Saturday, April 20, 2002
As a frequent visitor of the www.UNCG.com page I have found that I am just using the page for links to other pages. It is easy to know where to search for students and faculty and how to get to the library page. It is also easy to get to pipeline and genie (although I wish they would get rid of them and combine it into on site that unites the two of them). But when, as a student of the university and not an outsider looking in, I find it very hard to find things that I am looking for. For example, I have recently need to get in contact with the police station and even when I search for it the sites in the search engine are not direct links to the homepage. Maybe there could be a link to the police station similar to the library of Spartan fans page – there could also be one to the RLI page. (Another site I search for often).
Now if I go back to before I was a student here I remember that find my way around was easy. The links on the left side of the page for prospective students was very direct — easy to find my information for admissions and orientation information.
If I look at this from an graphic design perspective, the two columns of information right under the UNCG logo are too close together especially the construction and pipeline links. I think that if there is a border and/or a background color change would help. Another element that I think would be nice to add is more pictures of students that aren’t posed. For example people sitting at the fountain, in the garden at the music building, drawing outside/inside, or dancers dancing. Why is the symbol of UNCG the library? There is so much more to UNCG. Now if it is a historical reason then fine but show the world more than the library. Another question that I have is the text under the What’s NOW column. Why is the text blue, green, and purple? Everything else on the page are blue and yellow? Why change just some of the text to other colors? Make is all one or keep it blue - yellow alternating.
posted by alexis bauman Saturday, April 20, 2002
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
I think that the Looby Lu website is so cute! The big graphic on the main page is really interesting, and it makes you want to figure out what the rest of the site is about. I also really like the colors on the page. The pinks and blues are very calming against the white background, and it doesn’t assault your eyes. I like the font that is used for the "Looby Lu" title because it is quirky and fun and compliments the graphics well. Also, it is a good contrast to the font used in the paragraphs and links. I think it was a good move for the designers to keep the supporting text in a simple font because it makes it so much easier to read that way. The site is very well layed out with the main focus taking up the left side of the page, and spilling past the midway point. The asymmetry of the page works well because not only does it look more interesting, but also it establishes a hierarchy while remaining functional. I really enjoyed the story that she told about listening through the open window to the fighting couple on the street. It was very descriptive and fun to read! The links to the other parts of the site are subtle in that they do not attract much attention, yet they are still easy to find and read. I felt that, like the rest of the site, the portfolio section was well layed out and easy to understand. The plain white background placed all of the emphasis on her colorful graphics. Also the simple font in the matching colors complemented the illustrations well. I liked how the navigation bar at the top of the portfolio section used portions of the illustrations as the buttons/links. It was a nice way to pull her graphic abilities into the design of the page.
posted by Mandy Overcash Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Loobyu.com is a very interesting website. Loobylu is a fun page, but leaves me with many questions. I wondered what was the point of Loobylu's story about the day she had with Big P. Was it directed to her because she was pregant. and who exactly is in the story, Big P. and who is Looblyu? The reason I questioned this is because when I first saw the web page I thought of a child's doll or a figure representing something for a child. However on the following page is shows Looblyu and Big P. eating sushi together. I figured that Looblyu and big P. are not children, but adults that appear like children, cartoon figures. I think Loobylu is adorable though, I love here large spaced apart eyes, tiny neck, and wild hair. I just wish I new why she was telling this story to us. Is she a popular cartoon and I just don't know about her? I mean she has mugs for sale. I wish there was some history link about Looblyu. Looblyu's story was very complete and discriptive. The story gave a good sense of visualizing the Friday night the two characters had together. At the end of the short story, the small drawings discribing the cake was cute. I'm just left with the question ofter viewing this website, why? Why is this story being told. What is the purpose of this? I think more needs to be provided for those that do not know Looblyu or what she is about. I think Looblyu is a fun character, but my main concern is to know more about what she is all about.
posted by candice gurganus Tuesday, April 16, 2002
As a student here at UNCG, therefore I have to log onto this website frequently. I appreciate the use of the school colors and the picture of the library front and center, but I wish the edges of the picture were not blurred. It looks slightly uneven and it makes the picture hard to read. I would love to see a background color other than the sterile white; maybe a light yellow. This would be much more pleasing to the eyes. Also, the column of words down the lefthand side of the page as well as in the center of the page are so small and skinny that they are difficult to read. There should be more heirarchy with the fonts on this page; something that would really grab people's attention. I would also like to see the links to Pipeline and UNCGenie at the top of the page. When I log on, these are usually the two things I am looking for and they should be placed in a more convenient location. I do like the top toolbar accross the top of the page. It grabs my attention and forms a pleasing axis with the word column on the left side of the page. I am so glad that this site is getting a makeover!
