The websites I chose to critique for the design exploration are for artists Aaron Jasinski and Matthew Mahon. Aaron Jasinski's portfolio is displayed in a unique fashion, using both timeline and circular navigation. His paintings and music are cleverly archived in these forms respectively. You will notice that the simplicity of the website, bright colors with carefully chosen fonts on white background, make this interface appealing and inviting. When you click on the "Paintings" header, your interest is immediately drawn to the array of colored bars that are numerically arranged. It doesn't take long to realize that the intent is to display his art in the same manner you would find posters at a store - neatly filed away. Click on any bar, and a full color depiction of the painting is unveiled. At the top you'll find that the artworks are even categorized,and that the bars under the "Sketch Book" portion are no longer in color but in grey scale. This attention to detail makes it enjoyable to continue perusing this site.
The look and feel of this website carries over to the"Music" page of Aaron's website. This section neatly organizes the music he has composed by genre. The user is granted control over each excerpt. Each segment provides you the ability to pause the music,or increase and decrease the volume.
The only aspect that detracts from this site are the Google Ads at the bottom of each page. From a design standpoint, this takes away from the elements that make this site so creative and unique. In other words, the Google Ads make the site seem more ordinary and commonplace. Oftentimes, I personally associate this with websites that have little or no direction in design.
Navigating this site is not only user-friendly, but very smooth. The upload time is quick, and thus makes you want to continue looking through his pieces. Overall, this website has a harmonic and almost soothing balance one might associate with in places such as a gallery. The website is clearly well thought out and nicely put together.
The second website I visited was for photographer Matthew Mason. This website is very similar in style to that of Leo Burnett. Navigating Matthew's portfolio is fun and user friendly. Simply click on any one of the photos, and it's as if the camera zooms in on it. One of the nice attributes that this particular site offers is the very brief hint to"click outside the photo to zoom out" when your mouse lingers in the white space for a few moments. This allows the user who may not be familiar with this type of interactive interface the ease of moving from picture to picture. Pictures are not the only focal point of Matthew's site. He also carefully places creatively designed information on his dashboard, such as a 1983 drivers license that has been modified to read "Future Photographer." The clean visual appearance, sense of balance in design, and smooth transitions make this website captivating. The webmaster made a good choice in selecting a solid off-white color for the blank space. The negative space compliments the portfolio by not taking away from what is most important - the art itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment