Category: ARTM2210 Intro to Web

The site I chose to review is etsy.com. Etsy is a site where artists can buy and sell artwork, antiques, and art supplies. The website layout it pretty simple in my opinion. When you first view the page it explains what etsy is all about. It also has a search bar, which allows you to bypass having to go through the plethora of categories on their navigation bar at the top. As you visit the site more frequently, the site keeps track of your most recently viewed items and begins to suggest things for you. My only problem with this website is that you have to scroll down pretty far in order to figure out how to sell items on etsy. If I wasn’t already familiar with etsy’s selling process, I would have been rather frustrated with the lack of available information regarding starting a shop.  Overall, etsy will continue to be one of my most viewed sites; however, I definitely think there is room for improvement design-wise.

www.sephora.com

For my first review, I decided to review Sephora. Being a makeup artist, I am constantly looking for new products and browsing new websites to find them. Going on Sephora’s website, I wanted to see how the website navigation was assuming I was making a purchase. I searched the product “Champagne Pop” by BECCA. As soon as I searched it, the product I was looking for immediately came up. Viewing the product, it was easy to access the details about the product, the description, the price, etc. The “Add to cart” option was fairly large and easy for the viewer to see. As soon as you add a product to your cart, there is a pop-down menu with the options to either checkout or continue shopping. If you choose to continue shopping, the “Checkout” option is large in the upper right corner. I feel as if Sephora made the website very easy to navigate. It is easy to search things and the site is rather self-explanatory. Even if you are not sure exactly what it is that you are looking for, everything is categorized and the filters are very specific. I feel that even someone who may not be great with technology could navigate this website, which is a key element for something that has a large target audience.

New Egg

Lately I’ve been looking to buy a second 23inch Asus monitor for my laptop so I decided to review newegg.com. Although I was able to find the exact monitor I was looking for, I think the website could be more visually appealing. While first arriving on newegg I noticed the calm color scheme and easy to navigate search options. However when I scrolled down the interesting color scheme completely vanished and I was left looking at the best selling items surrounded by a clutter of ads. Although the blandness of the web page and the ads littered throughout don’t make newegg that visually appealing it more than makes up for it with its indepth search options. First I started my search by using the navigation bar conveniently placed at the top of the webpage. While I knew exactly the requirements I wanted, I started by searching 23inch monitors. This brought me to a page filled with various 23inch monitors, but what was impressive was the amount of specifying search options the left side of the page had to offer. Some of the helpful search options were the manufacturer, condition, price, seller, customer rating and many more. Overall I was able to find exactly what I was looking for due to newegg’s advanced and various search options. However, because of the mass amounts of ads and interactive items on newegg, the webpage could use improvements directing the users focus on where it needs to be.

Jordan Thompson

Review 1

 

The site that I will be reviewing is Musiciansfriend.com. Musicians friend is a website for online shopping for musical instruments such as guitars, drums, keyboards, amps and many more versatile musical instruments and accessories. When I initially went on to this site, I found that it seemed very clustered to me. It was a lot to take in and try to skim through, but there was a “shop by category” in the top left side that caught my eye. When I came to navigating my way through the site, it became very easy for me. I play guitar, and have done so for the past five years, so I figured I would pretend to buy a new guitar. Navigating my way, and searching and finding the guitar of my choosing was something that I found to be fairly easy. This site is actually a very easy one to navigate around in, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend. My only fault that I see is that when I first went on to the site, it was a lot for me to take in. I don’t know if it was because of the font style, the amount that was on the front page, or even the color scheme, but my only wish is that the home page was more inviting and easy to look at. Overall, I found this to be a great website, and I would definitely use it again and recommend it to friends and family.

 

www.musiciansfriend.com

The two sites I chose to explore and compare were peterallens.com and burgatorybar.com. Both sites have very different layouts that pertain to their target audiences’, and create the atmosphere of their restaurants. Peter Allen’s is a high-class authentic Italian restaurant, while Burgatory  is a sleek and comfortable gourmet burger joint. The layout of their websites express the feeling each is trying convey.

