Tuesday, April 09, 2002
WEATHER CHANNEL.COM: Upon opening the weather page for greensboro, I immediately noticed that the image on screen was too wide. Space for scroll bars on the side was obviosly not considered when designed the site. I reopened the page using Netscape (as I had used Explorer first) and the page fit a little better on screen. A lot of wasted white space which had appeared through Explorer was gone and buttons looked different... more user friendly. The site's coding was developed with only Netscape in mind, I'm guessing. Design wise: the roll-overs across the top are too slow to load when you "roll over" them - very annoying. Greensboro weather doesn't actually start until the bottom of the screen when the home page opens because of ads. There are too many options for the top navigation... too busy. The "search" button at the top seems helpful - I would definitely use this as a means of skipping the rest of the crap on this page. Over all, there are 20 links on this home page that are NOT related to weather.... WHY???????? I also noticed that when you do select a link and go to a secondary page, menu options across the top (the main menu) seem to not stay in the same places. The home page doesn't seem connected in very basic ways to the secondary pages. The home page is also way too big. Why does all of the advertising have to be on this page? A home page, in my opinion, should be a MAIN page of MAIN information that directs people to secondary pages that have more details. Each link should branch out further and give more details. The home page should be the hub of main links to these details... shouldn't actually house so many details itself. It's overwhelming. Lastly, I enjoyed the fact that I could "personalize" my forecast report for my convenience the next time that I visited. BUT... it took me about 10 times as long to figure out that I could do that as it took you to read this entry. That throws convenience right out the window.
posted by sara bowers Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Loobylu.com, graphically, is very well organized and clean. The colors that are chosen are of the same value and hue pulling the page together to form a unified look. The personal graphics that illustrate the text blend well also with the type of font on the title bar along with the graphics there. The white background allows the navy blue and pink text stand out without being too bold or wild. They are soothing colors, calming the mind. Also the white in the graphics, faces etc., gives it more of a cartoony look than that of true pictures. Most cartoons are about someone’s life so it fits to use this type of graphic for her site. Another way that she is allowing it to a cartoon is by selling the images of her graphics. She is getting her cartoon out so more will read it and maybe enjoy her life. The words within the text body that are of a different color than that of the rest also helps the writer make her thoughts stick out ---without using bold or italics. Although many others do this she has chosen few words making them even more important. Those words are also links that allow the reader to understand what she is talking about if they are just starting to read her journal now --- like us. There are also links on her page that she likes making it interesting for us to look at what she likes – letting us into her mind.
posted by alexis bauman Tuesday, April 09, 2002
loobylu.com has a cute fun side to it, the site is playful and clean. The pictires and images are fun and add charactor to the site. You can pick up a sence of her personality from the site. The writing style is cute also. It is a very laid back style, like you are having a informal chat. The type I thought was a little hard to read, I am not sure if it was the type color or the size, maybe both. I got a little lost on what seems to be the important focus of what she is maybe wanting you to read. What should I read first, second , third and so on. I think It would be nice to feel a little more guided throught the site. Over all it is a nice site, that maybe could use a few changes.
posted by rebeka pomero Tuesday, April 09, 2002
I feel that the first page of the website is very childish looking. I do not really understand how the design of the first page is linked to the website. I do however enjoy the car with figures inside, along with the flashing signal of the car. The other links on the website have very cool graphics, the plain outline of the man with the purple background. The paragraph on the Advertising page is also vey appealing because it shows that this website is successful because they were highly complimented in the New York Times. The graphics are very clear, but are questionable, it makes you wonder why this photo was choosen, what is the meaning behind them. I really enjoy the graphics under the Interiors, Illustration, and Gallery links. They are very eye catching and original. I especially like the women's face mural painted on the wall, it is bold and drastic all in one. The perspectives of Rau and Associates and United Airlines are very successful views. The shots are very clear and smooth. Even tough the introduction of the blockbranding webpage is questionable and does not seem to fit quite right, I believe the website is over all successful. The credits link are very informative, it lets you know about the projects, who, what, when, where, etc. This allows the viewer to better understand the website and what is being offered here. I also think it is key to introduce the designers involved, which they do here, and a photo as well is provided (blurred), but a sense of the people behind the success. Overall I would give the blockbranding webpage two thumbs up.