posted by Lauren Paulson Tuesday, April 16, 2002
the uncg.edu website has changed alot since i've first started to use it. it is nice that the site changes and the pictures are updated. i like the one large picture of the library as the main central picture of the page, maybe though, it becomes the entire background of the page and text overlays it. i like the school colors used, blue and yellow, they are used tactfully. the navagation bar across the top of the page could be a little more centered. the actual type featured on the main page about what's now or what's going on, seems kinda weak and scrawny down at the bottom by itself. it needs a border or some kind of background to make it stand out and appear alive. navagation around the page is easy and things are not too hard to locate. this is key when redesigning a page i think. over all navagation should remain in the same spots as it was, otherwise it could become very confusing and i would not know how to get around the site evertime it changed.
posted by jessica trigg Tuesday, April 16, 2002
In an email to Miriam Barkley, the head of the Web3 committee at UNCG (responsible for updating the University Web Site), said that she wishes that we would review the UNCG web site here.
Well, she asked for it.
This week, take a good, hard, look at www.uncg.edu.
I will forward all responses (which are in god taste) to Miriam for review.
posted by Michael Barrett Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Once again I am confused. Is this site supposed to suck? At first glance it is cute. The graphics and the colors go well together. It's very whimsical, from the fonts to the pastel muted colors. But I do not think that's a bad thing. I would recommend adding more graphics to the opening page, like the ones that are on the tops of the pages as you navigate through the site. This site is simply a diary and other information about loobylu, a site that is devoted to self expression, maybe even some self promotion with the addition of her portfolio stuff. She must have a lot of free time, because there is a lot of stuff on this site. But I have to give her credit, it is not hard to display your entire life to the rest of the world. As far as navigating the site goes, it's a little confusing, maybe because I am new to the site. However, the site seems geared to a specific group of those who know loobylu and possible those who visit the site often, following her on her adventures. When I clicked on "about" i was expecting to find out who this loobylo was, however this really did not tell me anything new that I hadn't discovered while I was surfing the site. Simply put this site is cute, and I hardly think it sucks.
posted by Christa Saunders Tuesday, April 16, 2002
When I saw this page for first time I didn't know what Loobylu was until I read the story under the cute cartoon-like girl. The layout of the page is successful. I think it is well organized and the colors match with each other. The colors and the images of this girl represent the author in some way. This web site is about a girl's journal. She writes down her everyday experiences and represent herself as Loobylu. The soft colors help to represent her as a sweet and fun girl. She describes her days as telling a story or like being in a soap opera.The text in this page has works with hierarchy. The headlines are bigger than the text that follows and the colors are different to be able to differenciate them. The use of margins helps to not mix the text of one side with another side of the page.The only thing that might be hard for the girl that made this site is to get people's attention. I don't think that many people is interested in reading about someone else's life. Specially reading it in the internet.She doesn't include any ads in her page and that might probably help the page to bring more visitors. As a whole I think that this site has a good enough layout for being a site that has random information.
posted by sonnia orellana Tuesday, April 16, 2002
This site was kind of charming as I read through some of the articles. The illustrations were especially delightful!! It's clean, crisp, and gets down to the guts of what the site is for. I like the subtle divider dots on the right side of the page. It divides two spaces without segregating and alienating the other contents. I found it very easy to navigate around this site and explore every article. The only thing that bothers me is that there is no hierarchy with the font. Throughout the entire site it's the same size and style. Except for the opening illustration and the name of the site, which appeals to the characters. But the question remains would people know to come to this site off the top of their heads when looking for this material? No, I definetly would not say, "Hmmm, I wonder if I type in Loobylu it will give me this." I do like the theme of "soap opera at street level" that suits the site quite well. Consistancy is not a problem here, which helps the navigation and the various material all fit together happily.
posted by Whitney Hipp Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Monday, April 15, 2002
Sitting here, scrolling Loobylu.com and looking for faults in this website was not fun. I really enjoyed some of the articles and the quirky humor that can be found throughout the site.
Being a female, I felt at home with this site, as if I were reading pages out of a woman's journal. It was exactly this that I found my first flaw in the site. It is not until you thoroughly read some of the articles that you can assume the site is a sort of on-line journal by a woman. Somewhere at the beginning of the page, there needs to be some sort of heading that states what the page is. People now-a-days do not have the time to figure out what things are. We want to be told immediately what it is we are looking at. Along with a statement describing what the site is, there needs to be some sort of graphic that acts as a beginning marker. When the page first appears, you are not sure you're at the very top of the page.
