Saturday, April 06, 2002
"BLOCK" is the first thing you read on the page. What does it mean is the first question that i asked? The web address is www.blockbranding.com which gives no clue as to what this page is going to be about. Then you read the text under the illustrations. You realize that it is some kind of design company that claims to do it all. The last line says, "working together to create better brands for all" and that starts to clarify "branding". They later say that they, "provide the service your brand requires to promote its personality". Then you read on and it explains that the company wants to unite advertising, interiors, graphics, and web design to improve advertising. Their premise is that all design is advertising. That is an interesting concept. My immediate reaction was to disagree, but then i pondered it more. Web pages are the twenty-first century way of advertising and graphics play an important role in conveying information about the object or idea being advertised. What about interiors? How can that be advertising. And then I thought about everytime we get up and introduce our projects to our collegues. We are trying to sell them on our ideas. So in a way, our presentation could be considered an advertisement of our work. So, this company claims, "it's advertising, it's graphic design, it's interior architecture, it's marketing and it's everything in between".
My comments on the presentation of this web site are positive because it uses restraint with color, graphics, illustrations, amount of text, and the amount of information given. It seems to just give enough to make you interested in finding out about this company. I don't really see any correlation between the first page, which I think might be their logo, to what they do. From just seeing the first page, I had no idea what it was about (as I said before). So maybe they need to work on their own advertisment before helping others???
posted by mari-ann green Saturday, April 06, 2002
Friday, April 05, 2002
Though I question the choice of the oddly matched pea soup and earthy color scheme, I don't find the layout of this page to be incredibly repulsive. It is quite confusing to me due to my lack of knowledge in the field of web design, there are no baby steps taken in the use of lingo for those of us that aren't up on the latest web terminology, but I don't think this is necessary. Not all pages have to be designed to suit the needs of every consumer, and in this case, the page was created for a specific interest group and is suited specifically for that group. This is not only implied through the use of terminology and lack of traditional layout, but is directly stated in the title. It states "A List Apart, For People Who Make Websites" not " A List Apart, For People Who Are Kind Of Interested in Websites" and this is carried out through the entire page. Were this page something like Hotmail or Yahoo which are designed for everyone from the web designer whiz to the first time computer illiterate user, it would be necessary to embody a more universal appeal. If I were more versed in web design topics, I'm sure I would be able to nit pick more vices from the manner in which the information is presented to me, grouped, discussed, etc, but considering it is mostly a foreign language it seems to work well. So, from a strictly aesthetic and general usability standpoint the page seems to work for its purpose.
posted by Amber Rich Friday, April 05, 2002
Thursday, April 04, 2002
Why does this suck? Well, it really doesn't...that bad. Overall it is a great portfolio of a seemingly reputable company, although it could use a little help. First of all the home page of the site looks like it was designed by a child instead of a design professional. One my question when first logging on whether or not they are on the right website. Further exploration if the site shows that yes, these people are good at what they do...interiors and advertizing, not web site design.
The profile portion of the site is great. It gives us a look at the faces behind the company and a little background into what they do. The pictures, however, are a little out of focus which is slightly irritating. It is great to get to know the creative minds who think up those clever advertisements we see in magazines and on billboards.
The advertizing section of the site shows a portfolio of some of the work these designers have done as well as a background into where the ideas came from. The billboard that they designed for Target is clever, but simply stating "opening soon" is not enough information for the people driving by on the highway. To make it more clear they should have placed a small target symbol on the bottom right hand corner of the billboard. This way people would know what is opening soon. The ad that they designed for Olympus cameras was also quite clever. It was a picture of a man holding up a large fish that he just caught, stating that "nothing's impossible" for the man or the camera. Cute. One other ad that caught my attention was a black and white photo of a long row of cubicles with "Death Row" written in red letters. This was to remind small business owners why they left the corporate world. I agree.
posted by Lauren Paulson Thursday, April 04, 2002
Who is the site for? This question is answered on line one where the page’s heading reads, "for people who make websites." This clearly stated, it is obvious that "A list apart.com" is designed for someone with a greater understanding of web development than I.
What is this site for? The aim of the site is to allow web developers to aid their co-web developing kind in the advancements of programs and technologies in the field. Is this attempt a success? I, being somewhat confused by this foreign, web language, may not be the best to ask, but from my ignorant standpoint I feel that there are some improvements that may add ease or a greater degree of triumph to the site.
