Ames' syllabi

Winnersplaylist.com/grammys is a magazine styled site listing the winners of the2015 awards show. The design is very simple, but in it’s minimalistic approach holds a touch of elegance and class. The top of the page holds the logo for the site, which holds the boldest color for the site, along with the winner for the “#RecordOfTheYear”. From there it splits into 3 columns which continue down until all of the awards have been filled; it seems that with each row the awards progress from the most notable (or the ones people would care the most about) to the ones that were more than likely not aired during the ceremony. As there’s no real functionality to the site other than the option to play an audio link to the winner of each listed category it’s easy to use, but the seemingly unorganized positioning of the listings makes it a bit annoying to search through. The images are dull, and tend to blend into the pure black background, which adds to the sort of mystery to them before their reveal, but when scrolled over only the text beneath them brightens to the same gold as the header to give evidence to the fact it’s a playable link. The objects are fluid with the dimensions of the page, and as you expand it they get wider, distorting the images within them, and contorting them to nearly unrecognizable shapes if gone too far. In terms of simplicity and purpose the site is well put together and accomplishes it’s purpose, but in terms of handling and navigation is a hassle and annoyance, as it remains flat and not dynamic throughout the time on it. If it wasn’t for the fact that part of it was somewhat interactive it’d be the more interesting just to Google who won what.

Creating a “new” design is a challenge today since technology is a dominating factor. The easy way to start something today is to use a template and to make that version unique. What captured my attention with Studio Kwik’s design was it’s unique,, and original style that was clean, clear, and concise. The page was created for people to have insight in  their fixed charged for water and energy. It provides information in a fun way that is visually appropriate for friends and family. It is built for the future and easy to use.

The website I chose from http://onepagelove.com/ was Studio Kwik’s unique design called Knock Knock. From the start, the site was well organized. The color scheme used was a dull navy blue and a dusty orange where important information was kept. The shadow used for the background was a light grey and white, like how this blog was designed.

The user is able to navigate intuitively by scrolling down the page and also by following the guide, which is a constant line. With the flowing line, the site is easy to scan due to the numbers provided that act as milestones throughout the page. It is clean and simple which pleases the users and draws them to the content.

I believe the site’s design is well designed because of the color scheme, navigation, organization and originality of the page. Overall, the single page is pleasing to the user and stress-free, which makes the site a more enjoyable experience for all users.

The single page website I choose to critique is called Echo. According to onepagelove.com, Echo is a public relations agency that tries to connect their clients with the people they want to reach. “Echo amplifies brands and businesses”. I chose to critique this single page website because it’s opening image which was somewhat like an illusion, was pretty cool. The use of colors and illusions stuck out to me the most.

The navigation for the page was easy. It scrolls down to about three different “sections”. So the website is pretty short and stops abruptly. The layout and composition was simply plain. But it was too plain! At first glance, I thought the simplicity made it elegant but when I started to scroll down, I just realized it had more of an incomplete look. There was way too much negative and free space. I think this issue could have been fixed if there were some columns added here or there. There’s a “knob” on the upper right side of the opening page. The knob makes you want to click on it and drag it right, thinking you’ll unlock something but it actually doesn’t work. The fact that it doesn’t work makes me question if it even is a knob. The links on the website do not work as well.

The use of color was black, white and an off white almost gray. My opinion of the creator picking these colors was that they just tried to play it safe. If Echo is meant to “amplify brands and businesses” then why doesn’t their website portray that same excitement? I think one way of fixing this would be to add a pop of color here or there. I would suggest red because it’s an exciting color and it will combine nicely with the black and white colors previously used. According to The principles of Beautiful Web Design: Chapter 2: Color, the color red can be perceived as the color of passion and excitement. So I think having a pop of it in the original design would be good.

The chapter also states that the color white can be perceived among viewers as perfection, light and purity. However when I visited the page, I didn’t receive any of those thoughts from the web creator’s use of white. I just got a feeling of empty space. And the black text up against the white background didn’t bring anything special either. Now the color black can be perceived as power, elegance, and strength. I did get a hint of this feeling when the white text was up against the black background. In my opinion, it gave that section of context a bold statement. The font wasn’t special or fancy. However, it was used in two different colors (black and off white). The font isn’t really pleasing and the size is too big.

The chapter about texture doesn’t really apply to this website. There was no repeated pattern. The viewer cant feel roughness or smoothness. There wasn’t really any proportions because the website didn’t have much of a layout. The only thing that I would say had emphasis was the picture, I assume, of the creator. But even then it was pretty simple because it had a thin black border around the circle that held the image.

The only thing that I found interesting about this website was the opening page where it had an illusion where the text would slowly disappear and then reappear as you scrolled down. The text, ECHO, was put behind a black and white stripped layout so it looked like it was moving. It’s one of those illusions where if you look at it too long it will start to hurt your eyes. Most viewers would find this a bad element to have on a website but I found it quite exciting considering everything was pretty bland.

Kat Chemsak

ARTM2210

Feb. 25, 2015

For Better Coffee

            Looking through the different one page websites, there was only one that really stood out visually and interested me its amazing design. The reason why I picked this page is because its use of design elements and the way they creatively interpreted their content. When you first open the page, there is a beautiful background of leafs. The leaves in the background are green and show contrast in the different shade and tint of green. The shapes of the leaves visually point to the main object that will follow through the top to the bottom of the page. The coffee bean in the middle is brown and contrast well from the leaves in color since it is brown but is similar in shape. Also to coordinate with the shapes of the leaves and coffee bean, there are circles in the background.To use the space well and create a pattern without over doing the content of the background there circles are visually accepted with a round shape and contrast the green with red and tone down the contrast with white. The font chose is a sans serif that has a good use of kerning. The spaces between each letter and words help create a separation from the background, including the padding from the background. As the coffee bean continues to transfer down the page you can see how it changes and transforms. In a creative and organized way it turns the bean into grounded coffee beans, to in a filter, and than becomes coffee. While this is visually represented with graphics and animations, there is also font to make sure the viewer can read what is going on, and explains their concept further. This page is not cluttered and is very well conducted in a whole.

Tiptonic’s colors are white, black, grey and orange. These colors give a sense of sophistication and professionalism, and also make it very easy to read the text on their single page. Scrolling further down the page, there is a dark grey grid with a texture on it, with orange and white text on top of it. This textured background makes the text and image easier to read, and makes the orange color pop a lot more. The bright text colors on top of the dark grey background is very easy on the eyes and looks professional.

The background changes from textured to a solid color of dark grey, orange, or white. The change in background is successful, professional, and easy on the eyes. If the user were to stare at a textured background for a period of time, the background will start to bother and hurt the eyes. It is a nice change to not stare at one color background for an entire page and instead have alternating colors and textured backgrounds.

Tiptonic’s single page navigates by scrolling from top to bottom. The single page also has clickable links to other webpages for the user. Color is one element that makes the website easy to read and scan over. The single webpage is unified, with the theme of the colors being white, black, grey and orange, and everything appears to work together and belong together, versus things randomly being placed on a webpage. The page is balanced in terms of how everything is placed into squares of information, and the colors are also balanced.

This webpage’s design is well done. The colors match and complement one another. For example, the grey complements the orange and makes it pop more and stand out to be easy seen and read. Nothing on the page blends in or gets lost, and everything pops out and is read easily. The design’s layout is successful, because it is all broken up into different squares to show a grid system, and makes the webpage appear more interesting instead of a webpage scrolling straight down in a single box of text and information.