posted by candice gurganus Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Depending on what mood I'm in a website can either really piss me off or make me feel like the internet really isn't that bad afterall. Loobylu.com didn't bother me too much....it was "cute", but maybe too cute. The illustrations remind me of a lot of the new cartoons that are now on prime time TV. Abstracted people with big heads and pastel features grinning with thin lips and betty eyes. Ok most of her drawings are geared toward children so I understand the happy feelings that these drawings bring forth. I really appreciate the journal like entries she posts on the site. I think there need to be more things like this on the web...more HUMANITY. My vouyeristic spirit was soaring and I wanted to read more.....maybe she should publish a book with illustrations that reads like a diary....I might buy it. As far as the page layout....I think it fits the scene. Simple and light, hardly any black or dark colors, the mood is fun, and this is definatly not a weather chanel or news website. The illustration speaks for itself and is the focal point of the page. This is probably becasue it is what the designer wants us to focus on......on a scale from 1-10 I give this page a 7.5.
posted by Elisa Wadsworth Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Loobylu.com is fun! Illustrations do so much for a website. It gets kinda boring and tecnical when all drawings are computer generated and rendered. Nice soft hand rendered drawings give warmth and life to a website. These illustrations almost let you know who this narrator is without reading the journal entries. The tone of the entries are quite humerous and quite truthful. She get's to the point and tells you how it is in the everyday world and in her life. The narration is very informal. It makes me want to read on and find out all about this person writing these entries and all of their boring, normal, everyday life problems, like mine, but somehow she makes them seem more exciting and fun. This site is a good idea and is fun to read!
posted by jessica trigg Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Loobylu.com is a website portfolio of an Australian designer and illustrator. The home page is easy to read and the colors are pleasing to the eye. Although it would be great to make the font a little larger. When reading the journals, one may get the feeling that they are talking to a friend. They are written in plain everyday language which is very easy to read. However, there were many run-on sentences that make the story difficult to follow. Proof reading helps! The illustrations are enjoyable. The designer draws cartoon caracters for ads and I assume for her own enjoyment. The only real ads that I could pick out were for a summer reading program for children at the New York Public Library. I would imagine that her ad would encourage kids to attend the program. The ads were fun and playfull. They really captured what reading is all about...using one's imagination. Good job!
posted by Lauren Paulson Tuesday, April 09, 2002
blockbranding.com is an interesting site, when I first saw it for the first time I wasn't sure what it was for. First you see the green splash then the car then you continue to read the very small print that talks about design. The small print needs to be bolder or larger to fit with the rest of the page. The "Block" works well so if the lettering at the bottom was close to that size it would look more uniformed instead of just two separate parts to a page. Changing the background color might help out the options on the left side of the screen and make the page more unified.
posted by Erin Penrod Tuesday, April 09, 2002
I really want to like this website, Blockbranding.com, but I can't. Here are designers, I think, that are really good at what they do expcept that they can't design their own website efficiently. No where do they officialy say what they are. They tell us who they are, but in today's design world, everything has a title. Are they interior designers, web designers, graphic designers, or everything? They present their portfolio and it seems rather impressive. What is "block" anyway? Is it the name of their company? I admire the sort of artistic and simplistic style they're going after, but it's overdone and leaves the site rather dull. Their graphic title on the home page runs off the page where everything else is cropped and fitted into the page. As for navigating the site, it does a good job. It's simple and there is no heavy thinking required. They, also, eliminate other distractions that can be bothersome, such as advertisements. I appreciate that. Things on the page need to be punched up. The coloring, I think, is great. I enjoy bright colors on a white background. Their menu, however, needs to be bolder and bigger. It is lost among other things. Overall, blockbranding, has done the best among the other websites we have judged. It is not that it sucks as much as is could be a lot better through small details.