Although there is a sense of hierarchy given to the titles of each article in comparison to their subject matter, there is not a great deal of distinction due to the spacing of the page’s content. I feel that the dominant color that fills the right side and lower portion of the page is strong in that its simplicity counterbalances its domineering hue and is successful in providing a sense of balance on the page overall. Yet, when glancing again at the page it seems that the frame acts more as a background to the block containing the more prominent information giving a sense of disconnection between the two.
The articles seem to be written in a professional manner, yet written for a specific audience. This audience being one expected to have a strong grasp of the information being presented and capable of participating in, what appears to be some slightly humorous jargon. I do not see a problem with this given that the site initially states for whom it is designed.
posted by sarah norville Thursday, April 04, 2002
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Block is very cleanly laid out. I know where to go to look at the folios, where home is, and where the graphics are. They are nicely broken down on the left. The only thing that may change would be the size of the font and maybe the font itself to look more like the word BLOCK to the right. At first when I was looking at the profile of Block I missed he “more” at the bottom of the text. I thought that that meant to go onto the next subheading but when I clicked on it there was more text about the same picture/topic. I think that all the text should be there at once because if Irandomly came across this site I would have missed all that extra text but since I was evaluating the page I found that. I think that breaking up the different types of design that Block does helps a potential client easily look at what they do in the field that they want. The client does not have to wade through all the other folios.
On the topic of the philosophy of Block mixing the different designs, as far as I could tell from the site there are only two people. Now if that is true, I have no idea how two people could handle all these different designs at once and do it well. Now if there are more than two people I feel as though it is a great idea to combine the designs. In truth I feel as though they are all very similar and are combined in a final product -- meaning that when an interior is presented graphics and illustrations are used and vice versa. With this firm having all this they broaden the spectrum of potential clients. They can have many different types of projects going on at once. On the firm’s actual portfolio, I found many of its ideas intriguing especially the Rau and Associates with the use of doors as the walls and the pendent lights that look like glasses turned upside down.
posted by alexis bauman Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Tuesday, April 02, 2002
I thought this site was very clean and organized, for me that is something nice I like to be organized. You dont see anything that does not related to the sit e, Your eye knows which directtion to travel across the page, The site is also not cluttered at all with other things. Everything is easy to read and see. I thought that by them bringing designs together is interesting. To me design is design, as designers we all think in a design way no matter what we are designing. We need to be open and aware of all the aspects of design that are around us.
posted by rebeka pomero Tuesday, April 02, 2002
For a list apart it seems that for searching for thingd wold not be a problem the search box is right there to the right, but I guess I dont truely know or understand what the site is directed for or directed at should I say. That makes this not very enjoyable.
posted by rebeka pomero Tuesday, April 02, 2002
As a first time visitor to A List Apart, I really had no clue what to do or where to go. I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to be accomplishing, especially since I, myself, was not a web page designer. First of all, the colors on the site really did not complement each other or appeal to me at all. They don't seem to relate to anything or to have any relevance to the topic of the website. The site seemed really dull, and it wasn't very clear as to where you could find the articles and information. I was going to try to search for an article, but I realized that I did not know what exactly to search for. The buttons "this week," "previous," etc. were not very informative as to what articles you could find there. On a whim, I decided on "previous." The article I read was called "Flash Forward." It was about URL's, and although I didn't think that URL's were the most intriguing things in the world, I really liked the way the article flowed. I don't know that I would call the style "professional," but the information was presented in a way that was fun and enjoyable to read. Overall, I thought that the site was mediocre. It could have been more snazzy to motivate people to make cool and interesting websites, but at least it did not have flashing ads covering the entire page. It was a striking contrast to the weather.com page in that it was fairly bare, but that’s alright, my eyes were very grateful for that...
posted by Mandy Overcash Tuesday, April 02, 2002
The visual design of this page, bockbranding.com, is too plain in my opinion. The colors used can be stronger, there is too much white and gray. Only the "block" graphic has colors that can work better if they were used througout the page layout. And the "block" graphic on the right side of the page doesn't give me a clue of the message that this firm is trying to transmit. The text explaining their philosophy is clear but the lettering is too simple. It should be bigger and eye catching. As far as their idea of mixing advertising, graphics, interiors, and, illustrations in one firm, it looks like they are doing good. I say this because of the clients that they work for according to the work presented in this page. Their style is kind of sketchy and simple and some people like this. I don't really like it. It seems as if their work can be done by my little sister. The organization of the page wasn't that bad. It wasn't hard to look around knowing where I was. I think they do have some good ideas in some of their work but personally is not my style.
