slick photography site made with flash....

This site is very professional in its appearance. The navigation through the photos in the various galleries is extremely smooth ...no choppy movements ....nice and smooth and controllable...The site opens with a short b/w video of the photographer (i presume) in a taking photos....which sets the scene very well.....accompanying drum soundtrack also sets the tone.The images are high resolution and galleries include actors, models etc. The site contains his portfolio and a list of his clients (impressive) contact info etc.

Beautiful site ....minimalistic and it exudes quality

http://www.paulsmithphotography.com/

plank design.....memorable name

This is a Canadian site that is on a mission that believes that 'sites need to be about results, usefulness userfriedliness and good aesthetics ....they want to produce websites that make a difference.
This company has some high profile clients including Michael Moore of "bowling for columbine" fame as well as some festivals. The website is very well laid out, the navigation is very easy as well a readability.
The choice of name is for the site is intriguing ...how one associates design and a plank? thick as a plank, flat as a plank ...
There are some interesting blogs on the site and i was impressed by their work on the Fantasia Festival site.

Below is an interesting clip from one of the blogs on the site regarding where to put content on your pages

Our friends at Webmonkey, one of the pre-eminent resources for web developers, have published the results of a study done by CXPartners, a U.K.-based design agency, that completely debunks the above the fold myth. Using sophisticated eye-tracking software, the study demonstrated that users always look at the browser's scroll bar to check if they should
scroll. And they do scroll. And an interesting fact emerges - the less you put above the fold, the better off you will be, as it will encouorage users to scroll down and check out all of your content.
www.plankdesign.com

random ....I typed in Iconic Website and got this

typed in the words "iconic website" and came up with the above. A domain that has been registered for the past 12 years or so.....perhaps something to do with the 2012 olympics or something completely different ....this was something that used to happen quite a bit when big companies started to create their web presence only to find that their companies name had already been registered ....and in many cases they had to buy back their own name....cyber squatting i thin it was called.

reading down through the text on the site ....the current owners are engaged in some sort of marine life work..... dolphins....

did some more surfing and found out that 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar ....apocalaypse end of world etc suspicons......

sometimes its good to go random ......keeps you from getting into a rut.....

http://www.2012rising.com/

tucows ...shareware and freeware ....

Tucows is a site that specialises in freeware, shareware etc. It has a good reputation for having quality stuff and has recieved high praise over the past years.

it is very well laid out ...bright, good use of color for differentiation and very good search area.

This is a good resource to know about when you need to find something that you need to enhance your computer without having to buy some large packaged software. I recently had reason to use it when i was looking for a very simple dvd/cd burner because the one on my pc had too many bells and whistles on it.

Also worth a visit occasionally to see what is going on in sharware/freeware....might save you a few euro.

http://www.tucows.com/

web and street advertising

this site hmv is really well put together and has the advantage that it has a lot of shops around the towns and cities.....when browsing for whats new and planning a trip into the city to pick up what you want and then a browse around ....beats just clicking on the screen for a lot of people.

The color is eyecatching and the inclusion of black holds it stable.....lots of stuff to browse...loads very quickly and prices are well displayed and easy to see....of course the way music is marketed and distributed now has been revolutionised by mp3s and variations and the whole digitization of media has led to an absolute avalanche of reissues etc it is being handled very well (in terms of organization and searchability and availability ) in this shop.

www.hmv.com

promoting cooking oil....

This site is promoting cotton seed oil through a tour as a highly suitable ingredient and one of the ways it is doing it this is by suggesting a roadmap through the growing areas with culinary attractions highlighted along the way. I think this is a pretty good attempt to raise awareness of the product to a larger group of people using the web.

The site is highly visual ...front page loads with a map dropping down and a couple of clickable pictures buttons....probably flash powered... there is a very 'down home ' athmosphere about the site (similar to the miller site i reviewed earlier' , the choice of images is well in tune with the message, lots going on but no feeling of cluter.