posted by marissa marvelli Tuesday, April 09, 2002
This is sooo cute! This LOOBYLU website is precious. At first I got a real questioning feeling on my face with the cartoon illustration but then I read the story and it was really cute. It made me want to read some more stories but as I was flipping through some of the other stories, they didn’t really catch my attention at all. I think the title of the first one, "Cake-alicious" was what got to me. I love cake! The other’s just looked boring, especially the titles. I couldn’t help but wonder how they picked the color of the lettering. Some of them were really light. Cake-alicious had a light font but I guess it was because the story was half way about healthy food/lite food. I found it really hard to read though. I did like the fact that the writer chose to use only two fonts but I did not understand the reasoning to the red lettering every now and then. That was the only confusing part. The illustrations in this piece fit very well with the idea of the story. To me, it reminded me of a comic strip or a flipbook and I could picture the two of them walking around town trying to find something to eat. It was great how the story was critiquing the different restaurants and all of the things that they encounter on their walk. It was a very different approach to writing on a webpage and it added a little bit of feeling to the piece. Interesting!
posted by Vicky Leggio Tuesday, April 09, 2002
When first visiting the home page for blockbranding.com I had no idea what the site was for until I read the small print and it said that it had something to do with design. I never would've known what the sight was and if I was just surfing around I would've just skipped right over this sight. The "block" is large and and works well copmositionally on the page but for taking up so much room on the page it should tel you something about the page and it doesn't. Also with the "Block" test I keep getting the urgeto move it to the left more, right now I think it is to close to the right side of the screen. I feel that there needs to be a small margin on that side it makes it appear like there is more to scroll over to bt there isn't. I think that the options on the left side of the screen need something, I don't know what whether it be a different font size or the adding of color but it needs something because right now the words just fall off into the background.
posted by danielle courtney Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Finally, a page that I enjoy. The layout of this page is very easy to follow and understand. It is broken up into mainly two parts; the story and title on the left side, and links and stuff you might be interested in on the right side. The page is welcoming to everyone-not discriminating against those who are no designers. I like the loose quality of the drawings and the text. It makes this page seem less formal and more about the content. THe simplicity is really impressive-it's hard to be consistantly simple and effective at the same time. The story told is also cute, just like the drawings. The page is layed out very well and it is very easy to navigate around the site and the links supplied. The colors chosen are minimalist which reinforces the idea of the entire page. Even though white is the main background color, it is effective for this page. The colors don't distract from the real content of the page and allow the pictures and text to be focused on. The page maintains a nice clean look that isn't jumbled together with nonsense information that no one wants the see. I did, however, have a tough time finding the next and back key. Maybe this would be some improvement that could be made. Other than that minute complaint, I think this site is effective and fun to explore.
posted by kate metz Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Some other blogs you may want to check out....
librarian.net (no, really)
Acam Curry's Blog (Ex MTV VeeJay)
Zeldman.com
IntrepidMedia.com (some local boys I think...)
posted by Michael Barrett Tuesday, April 09, 2002
On the way back from Austin, I read an article in Wired Magazine about the blogging phenomenon.
This article got me to thinking that since we are using a blog as a forum for critique, wouldn't it be cute to critique a blog on our blog?
Of course it would.
Take a look at www.loobylu.com.
This is the weblog of a designer and illustrator in Austrailia.