Both sites open up to a homepage with a slideshow in the center, and a navigation bar either across the top or along the right side. The nav bars allow the user to hover over different tabs that open up to lists of available pages in order to access more information. They both possess balance throughout the site, functioning with ease. Each has a number of pictures followed by descriptions and information. Unity is found in Peter Allen’s by using an italian inspired color scheme of reds whites and greens. Burgatory uses a color scheme of browns and reds that pair extremely nicely. The use of a distressed background gives the site a rustic feel that matches their restaurant very well. Together these two sites have very different layouts, but each works in its own way. Peter Allen’s has an extended drop down menu that requires you to scroll the full length of the page.  Burgatory has a very condensed site that requires minimal scrolling. Everything there is at your fingertips, making it simple to maneuver.  Following Krug’s 5 important things Burgatory thrives by making everything visually clear, organzing the main areas and tabs, and making the clickable areas very obvious. Peter Allen’s on the other hand is a job to navigate, scrolling to the bottom of the page and back up over and over again, and not knowing what to click and what not to click.

In my personal opinion Burgatory is a more effective website. The format of the site is so simplified that anyone can use it, it instructs you were you can find everything without confusion, and it holds your attention with witty remarks and punny jokes which I thoroughly enjoy. Its decompressed nav bar makes navigating the site very easy. The way the site is set up shows the actual vibe of the restaurant itself and gives you a taste of what you can expect your experience there to be like.

 

 

The two restaurant sites I selected to review are Six Penn Kitchen and Burgatory. My first impression overall is that both offer useful links to navigate and find the information a visitor would be looking for but neither have a search bar for quick navigation. Though this could be a problem, I was able to easily find important information like menu, location, and hours. Six Penn’s layout is clean and very easily read, also it provides links on the homepage that one would need to find all information about the restaurant. Throughout the Six Penn website, there is a cohesive design and color scheme, with emphasis on the navigation bar that is located on the top of every page. Burgatory’s site also has a lot of the same good qualities as Six Penn. The two restaurants have different atmospheres, Burgatory is more laid back and so is their website. It feels a little more inviting but still offers all the necessary information needed. Burgatory’s site has all of their locations at the bottom of every page as well as hours, but the hours could be more prominently displayed. Overall, both website are easily navigated and have an appealing layout and design. The Six Penn website is simple and easy on the eyes while Burgatory’s site has a little more flair. I do not think one is better than the other, but Burgatory’s site draws my attention more because they have a gigantic milkshake or burger in the center of their site.

Danielle Bobish

Web Design

Prof. Ames

Review#4

 

The competition of our restaurant in terms of content and menu is Ihop. Ihop is known for selling a variety of breakfast delights that caters to all hours of the night and day. The layout of Ihop separated into 9 horizontal rows, 7 if you don’t include the navigation bar/header and media bar/footer. Each row is categorized by a topic that is mostly illustrated by pictures. The main source of unity is color from the pineapples, lemon and tea drink in the top photo, to the sunshine gradient in the next row, then to the slight differentiation of the cheese and fries, to the lights in the restaurant, and then to the eggs and snap chat symbol. The color yellow is said to be a happy color and bring joy to people, but it is also eye catching and allows people to navigate from one section to the next. Blue is also used in a creative way, in the background up top, to the buttons and then to the countdown symbol. Even though there are a variety of textures in this web page, it is unified by color and it works. The texture is not always something to be identified by an object though, the text gives off a fun character that helps with the texture. Paradise is spectacled, but it doesn’t detract the user from navigating the page. Besides the navigation bar at the very top, the page is a single scroll downward. Your eyes are drawn to the center of the page and from there you are met with a variety of advertisements and clickable options.

In conclusion to Ihop as a working website, I believe it is successful at guiding the user through the web pages and giving the user just enough control to feel in control. Colors are used to help give our eyes relief and trail to follow as we scroll. This site is very fun and definitely reflects the character of the actual atmosphere of the location (robsinson). My website caters to the same crowd of late night bites but adds a twist to the idea. Our company is called Whiskey Waffles. We are a late night crowd appealing food craze that caters to the 21& up crowd. Because we are located on the south side and have a lot of night life traffic, our website is to reflect the atmosphere of our joint. We used dark colors to give the effect of little lighting and grey wood is to implement a rustic feel. Our color palate is very neutral containing a lot of greys, blacks and whites. We want minimal lighting in the restaurant and to overall be a fun time and place to be to get your munchies on. My website will also stand out with a creative layout that is more modern. Like most websites, images are a main feature that helps cater the user through our site. Images help create satisfaction and weather or not a user decides to visit us in person is how they determine this.