Information is available on the site regarding history and latest innovations and news though not rammed down the visitors throat ....and this is a good poing. This is a very appealing site with quality layout and is professional in its presentation

http://www.cottonseedoiltour.com/

credibility on the web

buying medicine on the web is flourishing and the numbers of people logging on to look for medical advice and info is enormous. this raises issues of credibilty and security( financial details) to the mix of a web site . in the above example the site is "speedy health" the colors are brash and the layout is quite amateur and the name is a poor choice.....this leads me to question the authenticity of the acutal business and authenticity of the drug brands they are advertising .... to me it sends out all the wrong signals for a website that deals in such product....

www.speedyhealth.com

cloud appreciation society.....

this site can help you solve the question "i wonder what that cloud type is called" should it ever arise while you are looking up at the sky for whatever reason.....The site boasts almost 20,000 members. There is an area on the site where you can submityour own photos for consideration for inclusion. There is a chat area for anyone who want to interact with others....there are some posts from teachers sharing ideas about how to intergrate cloud watching etc into their classes...looks great.

The layout is well organised with links at the top of the page in easily readable sized cells...the color scheme is reminiscent of The National Geographic magazine (a fact not lost on the site designers i'm sure....it adds a sense of gravitas to the whole set up)

Along with beautiful and informing pictures of clouds there are facilities to buy cloud related products ....calendars, clothing, postcards with the associations own cloud logo....

A nice site, compact, focused, informative, beautiful content and worth a visit every now and then.

www.cloudappreciationsociety.org/

the t-shirt as a statement.....

this site is well put together ....it covers a wide range of customer and has designed the site well for that. T-shirt sites sometimes remind me of pizza sites... you log on, choose what you want and have the product delivered to your door...you can even choose what you want on it.
The business doesnt even have to have a shopfront.
this site is very much geared to grabbing the visitor right from the start....all main content and links are in the top half of the home page, the colors are bright and eyecatching .... use of red and white and young people ....almost like coca-cola.
The categories are easy to navigate to and comprehensive.... a good fun site to come to to buy or browse or see what is going on around and what is selling ....also good for typography ideas and colors and street slang etc... a good place to visit every now and then even if you are not going to buy....

http://www.funny-tshirts.com/

horizontal scrolling websites.....very nice stuff here...

this is an interesting site...part gallery and part experiment....it showcases sites that scroll horizontally... there are a lot of very creatives people on here and you can put a site forward for display. For me, this is a good idea especially for photoalbums and as one contributor mentions a holiday brochure...there is a template available ...but it costs...see paypal for more info.

The homepage of this site is really nice....i love the washed out colors and design also having a wider screen on my laptop it shows the content really well...

Navigating thru the pages can take a little getting used to and some scroll down as if there are a lot of pages "concertinaed" together and wont move ....you can in some cases hit an expand button to see more content.

The content of the site is really good with lots of illustrators and designers etc showing their stuff. I will definitely be revisiting.
www.thehorizontalway.com
seem to have lost ability to create direct links from text....sorry about inconvenience.

newsmap....new way to view news ...experimental

to me this site represents the blending of news and typography ....the larger the story (determined by the amount of related articles to it....check for further info on the website link on page )the larger the size of the text cell ....the use of color is also and indicator....
As you move the mouse over the cells/boxes a small window pops up and gives u a brief overview of the content and you can click into it to open the article from its own page...
this is an innovative and alternate way to view the news and I am sure there is a a certain group of browsers who will find this more to their browsing tastes....

http://www.newsmap.jp/

2020london web design studio ....nimble innovative adventurous

2020london was set up in 2002 and has attracted to its studio some very high profile prestigious brands and government work. The site is interesting (though I found it a bit tricky trying to get it to view at the optimum size in my web browser initially)as it shows its clients and how (2020) devised a strategy for each ...keeping it short and to the point in sections
strategy
solution
results
they descibe themselves as nimble, innovative,adventurous, a quick visit to the site is well worth the effort as it is well laid out throughout and the main navigation page is quite interesting in its choice of central image to house the navigation buttons ....a series of old (animated)pressure dials and choice of font harking back to the age of steam.

www.2020london.co.uk

tilt view ....fab way to look at photos

this site has added a new twist to the way of looking at photos on the web. The site loads photos from flickr, from the most interesting section and then allows you to hover over them and tilt them ...giving a sense of 3D to the screen....a really unusual experience that works very smoothly. If you want to get more info on the photo/photographer just click on the icon below and a link to the flickr page is displayed.A very welcome innovation to viewing images on the web. I think it may be flash doing all the background stuff.

http://www.simpleviewer.net/tiltviewer/app//

Eat-in.ie advertising on dublin bus.....

