Review 4
La Cocinita Food Truck’s website utilizes a simple one column layout with an analogous color scheme. The site makes use of minimal texture, which can be seen in the dark colored ribbon at the top and bottom of the page and bars on the sides of the photos that are on the homepage. The site also has a slight depth to it as seen with the arrow buttons on the sides of the photos on the homepage that overlap the red background. La Cocinita’s site is a good example of a clean and grainy design. The color scheme ties in with the color scheme of the physical truck, which can be seen on the “Truck pics” page, very well. The use of bright red on the site as a dominant color effectively stimulates the eye and makes viewers feel that the food truck and website are exciting.
The navigation of the page effectively leads viewers to what they are looking for with ease. The utilization of a menu bar at the top of the site allows users to find what they are looking for immediately or by simply hovering over an option and finding their destination in the drop down menu that some of the options possess. Navigation is also assisted by the website using a different color to highlight what page viewers are on as a “you are here” indicator. If for some reason users are not able to find what they need from the navigation bar, there is also a search option at the very top of the website.
Overall the La Cocinita Food Truck website works well in providing the information that viewers are looking for effectively and efficiently. However, the design of the website is forgettable because of the aforementioned minimal texture.
Our World Showcase Website uses a sleek and nostalgic style with the texture background of the site and dark colors. The navigation of the World Showcase site is very similar to that of La Cocinita’s. The general layout of our websites are very similar as well; World Showcase also utilizes a one column layout. The difference between our websites and what will make it stand out compared the La Cocinita Food Truck website is the texture. Our textured background and depth through the use of the floating pages over the background create a more memorable look and experience for viewers. Both lacocinitafoodtruck.com and the World Showcase website effectively give viewers information. World Showcase’s website goes the extra step and makes it memorable.
Review 3
No. 9 Park’s homepage makes use of navigational tabs at the top of the page and then the main space uses a hierarchy of information starting from the most general information about the restaurant to more specific information as user scroll down the page. At the bottom of the page, the information about the restaurant’s staff also includes to tabs that lead to another page in order to learn more about each of them. The navigational tabs at the top of the page follow users everywhere they go on the page and even includes subsections for each tab so that users can find what they are looking for through link dominated navigation.
The website’s use of unity can be seen in the dark color scheme throughout the whole site that carries over into the atmosphere of the physical restaurant as evidenced through the photographs of No. 9 Park on every page. The site never looks too heavy either, using lights and darks to keep the site balanced and still emphasize the most important pieces of information, which can be seen on the homepage through the “headings” of each section as it introduces users to what the sections are about (“…Flagship Restaurant,” “The Space,” “Our Team”).
Eat’n Park’s homepage utilizes as similar style as No. 9 Park. The tabs lead users to different sections of the site with ease. The top of the page also includes a search bar so that users can find the Eat’n Park nearest to them. The main space on the homepage possesses 5 sections that users will encounter as they scroll down the page: Featured Deals, New Items, a link to order Smiley Cookies through smileycookie.com, Sponsorships, and Loyalty Program information. Other pages feature matrices, allowing users to filter what they are looking for based on dietary needs and nutritional calculators. The others include subheaders, facilitating link dominant navigation like No. 9 Park’s site.
The Eat’n Park site also uses its orange/blue complementary color scheme throughout creating a uniform look. The balance of the site is also maintained through the color scheme as well as graphics that are featured on the left and right sides of the pages that contain elements bringing them back to the middle of the page. Tabs are also found in the middle of the page in order to keep the balance. The graphics on these pages are also used as a form of emphasis, drawing users’ attention to benefits, like the loyalty section on the homepage, with a stamp graphic that says “Save over $50.”These restaurants utilize very similar techniques in their websites, from the tab sections that follow users everywhere to the informational hierarchy that becomes apparent as users scroll. Overall both of the sites use these elements very well, and to their advantage. However, I believe that eatnpark.com uses these elements more proficiently and with their users in mind. This belief is solidified by the speed that users can find what they are searching for on the Eat’n Park website much faster. The addition of the “Find Us” search bar at the top of the page gives this website the edge over no9park.com. The site assumes that some users might only be looking for a physical store location and caters to those users by making that information available almost immediately, without any scrolling. No. 9 Park does have their location available but not as readily; keeping the address at the very bottom of their pages, making users spend more time searching than they would on Eat’n Park’s website.
Intro to Web Design Review 2
The website I chose to review was astrangertowords.com. The website is a one page interactive website that uses color and texture to visualize data. Each geometric cluster that users can zoom in on to view is made up of lines and points of colors. The entire page is made with an analogous scheme of cool colors against a black background, which allows the visualized information on the page pop and appear more lively. As users move their cursor over individual points in the clusters they can view the point that represents a word and the lines branching off of it that describe the word as things like nouns, adjectives, and verbs as well as tell the users how many syllables are in each word.
The site does not scroll. Instead, it uses this typical scroll feature as the zoom element of the site. The more you scroll the further away from the words you get or the closer you get. The site works well and uses color and texture effectively. If I were to change anything it would be the functions of the cursor and scroll. The cursor is slightly too sensitive and can make it difficult to view a point, instead moving onto the next nearest point and visualizing that word instead. The zoom out only allows users to zoom out for the cluster that they had originally chosen and does not allow users to go to a new cluster without refreshing the page and starting over.