 

http://www.ihop.com/

Danielle Bobish
Web Design
Prof. Ames

Review #3

The 2 websites I chose to review are Applebee’s and Texas Roadhouse. I chose these 2 because I don’t necessarily live in Pittsburgh, so I am familiar with these local restaurants through the means of their services and brand personality.
I find that both of their sites look balanced, even though they are focused on the middle of the page. The aspects that make these pages unified are their use of color, and layout. In the Applebee’s layout, they are very structured and require minimal clicking to navigate the page. Their use of color also helps create a more distinguished and unified look. The Texas roadhouse layout is similar to Applebee’s, however they have a zoom effect on images that help identify clickable links on their page. Emphasis is put on images primarily based on a scrolling gallery to give you an idea of the menu, as well as the hierarchical navigation. The layout in general of Applebee’s consists of a lot of square and rectangular shapes in nature and consists of a neutral color palette. The layout of Texas roadhouse uses an out of focus background image and then uses a lot of images as links to navigate through their page. The five important things Krug states in his chapter are clear visual hierarchy on every page, naming and graphic conventions, breaking pages into clearly defined areas, obvious clickable links and minimal noise. In these terms, I believe that Applebee’s was more successful in following a correct guideline. Applebee’s uses hierarchy navigation through its tabbed and rollover scrolls. Everything is named accordingly and has a place that fits. Unlike Texas roadhouse however, where rollover clickable images are more emphasized, Applebee’s lacks noticeable click action. Also in terms of noise, Applebee’s is more calm in a sense that it isn’t busy. Your eyes can flow across the page at a good pace without getting distracted.
In conclusion, Applebee’s is a more effective website. Good color palette, strong sense of unity, little noise, all links lead to a reasonable page. There are also a lot of extra features that help the user navigate better like a search bar, an order now roll over tab, and prices on the main page. Overall it is very inviting and fun which helps promote the atmosphere of the actual restaurant.

https://www.texasroadhouse.com/

http://www.applebees.com/?

The single page website that I choose  from http://onepagelove.com/ to explore was “The Secrets of Magic: Revealed.” This site focuses on several very popular illusions throughout the history of magic and exposes exactly how the performers deceive our eyes. I actually found the topic very interesting, the website hooked me and I learned all the magic secrets they had to offer.

The site has a great color scheme that encompasses the theme of the site well. Its use of dark backgrounds and bright titles gives an almost mysterious vibe. The use of a purple grid over top of short magician clips gives the site its texture and depth. As you scroll between the 6 Magician secret options the clip in the background changes to give a preview of the selected act. When one of the 6 options is selected the user is instructed to reveal the magic, opening up to a full video clip of the specific Magicians act and a synopsis of how the illusion is accomplished. The site also provides a brief biography of the Magicians that perform each act. There is not very much interaction necessary other then a few clicks between illusions and top to bottom scrolling, so the site is very easy to navigate.

The sites large fonts and easy to follow navigational instructions make for a very user friendly experience. Further, its use of video clips to show the trick to the viewer make the experience enjoyable as you are able to watch the clip then read how they accomplished it. The user is then tempted to rewatch the clip and try to catch where the magician creates the illusion. This site is very well designed in my opinion, because it grasps the user’s attention with its intriguing layout and then holds the user’s interest with  interesting subject matter.

https://www.foxycasino.com/featured/the-secrets-of-magic.html

The site I chose to navigate through was Zumiez.com. Zumiez is a streetwear outfitter that carries goods from clothing and accessories, to complete skateboards. Their most valuable market is reselling clothing from multiple streetwear companies and manufacturers.