A site i previously blogged about (Eat-in.ie) is currently advertising on dublin bus (interior) very simple advert....looks like a screen-grab ....very pixelated ...but eyecatching....

the end of the monthly black and white printed/photocopied club newsletter?

This site might be an example of how the web has opened clubs and associations to faster and more visual communication within and further afield in what was previously acomplished through a b/w photocopied newsletter / sheet in many cases in the past. The site is compact and well laid out (though doesn't show full screen in my browser..not a major problem ) lovely choice of colors, bright clean and energising and lots of info even for the casual browser.

The site provides updates for members, beautiful photographs and advice to walkers in Ireland and abroad. Just an example of how the web can revolutionise communications from multi-national mega-corprorations to the local walking clubs and the like....

http://www.walkersassociation.ie/

waxing lyrical on the web

this site has been around for a long time....it has been upgraded constantly as the web technology advances....i remember visiting when it was all text and columns .....it is a good site for getting lyrics and now it has a link to utube ...though many of the videos have been removed. The layout is simple and clear ...the advertising is quite encroaching on the page ...but it is a necessary evil....however the inclusion of recommendations and other material is a bonus to the visitor to the site. This is a good example of keeping it simple and at the same delivering good content and access to related material ...visitors can also add lyrics...
www.lyrics.com

market leader for movie info on net

the imdb is probably the most visited site on on the internet when it comes to movies and all things related. The combination of info both in graphics and in text form is encyclopaedic. the site is very well laid out with lots of links available on the main page, which is updated on a daily basis as can be seen above ....always current and interesting and seldom overblown....a great balance of content and manouverability getting you to your sought after info in the least amount of clicks. the page grab above shows how powerful a site can be when laid out well and not depending on flashy link icons (although they too have their uses ...etc kids sites etc)

All in all a great site to browse , use as a research tool and choosing what to see next in the cinema.

www.imdb.com

tour de france ....

this site for the massive sporting event is a bright and very well laid out site. the inclusion of a video window in the top of the front page is a good idea because at the end of the day ...in sport ...most of the people will want to watch some action .....there is a good range of links on the page that lead to further info etc. Yellow being the predominant color is bright and active and portrays good weather, sunny, healthy
www.letour.fr

logo quiz ....test ur knowledge

i came across this site while researching logos for another module....it is a fun and informative checking you knowlege of logos (without the typeform), it reinforces the idea held by somethat people remember logos/shapes /icons etc. better than words in visual messages

www.logoquiz.net

Tattoo still taboo?

there is a lot of interesting and inspiring content on this site. However on some pages it does get cluttered with advertisments....some related to topic but others not so.
The main page is beautifully laid out and choice of color and textures is pleasing to look at.
The pages load at a good pace and general navigation is quick.
www.vanishingtattoo.com

sesame street 40 years old ...moving with the times...

sesame street podcasts on their site.... all very engaging including the use of animation ....the site is beautifully laid out and the colors bright and inviting ....it is all very recognizable from the tv series.....good sized navigation icons work well and quality of video is very good....

This is a great site and a very successful example of transporting a tv prog to the web adding all the interactiveness the web offers.

www.sesamestreet.org

project gutenburgh ...free to download books

This is a fantastic site for free classic books .....all are out of copyright and downloadable ...can even be downloaded to some of the new e-books readers (kindle etc)

the site is almost totally text based and therefore loads really quickly ....it has a most popular downloads page and what has been downloaded in the last 7 days....which can be interesting to view.

www.gutenberg.org

great name for a web site....Cheap Smells

blogged this site just primarily for its name really..... thought it was eye-catching and had a certain ring to it.... intriguing.... it is a web based discount shop for perfume aftershave etc....layout and choice of colors indicate well thought out site not cluttered but well stocked.

ron english

this site features the work of american ron english .....i like it because it is almost spartan in its layout but what it shows is what most web surfers will want to see.....that is his work.... choice of color in background very easy on eye and doesnt contend with the content. I find English's work is very inspirational.
www.popaganda.com

this is an interesting site....business and information and interactive, allows you to upload a current slang word or stuff like that and also search for others or just browse ....and of the stuff you can get printed on a shirt of mug... the colors and font on the site suit well.

www.urbandictionary.com

Eating on the WWW

Ordering food from the Web.......... it boosted Dominos sales dramatically and a survey they did showed that people will order more when they are using the web than on their phone....