Another flaw I found in this site was the fact that most of all her information was typed in the same font. It is hard to discern the important information from the "on-the-side" notes. I assume that since it is a journal a new entry is entered quite reguraly. These entries need to be distinctive and in its own font, not in the same font as everything else. It needs to be displayed in such a way that you'd understand it gets changed reguraly, maybe in a courier font.
Overall, I think the site is well put together and easily navigated. I think the world wide web needs more down-to-earth and sweet-hearted sites like loobylu.com.
posted by marissa marvelli Monday, April 15, 2002
I don't think that this website sucks at all. Actually I think that it is very cute. I think that it is well written and the layout seems to work.The colors are a good choice because the content of the page is a journal and I don't think of jarring bright colors when I think about diaries and journals. I love the fact that she used some of her artistic talent and included graphics in with the stories, I think that by doing that it enhances the web by doing two things, one: it helps to maybe understand the storie just that much more and two: the actuallly graphic itself provides for a nice visual break for your eyes and for the web page layout.
The links that are included in this page were nice because they loaded very quickly and I didn't have to wait 2 minutes for them to load I think that that is very irratating on other websites. I loved her portfolio! It was so delightful. I thought that the home page for it was very suiting to the portfolio. I enjoyed her style of drawingand I like that next to each picture it says what the images, who the client was and the date it was done. I think that that is a nice feature to add, it helps to understand the illustration more. I think that overall that it is nice, i think that the graphics are nice and that it is clean and I like the fact that it is not all cluttered up with ads and non-sense. The only thing major that I might change is that when first using the site I didn't know what it was about and still even after visiting and searching around I'm not completely convinced I know what it's about. So maybe that could some how be addressed, otherwise I was happy with the site.
posted by danielle courtney Monday, April 15, 2002
Who or what is Lobbylu? This is still my question after browsing this website. Lobbylu has its good points, but I still feel it’s a site about… nothing. The “Seinfield” of websites, if you will!
When I first went to Lobbylu.com I was confused as to what it was about. After finding that it was someone’s personal “diary,” per se, I was surprised because the graphics skills displayed are quite professional (unlike many people’s “home pages”). I had forgotten that she was a professional designer and illustrator. Not too many fonts are displayed on the same page (I counted three), hierarchy is given to headings and titles through lettering and colors, and it’s clear how to navigate the site (though the “stuff and nonsense” section could be more dominantly displayed). Though I’m not a fan of pink (evidently Claire Robertson, the creator of the website, is), the other colors she uses with this pink give the site a very “girly” look, which is exactly the point. Titles for hyperlinks add to the overall character of the site (such as “stuff and nonsense,” “random thoughts,” etc.).
The whole site is just Claire talking about her daily life and adding some fun illustration to it. My initial thoughts are that I’d like to have as much free time as she evidently does! Another thought that came to mind: would I want strangers reading my “diary?” No, thanks. I guess it’s just a fun hobby of Claire’s. I read a few of her journals and the writing style is easy, carefree, and conversational. I enjoyed the way she makes everyday situations amusing, such as eating cake and listening to people in the street outside her apartment. Her writing makes the readers want to know more about her. The illustrations reminded me of cartoon characters in the style of “The Family Guy” cartoon shows; cute, but I’m not fond of their football-shaped heads.
I think the major fault of the lobbylu.com website is that it just seems so fragmented. I realize that is Claire’s web journal and scrapbook of her favorite links and drawings, but it frustrated me to try and make sense out of it when I hadn’t been reading her diaries since day one. I kind of feel sorry for people who frequent this site… do they have nothing better to do with their lives than read about someone else’s from day to day? And who (or what) is lobbylu? I’d like to see an explanation of what the site is on the home page, so I don’t have to go navigating all around the page trying to figure out what I’m reading.
Lobbylu.com, overall, is a successful website for its intended purpose and audience, though I still feel that if you haven’t been keeping up with it since she first began writing you get a bit lost. Even if it is the “Seinfield” of websites, I really enjoyed “Seinfield” the TV show! Now back to “Soap Opera at Street Level…”
posted by Jennifer Cutchin Monday, April 15, 2002
Who or what is Lobbylu? This is still my question after browsing this website. Lobbylu has its good points, but I still feel it’s a site about… nothing. The “Seinfield” of websites, if you will!