posted by sonnia orellana Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Blockbranding.com is an interesting site. i really kinda like the informlity of it text and graphic. it gives the page a comfortable and more inviting, amiture feeling. It is not as sterle or business like, and I can see why some might not enjoy the informality of it, b/c it doesnt look professional enough. Color is used effectively and chosen where to put tastefully, eventhough it feels like it 's just slapped on the page, that is the look intended and done so tastefully. The design philosophy of Block is simpleness. They show the simplicity of thier concept nicely in the design of the website. Little color is used and a simple yet complex graphic is used. the font is simple yet interesting. It is sometimes hard to make somthing of this sort simple, yet not boring, Block achieves this concept nicely. One little interesting eye-catcher for me was the little blinking right turn signal on the car. That small flashing light draws your eye in to the page. simple yet stylish.
posted by jessica trigg Tuesday, April 02, 2002
The first thing that I notice when I open the site are the awful colors. The beige is not too bad, however the designer has put it next to the putrid green. Also, the site is very bland, not exciting in the least. This site is quite a contrast to the Weather Channel's site, it is way too simple. What is the title about? It does tell me that it is a site for people who make web sites, but then I am left hanging. I really do not know anything about this subject so the lack of information leaves me confused. The site seems geared to those who are already familiar with the site and the information it provides. The font used for the text is too small and difficult to read. The black color does not help either. I am not sure what the two, and only two icons are on the page. I do not understand how they are related to web design. I also think that the color these icons do not correspond to the rest of the site. If this is a web site for those who design web sites then why doesn't it have a better design?
posted by Christa Saunders Tuesday, April 02, 2002
To begin with I think this web page sucks because of the dull colors. The cream background and the burnt orange lettering is not very appealing when you first arrive on this web page. The first sentence at the top of the page was also uninviting to me, for someone that does not make web sites. It is plainly written out that the web page, A List Apart is for people who make websites. The paragraphs which explain the benefits of the web page, I assume, are written in web page makers terms. It is difficult for everyone else but these select few to understand the terms being used.
However, I do find some catchy things on this website, such as, the phrase in small lettering under the website title. This phrase sounds very rhymic and catchy. I also think that a positive aspect is the listing of the main peoples names involved in this website making. It is important to know who is involved, there name, and what these individuals are doing to make you a better website. Even though I do not like the colors used on this page, I think that the font size and style is appropriate. There is not any distraction to the website, like some of the other ones. Everything is aligned, organized, and straight to the point, which is nice. There is less confusion and capability of getting lost. The graphics applied to the page are alright, not dramatic or flashy at all, but very suble and straight to the point.
There are some things about this website that did suck in my opinion, however for the most part I found positive qualities in the website, A List Apart.
posted by candice gurganus Tuesday, April 02, 2002
A List Apart is a website for web designers, which is stated at the very top of the page. What's that about? If I am not a web designer, am I not welcome? That's the feeling that statement gave me. I almost wanted to leave. This page make me feel like an intruder.
posted by kate metz Tuesday, April 02, 2002
I think one word says it all. Confusing! First off, I was extremely confused when I first typed into this website. Two different screens came up and I wasn't sure which one I was supposed to start at. One said "BLOCK REQUIREMENTS" and the other said "BLOCK" so I decided to go with the one that just said "BLOCK" at the top. It had more of a selection to choose from. I think it's a very good idea combining the graphics, interiors and illustration all into one but that too was also very confusing. I skimmed through the illustration section but those pictures were terrible. I thought the interiors section would be the most interesting so I decided to search that section and the first thing I saw was a door looking outside. It made me want to exit the window but I decide to click on the next page button anyway. The next page was an awesome interior shot of a building in New York. This picture made me want to keep looking. There were more interior shots and eventually it displayed the way it was published in a magazine and a close up shot of the floor plan. The whole floor plan thing was a nice addition to the portfolio. This sight would have been more effective if the awesome interior shots were the first pictures to show up. Then when it says "Interiors" as a caption to click on, the first thing you see will be an interior.
posted by Vicky Leggio Tuesday, April 02, 2002
This week, take a look at http://www.blockbranding.com/.
This is a portfolio site for a new design firm.
As usual, take a look at the visual design of the site, the information design of the site (how things are organized, are they easy to find, etc), but this time comment a bit on the philosophy of this design firm mixing graphics, interiors, and illustration into one firm.