While this site is not on the scale of Dominoes it provides a very quick and simple connection to eateries searchable by postcode (Dublin) and in some areas around the country. Just-Eat.ie specializes in 5 types of restaraunt / take-away, american thai,chinese indian and italian.......

The home page is bright, well organized and laid out. The main search method (in dublin) is by post code or by type of food ....while there are not many premises signed up yet i feel it will grow with interest based on the fact that it caters to local restaraunts and may have the upper hand when it comes to being able to browse the menus of various local restaraunts and order over the internet.

The site at present is quite basic ....the pages are very much text based with not many graphics on the actual restraunts pages...though there is a link to google maps showing the location of the premises......this on one hand speeds up the download but the drawback (and its a big one ) is that food is visual and people like to see before they eat.

I like the simple bright and cheerful home page and the inclusion of images of staff and short bios of each....I feel it instills a certain credibility that this is a company of ordinary people not some giant corporate entity. Though this is not a new business idea i feel that perhaps now with broadband and wireless that people are more and more relaxed with shopping for everyday stuff on the web. It could be that now is the time for small business in the food trade to offer their services in a reliable manner thru dedicated websites with like products.....thus reducing costs and perhaps get some exposure and passing trade from visitors to other restraunts on the site.

www.just-eat.ie

Stumble Upon

Stumble Upon has been around for a while and is quite a popular destination on the web for personalized searches, inspiration and interestes.

The way SU operates is that u join and pick categories that ur interested in and rate others with a thumbs up or down. SU then starts narrowing down the content ur interested in and every time u comment or post it continues to hone its content.

So the more u use it the more tailored it becomes to your tastes.

The site opens with a splash page with images a minimal text ....nice and bright and inviting. Click enter and you see a page with a lot of content in the form of square thumbnails with text explations below. This is a good technique as many web surfers want to see whats available as soon as possible ....if it doesn't catch their interest in seconds they may move on....similar to a television remote control during adverts....

A lot of the thumbnails lead to web blogs giving a more personalized view and as the print media (newspapers and mags) struggle it has been said that the rise of the blog may be one reason for this, in that some of the columnists in the papers are now writing their own blogs. This scenario has led to some web based mags shutting down.

I feel that SUs model is one that will be popular now and in the future as people will want to get their info entertainment etc from diverse normally unreachable sources.

www.stumpleupon.com

The Public is Net ....big business on the web

This site www.publicisnet.fr/ is a show case for its work ....the awards it has recieved and clients it has on the books, the people who work in the company, and a blog and contact info for the company.

Its style and gravitas is enhanced by the choice of rich monochromatic color in various shades.


The front page is dominated by a letterbox shaped rectangle with 4 panels with ever-changing images of the work they have done for their clients and an images of employees. The content does not change from left to right in step across the box...but randomly which I think holds interest longer and is very engaging with the inclusion of actual employees .

Above the images are 5 navigation rollovers and the content of these sections are constantly being flashed in the image panels. These text roll-overs (text changes color, no icons) are well placed and while very visible are not obtrusive. The navigation on the site is simple and fast.
The site is dynamic ...the list of top brands show that the company truly has its finger on the pulse of what is happening in the world of advertising and solutions.

Public is Net describes itself as a full service new media design agency which bridges the gap between business insights creativity and innovation and technology to create effective communication solutions across digital platforms such as web IPtv mobile phones Ipod and media center.
www.publicisnet.fr

rolling rock celebrates ....