Take a look at the site, read an entry or two, comment on the character of writing, the illustrations, etc.
posted by Michael Barrett Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Monday, April 08, 2002
No sucking here. I find this page to be a good representation of the information at hand. The clean almost minimalist layout in conjunction with the loosely expressive lines of the title create a sophisticated yet artistic impact. Also, it seems to be combining a sleek, modern, sterile atmosphere with the more earthy and bold kickback to the past that is going on in both design and advertising. Whether it be the retouched Warholesk woman or the bold flatness and balance of Lautrec, I find the kickback in combination with a modern sterility to be quite intriguing as well as successful. My only beef with the page is the over done minimalism of the direction keys. Sacrifice of usability for design sake I guess, buy the "next" "more" "less" etc. buttons could be equally effective as well as easier to find if reworked just a bit.
posted by Amber Rich Monday, April 08, 2002
The Block website intrigued me once I was able to get the second little pop up screen to come up, which it would not do a couple of days ago which did perturb me. Once I saw their sketchily type and intriguing image my biased that was created two days earlier had left. The feeling that the website was instead quit "bad" in the Michael Jackson connotation rather than having a suck-like quality. I could see why some might think that the sight is bland, as many people do when white is used, but once again I think they are wrong. I believe that the color palette for this site is very sophisticated and minimalist. If it were decked out in flashy colors along with crazy complex type these elements would overpower their actual work. Their main focus was their portrayal of their portfolio, so their use of white with a hint of gray and black was able to let the visitor focus on their engaging images without being distracted. I also enjoyed how there were no random distractions, how everything flowed together. I did look through the site without knowing about the "next" button at the bottom of the page that took it to a collection of pictures on the different topics. Maybe that is just me, but that was a little confusing. Overall I think that this website is far from sucking and I thoroughly enjoyed partaking in such fetching imagery. I would like to applaud Tanya and Mark on their bold usage of white!
posted by Megan Casanega Monday, April 08, 2002
I like the way they didn't crowd the page with pointless junk. This site gets to the guts of it without distractions. I don't see how this is considered a site that "sucks". The first thing you notice is the playful shapes and simple graphics. After the cube the green strip of color allows your eye to connect with the other graphics. The philosophy of uniting all types of design is expressed in the home page. The juvenile text allows the site to be what it wants. As I looked through the gallery and the images I could see the relationship between the design of the web site and the philosophy. The white background throughout the entire web site keeps a nice clean look and very easy to find things easilily. Throughout the site there are consistant elements that play a vital role in mobility. For instance the "back" and "next" buttons to enable flipping to the next image. I really don't think this site sucks in any way. I would enjoy looking at this site more than once for a lengthy time.
posted by Whitney Hipp Monday, April 08, 2002
“BLOCK.” It’s the first thing that hits you when visiting this website. No, not literally – the title, that is. How refreshing to see this prominent title after our recent “A List Apart” blog, where I felt that the website was trying to hide everything from me.
To begin with, I find the philosophy of Block Branding captivating. I feel that to be a good designer, you need to be trained in all aspects therein: graphics, interiors, web design, etc. It is interesting that a company has taken all these elements and formed one firm. I’m sure they have different departments with specialists in each, but this “one-stop-shopping” makes sense. Another thing that comes to mind is that Block is a very ambitious company, setting high standards for themselves and their clientele.
Brockbranding.com has many strengths. My attention was drawn to the title when I first opened the page (as it should be), and then to the blinking turn signal on the car. I said to myself, “Wow! The light on the car is blinking!”, which is exactly what these web site creators wanted me to do, I’m sure. They chose the correct turn signal, too; the car is signaling that it is going to turn right, or towards the left of the screen for us, where our eyes go next…to the menu!
This brings up another important point – the site is easy to navigate. You can clearly see where to click for “folios,” profile, etc. My biggest complaint in terms of navigation (and my biggest complaint overall) is that the gray arrows at the bottom of each page were lost to me until I had gone through almost the entire site. Unbeknownst to me, these arrows show you different pictures within each advertisement, graphic, interior, etc. When I finally found the arrows, I had to go back and look at the pictures again to see what I’d missed. This problem could easily be solved by placing the arrows in a more prominent spot or just by labeling what they do. Or why not combine the pictures’ “next” button with the text “next” button, instead of having separate ones for each? Another “navigation” point is that, though the texts and fonts are consistent, the gray letters against a white background don’t provide enough contrast for my taste and make things a bit hard to read. However, there is consistency in placement of text and graphics from one page to the next; I know right where to look, and that’s important.
