Site Review #2
The site that stood out to me the most on onepagelove.com was http://arielbeninca.com/, which is the personal website of a graphic and web design student named Ariel Beninca. This website appeals to me because of its minimalistic qualities and how clean it is. When you first arrive to the site, your screen is filled with a black and white image with black text. There is no color and everything is very smooth. When you hover over the image, which is of Ariel, she moves around a little. You move through this site by scrolling down, and as you do so, you come across some color.
As you scroll down the page you see various examples of her work. These are all in color, but she still keeps the modern, clean aesthetic. There is no texture anywhere except in the images. Just as with the picture of herself at the top, each of these wiggles around a little when you hover over them. When you click on one, a box slides down from the top of the screen with some information about the project. Everything is very simple and easy to read, and there is an “x” at the top to close it. You close it and are right where you left off.
There are other various graphics on the site, such as a few background images, that also do that moving thing when you hover over them.
There are many design elements that make this site easy to understand and navigate. The sleek design and simple buttons are the main contributor, but it also helps that there is no extra “junk” to clutter the space and be distracting.
You can scroll through the site from beginning to end without clicking anything. But you are also given the option of clicking a button at the very top of the page that creates a drop down menu of each section you can visit. As mentioned in “Don’t Make Me Think”, Ariel created a very clear hierarchy and separated the elements appropriately so that it’s easy to understand.
I think this site’s design is very well done and effective. I find it very attractive and its simple layout could be used by virtually anyone. There is nothing that requires thought and it is pleasing to look at. Ariel gets her point across as well as proving that she has a definitive style and is excellent at what she does.