Rolling Rock ...beer born small town
I like this website for its distinctive athmosphere.
It uses muted colors and images that evoke a small town community
and emphasises in its content that its product is far from glitzy but rather
more in tune with small town values that built the business into what it is today.
The site is celebrating its 70th anniversary thru series of rock concerts and barbecues.
The structure of the site is very well laid out.
The first page displays an age check (though not of any real effectiveness) to limit access to the site to over 18 years.
The page graphics are well thought out choice of font and textured background paper and interactive dob quiz is placed on a strip of cardboard with some drop shadow.
A line of images on the bottom of the page sends out the message that this is a down to earth type of set event.
After completing the age quiz a series of images scroll across the screen ....background is wooden planks....with images of rolling rock product ...the green bottle being very much a distinctive part of the brand. and a cassette and earphones (harking back to a bygone era) .
however there is an an mp3 type of player visible ....a sign of modernity.
the main navigation is thru an image of a town newspaper with animated roll over areas.
Its use of slideshow panel sets the tone for the site appealing to its target audience.
All the images and of a good size and the page is easily scannable for content.
Though this site seems very small town and simple it is put together by a very large
web design business at www.driftlab.com who have many multinational businesses as clients.

www.rollingrock.com

interactivity and plugins

One of the big draw backs for people accessing interactive web sites is that it is sometimes necessary to have the correct plugins installed. If you dont, it is tedious and sometimes unsuccessful exercise trying to download them from the page and in worst case scenario it can lock up your computer necessitating a re-boot.

REFUSE : online clothing brochure. uses flash 9. Aimed at men and women early 20s mid 30s

On its front page it which is very spartan, it contains the message enter , fullscreen and resolution setting for it and also that flash 9 is used on the site.

This is good practice, it alerts the view to what is needed to see the site at its best.

On clicking enter a giant page emerges from the top of the screen (courtesy of flash) .
The layout (as shown below) is a collage of photos handwritten text and navigation info.
The navigation is a little difficult to see initially.
When u click on the links the whole page moves either up down right or left to the linked area.
This movement on basic broadband connection is a quite slow.
Immediately you find you are not looking at a rectangular selection of boxes with text and images which may appeal to this age group looking for a new fresh web experience
The layout is very modern and engaging, using latest web technology
The site content is well targeted at the 20 - 30 age group with high quality photo images of models and clothing.
www.refuse.com.mx

Interactivity

The CBBC (childrens bbc) is a fantastic site full of interactive elements...

Specifically aimed at children the front page offers links in to various areas with icons and text .

The color scheme is bright and simple ....the pages are easy to scan "view for info".

Navigation is well laidout and there is a very good flow through the page content.

The speed at which the interactive games is good, on basic broadband.

There is good feedback when one of the links doesnt work....informing you of what has happened and some options you can choose from eg try again later, hit back arrow etc.

The background contains many mouse "roll overs" triggering sounds and movement.

There is constant movement in the background with acompanying sounds.

The background is downloadable as a screen saver.

There is a selection of browser based games, where you can play games with favorite animated characters from bbc programes and areas where you can "have your say" (post your comments on the site)

All the main cbbc programs are here with the ability to view again on the bbc iplayer.

However .....some of the content is not available to viewers outside the UK.

This is I believe because of copyright and various other leagal issues.

All in all a very well contructed web site providing great content to its viewers.....pity about the limitations on some of the content to overseas viewers though.

The Guiness Book of Records (in need of redesign?)

The Guiness Book of Records site is another example of a print publication moving to the web.

The variety of visitors to the site and varying languages add special challenges ....so one of the first things the visitor sees is a language choice button and small icons of some of its content areas as well as text explanations. The site is designed for a very standard 800x640 I'm thinking that this may be a concious decision made by the designers to offer the site to the widest number of viewers ...many who may not have updated their browsers or are using older computers which cannot handle larger displays.

However the front page contains 2 large vidow windows and slideshow with a list of photos (visible) of the content of the slide show. The layout seems very cramped and the presence of advertising on top and on left side really adds to the clutter. While offering lots of info etc ..I think this site is in need of a major redesign.

www.guinnessworldrecords.com

making your websites look good on the web

Unlike a newspaper where everyone sees the same content in exactly the same places on the page...web pages will not look the same to everyone who looks at them.

There are many issues that conspire to thwart the pixel perfect layout that some claim they can achieve on all browsers.

Try not to obscess on pixel perfect layout in every browser...aim for your website looking good on all of them

Color: laptops and CRT monitors differ with laptops looking somewhat washed-out.
The angle of the laptops screen also has to be factored in when talking about color.
Designers can't control what kind of monitor the viewer is using, and have to choose colors that minimize this factor when they choosing colors.

