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