Navigating through their website was very simple, and can be done without any headaches. I was searching for sk8-hi vans and it took me no more than three clicks to get to what I was looking for. As soon as I specified that I was interested in shoes by clicking on the footwear tab. The website brought up the exact model I wanted under a heading titled featured. From there I only had to choose the pair of shoes I like and proceed to checkout. All that was left to do was enter my credit card information and hit complete to solidify my order. Zumiez has a very smooth layout that is easily maneuvered. They do a very good job of keeping the website simple, and do not confuse customers with odd wording and random placement. It flows through the process almost naturally, making it so that anyone can do it.

Danielle Bobish

June 28, 2016

Web Design

 

Review #2

The website I chose to review from www.onepagelove.com was Coffee Finder. Coffee Finder, is a web page that promotes scrolling and clicking based on mood and personality. The design itself is simple and attracts high end users through the use of bold script fonts and light condensed fonts.

The website itself has a limited color pallet and is attracting a more feminine crowd. A light peach adds color to the page in specific points, while the format remains bland in white, central focus. There is very little texture on the page, everything gives the vibe that it is crisp, clean and organized. When scrolling down, you are taunted to play a game of Mad Libs in which as the user describes his or her personality, a fill in the blank clickable option is presented. You can only choose from the options they provide, and in return, the formula that calculates your answers will direct you to a new page for where you can find the type of coffee you prefer and where they are located. This form of interaction is somewhat short with a few simple clicks, but it gets the job done. I almost feel like there could be more, however it is interactive and fun. It keeps the user clicking.

 

http://sfcoffeefinder.com/

Danielle Bobish

June 15, 2016

Web Design

 

Review #1

The website I chose to review is www.chegg.com. Chegg is a website designed for students to rent, buy or sell college books for a fair price. Book rentals are amongst their most popular feature, but they also offer scholarship opportunities, tutors and test preps.

The navigation of this website is fairly easy and requires little to no clicking on the main page to discover where you want to go in a short amount of time. For starters, the main page features a roll-over effect on the tabs appearing from left to right. The far left titles the page and proceeds with available features the site offers; such as books, study, tutors, test prep, internship and colleges. As mentioned before, the central focus on this site is book rental and buying, so they have engaged the viewer in the center of the page with a search bar that also has hints on what to ask. Similar to Google, as you type, suggestions appear with graphics for easy navigation and understanding. In my example, I chose ‘Don’t Make Me Think: Revisited’ by Klug. Once I have clicked on the image of the book that I wanted, it took me to their pre-checkout screen. Here I was given easily navigable and readable options like rent, ebook and buy. The nice feature this website has is the prices next to the options, as well as the savings you potentially earn. This is a thoughtful gesture that encourages the buyer to make the purchase and gives them the piece of mind that they are getting a good deal. After you have added the item to the cart, you can see everything that you have added and proceed to checkout. Using a universal green, people are able to identify how to proceed and where. The checkout button is green and the fonts (in general) are probably Helvetica because it is standard.

In conclusion, this site is very easily navigable and requires little to no thinking. This website is also user friendly on a mobile phone or tablet and has little change in the process of navigation. The color scheme of this website is neutral and is nothing to bright or flashy. The font is readable and a little bubbly, which adds to the friendly vibe it gives to its users. Besides the title, the other fonts are mostly Helvetica (I believe) and are easy to read. If this site had terrible fonts and where unreadable, it would make the navigation process much harder. A good website requires few clicks, yet at the same time clicks are money. I believe Chegg did a good job on making this website student and user friendly based on color, font family, text size, backgrounds and navigation.

Our restaurant is THE BREAKFAST SWIRL. I found a restaurant can compeat our restaurant is SQUARE CAFE in Pittsburgh, which that it serves breakfast like us.

In Square Cafe website they have a professional layout. Their website the viewers glad about the design because is sweet and beautiful, and find what you want quickly, no noise in design. And if you go to another page on their website, you know that belongs to them, the same theme they used.

Also, their page anatomy, they use different blocks to divide their site. Their containing block was perfect and fit whole windows. And the logo in a good position to the left of the page, that describes the company work. The navigation, footer, content and white space was outstanding. Also, they used a perfect color for website light blue, white, gray and orange; that combination of color was great. Works well for looking to it.

