Week 3 Part A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

    The homepage for the home renovation business Gates N Fences is an immediate eyesore.  The neon green header clashes horribly with the red and black endless sidebar while also obscuring their contact information.  In addition they have added cheap-looking animation flying in and out of the header that has little to do with their actual business besides telling the viewer in the most obnoxious way that they accept major credit cards.  The clashing bright colors used in their text makes it difficult to read.  There is no differentiation in text size.  The viewer is immediately met with walls of text without headers, making sifting through the information a slog.  The homepage suffers from excessive links in the sidebar which are repeated within the text.  Instead of an easy way to navigate the site, the viewer is confronted with too much information at once.  It is unclear where one needs to go for information.  The images used are a good representation of their products, but they lack cohesive captions and one is left wondering what exactly they're looking at.  Ultimately, the eye doesn't know where to go.

    Simplifying this page would fix many of the information overload issues it's struggling with.  The sidebar should be pared down to a simple menu, doing away with all the submenus.  Rather than listing every product they sell on the sidebar, the menu should be divided by product type, with the linked page going into further detail.  The additional links in the text should be eliminated entirely.  The garish neon header can be replaced with one clean image of what they believe to be their best product, with their logo and contact information highlighted on the upper left.  All text should be aligned to the left with a short basic introduction to the business followed by a brief description of the services and products they offer.  This should be followed by a brief section for each product, ie "Gates," "Fences," "Railings" accompanied by one or two images.

    What Best Electronics' homepage lacks in clashing color design it makes up for in wall to wall info dumping.  Instead of their own business logo, the first brand the viewer sees on the page is Atari in glowing animated letters, which would slightly make sense if there was any text in the header leading the viewer to believe that Best Electronics had anything to do with Atari games and consoles.  It isn't actually clear until the viewer starts scrolling what the purpose of the page is.  Is this a fansite? A club? Halfway down the page the business boasts that it is the world leader in Atari parts and supplies.  Nothing on the page thus far would indicate that this was true.  In lieu of a menu or sidebar, all page links are embedded into the bold, large font text.  Contact information is provided at the bottom of the page, but it's somewhat hidden within another wall of text.  All images seem as though they were haphazardly tossed in with no captioning.  If the viewer doesn't know the ins and outs of Atari consoles before going to this site, they won't find any explanation here.  This approach may be laziness, but it also smacks of gatekeeping behavior.  This site is only for those "in the know," not for anyone attempting to learn.

    This site is undergoing a major identity crisis that can easily be solved by clarifying absolutely everything.  A clear header with the company name followed by a blurb like "voted Best Atari Supporting Company by Worldwide Atari Users" would immediately clear up who they are and what they do while also adding legitimacy.  A header or sidebar menu linking to the products and services they offer would eliminate the need for embedded links while adding an easy locale for contact information and and About Us link where viewers could see the many awards the company has won. Below the header should be a simple introduction to the world of Atari consoles and products.  A brief history would not only lend credence to their claim that they're the best, but would make the site more accessible to new collectors as well as people not in the know perhaps looking for products on behalf of a loved one.  Posting images with clear captions would also go a long ways towards selling product rather than making the uninitiated guess as to what a part is.

    On the positive end of the spectrum, the homepage for the California Center for the Arts utilizes graphics in a clever way which does not distract the viewer from the site's main message.  The logo is prominently displayed in the top left corner of the page. On the opposite end of the header are two menus in different sizes.  This allows the page to boast a lot of information options while remaining uncluttered.  The site takes advantage of large imagery with overlaying text to present a clear message of the Center's purpose.  They continue the narrative of bold imagery further down the page to reiterate some of the links found in the header, but instead of feeling repetitive, it invites the viewer to click on a link they might have otherwise ignored.  The bottom of the page clearly highlights both contact information and social media handles and includes a handy link to Google Maps to help with navigation.

    Theatre is foremost a visual art, and the Center takes advantage of this to highlight its upcoming productions and draw the viewer in.  In contrast to the images of actors on stage, the links to the theatre space itself and the museum rely on photos of the spaces themselves in a way that makes them appear warm and inviting. Placing this image heavy content on a plain white background makes the pictures pop even more.  Aside from the imagery, the site takes advantage of contrasting color in its headlines to highlight key words like "mission" and "explore."  These buzzwords entice the viewer to not only explore the site, but consider donating.

    Headhunter Hairstyling uses a minimalist approach but still gets its point across.  The site is endearingly simple.  The two tone color choices suggest a relaxed, beachy vibe that meshes well with the business' Florida location.  There is a very easy menu in the header clearly directing viewers to where they want to go.  As a lovely added touch, the bottom of the homepage has a nice little About Us message emphasizing their connection to their community and features a staff photo that makes the business feel very personable.

    

    This site says a lot by doing very little.  From the moment the viewer sees the homepage they know everything they need to know about the vibe of the business.  If the viewer wishes to see actual work from the stylists, there's a link to that.  If they want to get to know the staff, there's a link to that as well.  The front page is meant to serve as a cozy introduction.  Its minimalist style makes the business seem trendy but welcoming.

    Ultimately what makes a good website is what makes a good business: knowing its purpose and executing that clearly.  Websites that suffer from poor design might hide excellent businesses, but the viewer would never know from a search on the internet.  A poorly designed site doesn't know what it wants to be, what it wants the viewer to know, so it tends to throw everything at the wall in hopes that it will stick.  A well designed site knows what it wants to say and doesn't waste space saying it.  A business does not have to sacrifice form for function.  There are beautiful, image heavy webpages that are still clear and concise.  The big difference is that they know what they want to say.