Feel free to comment on the design firm's portfolio as well.
posted by Michael Barrett Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Alistapart.com is a page that I didn't like since I saw it for first time. At the beginning I didn't know what this page is used for until I went back to Michael's page and looked at the assignment where it says what this page is. This is a prove of how unsuccessful the page is to communicate its use. After paying careful attention I kind of knew what it was but nobody wants to spent time on reading to this page. There is a lot of color and there's not much text. And even though is good to have few elements in the page, it is important to have a short introduction to the page and relevant information about it. The colors don't connect. The page consists of two squares, one green and one white and some graphics inside the white one but they are difficult to interpretate. They are random. Lettering can be made bigger and a stronger color to it. That orange-brown text and graphics look lost with the white on the background. Everything looks alike and as I said before it is hard to recognize right away the tittle of the page and its purpose. If this is a website that helps other people to make their own, how can peole trust this page if not even their own looks good? This is contradicting and whoever made it should be aware of the image that they are supposed to give. As a whole the page doesn't work good because it doens't communicate its function and it contradicts itself.
posted by sonnia orellana Tuesday, April 02, 2002
I do not believe A List Apart sucks that much, but due to the fact that is created for the use of avid "web goers"- it sucks. I believe the information on the page is organized and concise, but too much can be boring. The text is dull. The colors are dull. The site is plain dull! There is nothing on the page that excites me. I'm not truly interested in knowing all the up-to-date information of web designing, but I feel to really enjoy this page, you must reeeeally like web designing. There is no substance to the site. There is nothing that really jolts you and makes you say "Gosh, web designing is fun!" All it is are articles about the web- nothing more. They should make it seem like there's more, as if reading these articles will change your whole approach to designing- even though it probably would not.
Smaller things about the site that could be changed to enhance the page are things like text and text color. It seems as if they had few choices in font. The use of industry standard is boring. The headings for the articles need to be beefed up. They need to be a color other than the heading of the web page. Each article is different. Each is by a different author and about differnt things, so they need to be advertised as being different. The same text and stylizing won't get you there.
Another minor thing about A List Apart is its header. It needs to be bigger and bolder. It's lost among other parts of the page. It would help if it remained stationery as you scrolled the page even when you click over to a different site on the page. It's good to be reminded constantly of where you are. That way in the future you can remember its name or remember to stay away from it.
Finally, the colors on the page are rather sickening. I want to think I know where they were going with those colors, but I really don't. I think it might be the people who run this site believe they're too good to hire a pro to color their site, but really! a five-year old could have done better.
Overall, the articles they write are interesting and informative. They seem to have the capability of talking web lingo, but they have problems "walking the walk".
posted by marissa marvelli Tuesday, April 02, 2002
When I saw this web site, weather.com, the first thing that I noticed was the lettering of the page. The font size is really small and hard to read. I don't know much about website layouts but I can criticize things that are obvious to anybody's eyes. The colors of the page don't bother me but the way they are used can be improved. Maybe by using color hierarchy with the fonts, for example. Another thing that really called my attention was the size of the ads in this page versus the size of everything else in the page. There is more attention given to the ads than the information of the page. Is the page suppose to emphasize the advetisers or weather information? I think this is a really important thing to look at. It will be different if the page had less unnecessary information and have more order in the text. All the information throughout the page has almost the same size and is not possible to differenciate the headlines from the smaller text. The headlines in main pages should be short and well distributed. In this page there are many too many links related to health, home, recreation and travel. And I think that this page should have more emphasis in weather around the country, by areas, towns and, cities. To me it looks like a page made by somebody that throw the information without preparing it. No visual appeal, not well organized and, unpleasant to read. It is confussing and difficult to read. It is very important to keep in mind that less is better. You don't need to have a full page, it is more sophisticated, interesting and, appealing to have fewer elements that are easy to differenciate and that also serve with its purpose. In this case is information about the weather.
posted by sonnia orellana Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Monday, April 01, 2002
This webpage really sucks! Since this website is supposed to inspire people to create their own webpage shouldn't it be an example for those who are using it as a guide. The color selection wouldn't be first on many peoples list. It's a mustard yellow and is "accented" by a brown color. Which quite honestly is a little too blah. Nothing about this site gets you excited or gets your creative juices flowing. They could have at least over done it with some graphics to show people all the options available. I wouldn't want to create a webpage using this site as my reference. Another thing that bothers me is the text. For one, it's hard to read quickly and two, there's way to much motion. There's not only to much motion in the text, but in the simple graphics below it contradicts the unification. This two way interception is distracting to the important things. Somebody needs to talk to the person who decided that pea green would work with the rest of the page. It throws the page off balance. The highlighted links on the green are in red and don't read well at all. I'm not sure if there is one element that draws my attention because everything is so alike and dull.
posted by Whitney Hipp Monday, April 01, 2002
No wonder Michael gave us the “A List Apart” website to evaluate as a “Why Does This Suck?” blog! Unappealing and confusing, this website evidently was created to help people make better websites, but upon perusal of “A List Apart.com,” I wonder who really keeps going back to this uninteresting site for advice. Shouldn’t a website telling others how to make a web page at least attempt to set itself apart from other sites?