Layout: because there are so many browsers and OS combinations out there, even with Tables and CSS you are going to find it difficult to get a universal pixel perfect reproduction of your layout of your pages. If someone is determined and willing to spend a lot of time on coding and have a good grip of Java script and CSS and can also spend a lot of time on maintainance they might succeed. However if the viewing browser has Java Script disabled or is viewing on a mobile device, the results may not be what the designer had in mind.

Fonts: there is no way to be 100% certain that all who view your website will have the same fonts on their machines....you can however try to alleviate this by including options in the HTML code. Another option would be to create the whole page as a graphic ....downside is that it would be horrendously large and would take a very long time to download (relative to HTML) and would also be difficult to update and correct errors or typos in the content. Viewers would find it difficult to increase the size of the fonts for easier reading.

So, before becoming obsessed on pixel perfect web pages on all web browsers .....it might be a better target to have your webpages/site look good in all the browsers it is viewed in.....

news paper online Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is California's leading newspaper.....covering LA, US and international news.
Still retaining its gothic header the los angeles times is a very good example of a printed publication having moved onto the web and all that incorporates....
The white background, choice of font and layout make it very easy to read.
To me, the use of black letters on white in the header visually echoes the printed version, this i believe is beneficial to the paper as its header adds recognisable gravitas to its web version as many of its web readers may also be readers of the print version.
As you scroll down the page you can view four articles per screen.
The quality of the photographs on the pages are high.
The layout changes some way down the main page going from a right column to rows that add greater space for viewing in a letter box style frame.
The site is well thought out and the news is easy to find and read and you can access
any page from anywhere on the site.
There is some advertising on pages...
I recently read that in order to survive, many newspapers want to reintroduce some sort of subscription fee....one possible format being discussed is subcribing to a package of content ...eg newspapers magazines music sports....etc for a flat fee...this might be similar to some of the tv content packages we now pay for.
Also on the site are many blogs....enought to keep you entertained and up-to-date.

http://www.latimes.com/

conveyance

everything conveys.....

survey conclusions on web fonts

I found this article at smashingmagazine which explores setting type in web design and some comon practices and guidlines to be comprehensive and very accesible using graphs pie-charts and excel ....a fantastic resource.

This study is available in full at

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/08/20/typographic-design-survey-best-practices-from-the-best-blogs/




Below is a general overview in text about it findings
"The study shows a clear set of common practices and guidelines for setting type in Web design. Note, though, that these findings are not scientific and should serve only as rough guidelines:
Either serif or sans-serif fonts are fine for body copy and headings, but sans-serif fonts are still more popular for both.
Common choices for headlines are Georgia, Arial and Helvetica.
Common choices for body copy are Georgia, Arial, Verdana and Lucida Grande.
The most popular font size for headings is a range between 18 and 29 pixels.
The most popular font size for body copy is a range between 12 and 14 pixels.
Header font size ÷ Body copy font size = 1.96.
Line height (pixels) ÷ body copy font size (pixels) = 1.48.
Line length (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 27.8.
Space between paragraphs (pixels) ÷ line height (pixels) = 0.754.
The optimal number of characters per line is between 55 and 75, but between 75 and 85 characters per line is more popular,
Body text is left-aligned, image replacement is rarely used and links are either underlined or highlighted with bold or color."

advertising an event for all ages

This site was put together to advertise and inform about Heritage Week.....
It was aimed at all ages, families etc....it was possible for people to register their events on this site.

I like this page for its use of color and choice of font and a degree of interactivity.
The combination of purple, green and torquoise on a white background adds vitality and freshness.
The font for Heritage and date etc is serif nice and rounded and humanistic...presence of non serif does not clash.
The navigation bar a mixture of text and icons is effective and well spaced.
Icons for the members, and the ability to customise them adds interactivity and personalization to the whole mix.
Some elements in the graphic on top of page move ...swans flying etc adding dynamiscism to the site.
The presence of advertising on the left adds the possibilty of income for the site.
The graphic in the top right of page reflects aspects of our history/heritage ...children of Lir, castles (blarney?)sports etc... also people in the outdoors add a visual which is one of inclusion.
This screen grab is for the Photo Competition.......
Also I liked the range of ways of contacting the organisers ....phone fax email text are written along the bottom of the page. Some web pages just have a web button for contacting....which can be very annoying when you need to ask about or explain a complex issue.
This site was aimed at all ages and its design very much reflects this.
I would give it 8 out of 10....