My last complaint about this site is that there is a lot of contrast between the home page and subsequent pages. The home page looks hand drawn and lettered except for the informational text, and has a shaky line at the bottom. On other pages, the site is very neat and organized, with the shaky line still at the bottom. Though this line is consistant, it just doesn’t seem to go with the cleanliness of the other pages.
Good job, blockbranding.com!
posted by Jennifer Cutchin Monday, April 08, 2002
First thing I would like to address is the question "Why does this suck?" Personally, I do not think that it sucks. True, there could be some improvements but to say that this site "sucks" is a stretch. At first glance I notice the site has a nice simplicity. It's not overly busy with animation, graphics, or color. The white in the background sets off the logo, as well as providing balance to the site's main page. The one element that I would improve on is the text. Maybe if the text was more "beefy" and a different color, perhaps a bit darker, then the text wouldn't get lost in the white. However, the if the text on the left was more prominent then it might throw off the balance between it and the logo. I enjoy reading their statement at the bottom of the main page. The more/less to navigate between the two halves is creative, more so than an arrow. Navigation about the site is done with ease. The menus clearly mark what is in that menu. It appears to be very straight forward, advertising here, graphics here, and so on. The sequence of the items in the menu is also in an appropriate order that seems natural. I also enjoyed their work as I navigated the site. All in all I think this site is far from "sucking."
posted by Christa Saunders Monday, April 08, 2002
I have a hard time describing this web site as one that "sucks." I enjoy the child like lettering that makes up the graphic on the website's homepage. I do feel that the left side of the page is lacking in luster, and is somewhat subservient to its dominant right side. Although I feel that this is somewhat necessary because it is important, that visitor’s to this site read the information about the firm found below the page’s main graphic. I feel that there are possibilities missed that would allow the page to give a greater sense of balance and a more pleasing feel to those viewing. If a hint of color surrounded the font its presence may become more pronounced. Perhaps the list and the graphic could be switched. This would allow the shooting box, that apparently is flying up in the air, to shoot downwards providing a greater direction to the circulation on the page. My guess would be that the attempt was to use this element to direct the eye back around the page. As far as navigation is concerned, it is generally straightforward and clear. I do have a problem with the arrows located under the gray line at the bottom. I missed these on my first visit to the site therefore missed a great deal of interesting images of this firm’s work.
This is certainly an interesting approach to design that potentially offers many great advantages to the field. I am still in question about this utopian design world the designers are proposing, but looking through their portfolio I feel that they have a nice start. I enjoyed their work.
posted by sarah norville Monday, April 08, 2002
At first glance, the Block Branding website appears bland. There is a lot of white space broken up only by the yellow-greenish streak and the black letters. It also looks kind of childish with the way that the "Block" title is spelled or drawn out in that sketchy manner. The home page seems to be a contrast to the rest of the site. The home page seems random, loose and sketchy, while the rest of the site seems very streamlined, ordered and deliberate. I personally think that the links on the left side of the page should be a bit bigger so that they catch your attention and direct you to where you need to go. It was nice to find that all of the information about the owners or founders of the company was included in the site (in the profile section). It was just interesting to see who was behind the operation. I really enjoyed looking at all of the different portfolios. In this area, I think that the plain white screen with the simple black text is very appropriate because all of the emphasis is placed on the images. This way, the actual work is not overwhelmed with flashy titles or text. I also liked how the text information could change to allow you to access more (or less) information without affecting the image above it. This way it is a lot easier and faster because you don't have to wait for the same image to reload just to read the next sentence. This site was very easy to navigate through, and the links were very accurate and informative as to what you would find there. Overall, I felt that the site was very well layed out and nicely designed, with the exception of the title page. I also really agreed with the concept or theory behind the firm, "all design is advertising." How true!
posted by Mandy Overcash Monday, April 08, 2002
