looks as if it were designed at some point in the mid-1990's. In addition to the text, which is centered in the middle of the page, the site also includes poorly laid out photos and an unattractive red on yellow color scheme.

In addition, the text is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. Some of the sentences are so poorly arranged that it is totally incomprehensible. The author intended for site to convey his political leaning, yet I would imagine it would only lead to utter confusion as to the direction of his campaign platform.

A Look at Mashable's Design and Usability

The site that I am looking at is the popular Social Media News Blog, Mashable. Overall, I like their site a lot. It is easy to read, has plenty of multimedia and is informative.

The usability of the site is very effective. The main page lists the most recent articles, but you can also click “trending” and find the most popular articles. Popularity is measured in a number of ways including facebook mentions and retweets. This method of ranking sites is very effective and gets the best news "organically" rather than by an editor deciding.

The design is good. I believe a good design doesn’t distract from the webpage and this one does that very well. It is simple clean and allows for interactivity and expansion.

There is a risk of going overboard with widgets. There is a lot of different things happening on the website, but overall I think it is a great site.

Poor Web Design

The following website is a total mess

The layout is terrible and is not pleasing to the eye. However, the usability is not as bad as the actual layout. It is o-k in the sense that it allows you to click a car you might want to look into and it expands the picture...but if I was actually trying to purchase a car, I would be freaked out by how this site looks visually that I would probably leave the site right away. Also, the way it is designed makes the site look not legitimate, so I would not think this was a good website to look for a car.

-Rachel Levi

Worst/Best Baking Blog Web Design

I'm a sucker for food blogs, especially baking ones. I already had a favorite blog in mind (because I go to it often for baking inspiration), but had to scrolled through a list of the Top 50 baking blogs to find a poorly designed one.




I considered Baker's Hours to have the most confusing and poorly designed website. Had it not been for the name, I wouldn't have been able to figure out what was going on there. The sidebars were next to the text which were next to advertisement which just made my head spin. When I scrolled down, I noticed that there weren't any text breakers. All the entries were just jumbled together. I also disliked the banner because the orange colored links were almost impossible to see.

On a brighter note, here is my absolute favorite baking website:

I love the design of Bakerella. The banner is cute, the columns and boxes are nicely spaced out, and the pictures are amazing quality. I love the rounded corners of some of the photos and boxes as well as the pink theme; it made the site look cohesive.

Website Design

I picked the following website because it is not very visually aesthetic, difficult to navigate through, and inconsistent as a whole: architect.org

Terrible Usability and Design

I have chosen this site to critique, because I feel that it is an example of a poorly designed website. The overall structure and layout of the site make it very difficult to navigate, the text is cluttered and the photos need to be resized, among many other things. I'm sure there is a ton of great information on this site, it is just hard to find.

I look forward to critiquing this site in detail during class on Wednesday.


Kurt M