To begin with, I really don’t appreciate (or understand) the use of the baby puke green color with the dull brown text and cream background. Furthermore, the title of the page, “A List Apart,” was not immediately apparent to me; the big brown blob that talks about “Modifying Dreamweaver” draws my attention. Is this really the focus of the website – this one article? The title should maybe be placed in the center of the screen, not so far at the top (it actually runs into the edge of the page!). Moreover, the kerning and tracking for this title is in dire need of adjustment. It looks too “squished.”
Navigating the site isn’t a piece of cake, either. There is no clearly defined place to click to get more information; you have to move your mouse all over the screen and look for a hand to appear before you realize you’re supposed to click there. The titles to the right (“This Week,” “Previous,” etc.) leave me, again, confused; am I supposed to click there? What is this blank box underneath these titles? Though it does help that the titles are highlighted when your mouse moves over them, they still need more prominence. And if I was a first-time website user, I would wonder what the blank white box is for. “Search ‘A List Apart’” wouldn’t take up too much space above this box and it would make things a little clearer. The use of more graphics might make the site easier to understand as well.
When browsing from page to page I noticed that fonts change a lot, especially with the title. For example, on the “Previous” page, not only is the font of the title and slogan different, the kerning and colors are different as well. This doesn’t even begin to pick up on the different fonts on the page and text colors.
The actual text of an article seems thorough. Sometimes the articles have a formal tone, sometimes a casual one. And something about the words “tragically hip synopsis” (on the “Past Issues” page) just doesn’t appeal to me. Is this site trying to be cute or serious?
Overall, “A List Apart” needs to visit a website “for people who are graphic designers” and find some pointers on how to make their website more interesting. I’ve always thought making websites might be fun, but if this site is any indication as to how mine might look, I think I’ll just remain a web surfer and not a creator!
posted by Jennifer Cutchin Monday, April 01, 2002
When first visiting Alistapart.com I did not know what the website was for. The logo was to small and the color blended to well with the background. I think that the logo needed to become a different color then the text on the rest of the page to set it apart so that you noticed it. Also when I first visited the site I was appauled by the color choices. I think that they clashed badly and did nothing for the site. The colors where not complimenting each other and created a distracting background to the text. The text color choice I think needed to be a little stronger to stick out from the background, they were a little to close in color and at some points the text seems to fall off into the background. Also I think the the text needed to have either more space between or a larger font, something just doesn't seem to work it is all compacted into one small block. Maybe thhe use of small graphics would help break it up. When visitinng this site I would never guess that it was a site for web designers, this is because it looks undesigned and unprofessional. I would expect something glamorous and on the edge something that popped out and interested me, unlike the boring site it is. In the article pages it is nice that they used the actual screen images from the stuff they are trying to teach to you. I think that visually it becomes more appealing and it is helpful as well. I do like the margine on the left that contains the search engine and other info. I think it is well proportioned and it works better on the attatched pages then on the home page. If they are going to include the webpages of the creators that is fine but I don't think that they should show the website your on up. It just looked like they didn't try on the website you're looking at compared to their own personal one. Over all this website sucks,it needs lots of work with graphics, user freindliness and layout.
posted by danielle courtney Monday, April 01, 2002
It is no surprise that this website is full of computer jargon since the very first sentence says," for people who make websites". Because of this, most people would not be able to understand this site. But for web designers it is probably very useful. I would think though that since this is a web site made by web designers for web designers that they would have a striking design that pushes design limits. But on the contrary, they have a very straightforward, simple, and plain design. To me this is a contradiction. One positive attribute is that because the layout is so simple, it is easy to find your way around the site. The beige and brown colors used on the left column continue the plain and boring look, and maybe the puke-green color used on the right column was meant to make it more catchy, but it does not do this positively. It acts as a strong and gross contrast to the beige and it makes the red type hard to read. The hierarchy used in the type makes the list of "THIS WEEK; PREVIOUS; ALA NEWS; ALA LIST" in the right hand column seem important. It is almost as large as the heading, and so your eye naturally wonders down that list before reading anything else. Is the list that important? If you click on PREVIOUS it shows you a list of all the previous week's pages and you can click on them and read all the information. So that would be helpful to look up if you missed a week of reading or ever wanted to go back to some information that you have now forgotten. The rest are self explanatory. With my limited knowledge of web design, I cannot judge if the content needs work but I can say that this web page definitely needs to make design changes.
posted by mari-ann green Monday, April 01, 2002
