Author: kmsst968

The site I chose to review is [https://2016.cssconf.com/]. I chose this site because the choice of color pallet immediately drew my eyes to it. The contrast of bright colors such as bold blue, magenta and lime green on the pastel pink really stood out to me.

Another thing I think worked well for this site was it’s use of transparent, gradient, organic-blob shapes and transparent zig-zag boxes. As I scrolled through the site, I was happy to see these shapes repeated. What disappointed me, however, the middle of the site, because the color and textures used in the previous section just disappear, which I found odd and inconsistent.

The site is divided into three sections: About, Videos & Slides, and Sponsors. I felt the ‘About’ section and ‘Sponsor’ section were both executed very well. However, I felt the ‘Videos & Slides’ section was extremely bland and repetitive. I understand that the designer probably felt that by taking a minimalistic approach, the site’s design wouldn’t take away from the content it was showcasing; however, I feel the site would look much better if they would have continued the colorful shapes and textures throughout this portion (as seen in the ‘About’ and ‘Sponsor’ sections).

Another thing I think worked well for the site was it’s use of alternating background colors to divide the sections of the site. For example, the ‘About’ section of the site has a light pink background, then the next section, ‘Videos & Slides’ has a white background, then the third section goes back to the light pink background. This helps clearly differentiate the sections without having to read through all of the content or rely heavily on the navigation bar in order to find what you’re looking for.

Overall I really enjoyed this site. However, I found it rather strange that a website that was built to showcase a CSS Design conference would have a very boring ‘Videos & Slides’ section. But besides the odd inconsistent portion, I would definitely consider this one-page-website to have a successful use of color and texture.

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.