Also, the texture for website great. Is it straightforward and clean, and their graphic gorgeous. And they use a readable font.

Our site is right. It is simple; we minimize the noise on a page. We try to create a website for restaurant beautiful and easy to read because most people want a straight page and find what they want quickly like prices, work hour and dishes. So, we have a simple layout and containing block on the a home page to divide our site like the pictures and button.  We use almost two colors red and gray and a little green. I think these right color for a breakfast restaurant. We did footer with social media icon if someone want to contact.

So, we have a simple layout and containing block on the a home page to divide our site as the pictures and button.  We use almost two colors red and gray and a little green. I think these right color for a breakfast restaurant. We did footer with social media icon if someone want to contact. And, our logo stands in the middle of our page, nice logo that represents our company  and what we serve. finally, we used recognize font, everybody should read it.

Maybe we need some graphic texture to give some aesthetic to our website.

For my review#3, I choose Alihan’s cuisine and Istanbul Sofra, Turkish restaurants that serve Middleestren cuisine also in Pittsburgh.

For Alihan’s Cuisine website, they have used colors on the page well chose a light color dark, and the other makes it easy for the eye. The second site used the colors in a positive way and chose the black color to all website pages except the pulp via the Internet was for me the best form.
As for the logo in both the similar website form of a little logo regarding the red rose and some blue. It is important, first chose the site and put it on a small left-hand The other was in a clearer and larger in the middle, but I think he needs to edit a little bit, does not suit them white border around it.

The book said about minimizing noise; I believe the site needs to do through lessen the writing in the home and placed in the other pages of the subconscious mind, because most people do not read what in the page just scan it, also reducing images or putting pictures explained. But in general is good, especially on the menu there are pictures of every meal that’s a good thing so that the browser sees what this dish, especially if he does not know the food well. As I said and requiring, reduce clutter on the home page because there are things that do not interest them from the face of a theoretical example booking needs to deletion.
The second site did not put a lot of chaos, but there is something that bothers me and put a picture on the wine Jeff shape I do not think that there is a significance to it on the homepage. But they worked on a clean slate so of the most important points of the Krug “Creating a clear visual hierarchy on every page.”

On the whole, I found both sites used the lines clearly, and the browser can read well. The use of images for the first site in an over, in the second site was well good. Colors were both right.
Both easy to navigate between pages and there is no other complications this is a positive thing.

Alihan’s cuisine

http://www.alihanscuisine.com/about.html

Istanbul Sofra

http://www.istanbulsofra.com/index.html

 

 

For my final review, it was hard to choose a website to compare to our restaurant because our idea is so unique. Having a mix between classic american dinners like burgers and breakfast food hasn’t been done before anywhere that I have seen on the internet. So the website I am comparing ours to is Matt’s Big Breakfast, www.mattsbigbreakfast.com. It’s idea is similar, loading people up with a ton of food would be apart of our real restaurant, so this is the next best thing.

Their website is a lot more trendy with it’s web design, and it emulates our folktale project as it is just a single page scroll down website with everything on it. This style of layout it’s something I really like, but because of the mountain of information on the site it is a bit too much to try and fit on one page. They included their entire menu on it, which I think deserves to have it’s own separate page.

Their color scheme of this rugged orange mixed with white is perfect for the type of style their going for. Their menu boasts a lot of meat for breakfast, so to have a meaty sort of color as your primary is something that really stuck out to me. One thing I saw they were lacking though was interactivity. There are no rollover or hover effects of any nature. Their graphic design work means well, but their logo and other small graphics on the site could use a little improvement. The logo itself, only three words, uses three different fonts, which really bothers me for some reason. The navigation is simple, you click a category at the top navigation bar and it scrolls down to that section of the single page.

Overall, I think there are some good elements here and for a small time restaurant it gets the job done. I’ve seen big chain restaurants that have websites a lot worse than this, and while everything is jumbled on one page, it is still easy to navigate to everything you need to find on the restaurant, which is the main goal of any website of this nature.