When I first went to Lobbylu.com I was confused as to what it was about. After finding that it was someone’s personal “diary,” per se, I was surprised because the graphics skills displayed are quite professional (unlike many people’s “home pages”). I had forgotten that she was a professional designer and illustrator. Not too many fonts are displayed on the same page (I counted three), hierarchy is given to headings and titles through lettering and colors, and it’s clear how to navigate the site (though the “stuff and nonsense” section could be more dominantly displayed). Though I’m not a fan of pink (evidently Claire Robertson, the creator of the website, is), the other colors she uses with this pink give the site a very “girly” look, which is exactly the point. Titles for hyperlinks add to the overall character of the site (such as “stuff and nonsense,” “random thoughts,” etc.).
The whole site is just Claire talking about her daily life and adding some fun illustration to it. My initial thoughts are that I’d like to have as much free time as she evidently does! Another thought that came to mind: would I want strangers reading my “diary?” No, thanks. I guess it’s just a fun hobby of Claire’s. I read a few of her journals and the writing style is easy, carefree, and conversational. I enjoyed the way she makes everyday situations amusing, such as eating cake and listening to people in the street outside her apartment. Her writing makes the readers want to know more about her. The illustrations reminded me of cartoon characters in the style of “The Family Guy” cartoon shows; cute, but I’m not fond of their football-shaped heads.
I think the major fault of the lobbylu.com website is that it just seems so fragmented. I realize that is Claire’s web journal and scrapbook of her favorite links and drawings, but it frustrated me to try and make sense out of it when I hadn’t been reading her diaries since day one. I kind of feel sorry for people who frequent this site… do they have nothing better to do with their lives than read about someone else’s from day to day? And who (or what) is lobbylu? I’d like to see an explanation of what the site is on the home page, so I don’t have to go navigating all around the page trying to figure out what I’m reading.
Lobbylu.com, overall, is a successful website for its intended purpose and audience, though I still feel that if you haven’t been keeping up with it since she first began writing you get a bit lost. Even if it is the “Seinfield” of websites, I really enjoyed “Seinfield” the TV show! Now back to “Soap Opera at Street Level…”
posted by Jennifer Cutchin Monday, April 15, 2002
Loobylu is a very cute web page. I had to read some things on the page before I could make out what this page is really for. From what I can piece together, it seems like a site where somebody takes on this character called Loobylu and writes daily journal entries from her life. I was wondering who would really read this site, but I guess there are always people up for some cute fiction.
Using an image of Loobylu on the top of the page makes the page layout successful. The soft colors used and her innocent smile seem to set the tone of her life - fun, but sweet and innocent. After reading the story under the image, you realize that her days are pretty normal like every one else's and so you feel like you can almost relate to her. Well, almost. It still sounds a little too much like a soap opera.
Having the main body of the text on the left side works well because we read from left to right and so we will read that first. Then the less important stuff is on the right hand column. The titles she uses, like, "Stuff and Nonsense", gives it a child-like manner, which plays along the sweet and innocent theme. It is also interesting that she has a receipe on the page. How it is written out is important because it is written in prose, much like a child would have written a receipe. A receipe found in an actual cook book would have been written as lists with step by step instructions, headed by a list of ingredients needed. So, even though it is not correctly written it is successful in keeping with the theme. Even the font used on the main title "Loobylu" is in a style that is uneven and looks like it was written by a yound child.
For being a site of a random collection of things, this site is successful because it sticks with one theme and carries it througout the whole site.
posted by mari-ann green Monday, April 15, 2002
One person intends to share her life with whoever is interested as she has done with her diary her entire life. That is the designer’s intent and the site is a direct reflection of such. The site’s subtle colors, simplicity, and catchy titles contribute to its success. The site gently offers information and invites its viewers to drift from page to page learning more about the author. The titles such as, "stuff and nonsense," "Random thoughts," and "Soap Opera at Street Level" provides direction to the pages contents while adding a bit of character in every word. It seems very appropriate that the title, "stuff and nonsense" top the page’s right side. The page is exactly that, but its simple graphics and humorous stories give it a very personal side that invites visitors to join in on the amusing entertainment experienced from day to day by the author. The portfolio on this site is very impressive. The graphics on occasion deal with issues much greater than their simplicity would typically imply. I enjoy the site. I feel that it works but certainly could use a little more on the home page. The pages listed on the top right such as "My Folio," "The good stuff," and so on all seem to have been created more as an image and are less about the information. The frames and color blocking distinguish each page from the next. On the first page of "My Folio" one of the artist’s graphics is used not simply to decorate the page but contains the link and other information. I question why this same approach did not find its self at home on the home page? Overall I enjoy the page and the work of the illustrator.
posted by sarah norville Monday, April 15, 2002
