Tuesday, November 16, 2010

11.2 Web site reviews

This week I will discuss some web sites that offer listings of good designs that are out there. I love these types of "best of" lists because they really do take the work out of combing the web for great inspirations. An added bonus is that many of the sites listed have links to other great resources (designers really do take sharing quality examples seriously). The websites featured here are all pulled from the blog "27 Best Places You Should Visit To Get Incredible Web Design Inspiration!" posted by Smashing Apps.

To visit this post directly, go to:
http://www.smashingapps.com/2008/10/20/27-best-places-you-should-visit-to-get-incredible-web-design-inspiration.html

One Page Love:
This web site contains a compilation of web sites that cleverly contain all the navigation and information on a single page. Some of these pages are beautiful, such as the Heart's Cry, Inc. page, which uses a yellow text box that unfurls as you click links. This navigation is sleek and organized and actually makes multi-page sites seem a little clunky. Of course, it depends on the amount of information that needs to be presented, so specific topic pages work great in this format--multiple product or topic pages would get unwieldy. Some of the sites mentioned by One Page Love seem to be nice page designs that are actually not really self-contained. For example, the Rei das Praias site may be one page, but it really functions more as a home page with links to different but related company websites. Each of these opens a full website that navigates through various pages. Even so, most of the featured pages do fit the criteria for true one-page navigation.

The design of One Page Love is conducive to browsing the featured websites. Like many similar compilation sites, it uses a very minimal design that does not compete with the contents. In this case the black background and white text are highlighted with just a few splashes of hot pink in the logo, footer, and links. These pops of color are used judiciously and therefore add a nice touch without becoming annoying. The website thumbnails are large so it is easy to see the contents of the pages prior to clicking, which is important for navigation; it is easy to bypass those that look uninteresting without the hassle of clicking. One feature that I like, although it is controversial in the web world, is that the links open in new tabs. This saves navigating back to the site, and mimics the manner in which I normally choose to browse anyway. I don't think this is uncommon, and yet I was reading a blog the other day that chastised the practice of forcing a new window--ever. Apparently an even greater sin is using a target= blank attribute to do so, which I noticed this website employs. All the code wars and objections aside (I don't really care if javascript or target= blank makes it work), I think this type of browsing works well.

One last note, I like that this website includes dates next to some of the thumbnails. I'm not certain why all of the submissions are not dated, but the inclusion of at least some dates is essential. For instance, when I see November 15, 2010 listed next to the latest feature I can tell the website is still active. This is important since such sites run a real risk of seeming static.

Check out One Page Love here:
http://onepagelove.com/

Unmatched Style:
This website has much more content than One Page Love since the focus here is on a variety of web sites as well as other resources, interviews, etc. The focus on quality web site designs remains central though (literally), as it occupies the middle column of the page. Organization on this site is key as it helps to avoid information overload. The other categories are neatly defined and contained in logical columns, with headers like news, interviews, and resources. It is immediately obvious that this website is vibrant and active, as evidenced by a news section that contains the  latest highlights (this in turn links to an archive area). Here again, knowing the web site is updated makes it more likely users will return.

The design of this website is clean, with the contents creating all the page decor, so to speak. A few bright red headlines and buttons add interest, but otherwise the slate colored header and footer contrast with a white background. This lack of "design" functions perfectly for this web site, however, because it leaves the contents as the only focus. Adding any other page elements would be distracting given the vast amounts of information presented. It is actually hard to pull off an information-rich yet uncluttered look, and in that regard this site is extremely successful.     

Check it out here:
http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/

CSS Creme: Best web flavors:
This website, like Unmatched Style, showcases a three-column design that allows a lot of information to occupy the home page. This page has more design elements and yet it manages to stay uncluttered as well. The color scheme of light brown and turquoise is pleasing and a little trendy, and it  because it has a minimal amount of texture it is interesting without competing with page contents. The color scheme is carried through by the use of turquoise text in the main white content area.

The navigational structure on this website is an important element in making it user-friendly. The amount of information could be daunting, but it is neatly organized into a series of sub-navigation menus. The resources  menu on the left stays consistent on almost every page, while a new menu specific to a broader category (fonts, tutorials, etc.) opens below it on each section page. This helps to refine the selection within a category so users can easily find only Photoshop tutorials or CSS tutorials, and so forth. An interesting note, you can peruse featured designs by color; clicking a color swatch reveals websites that use a predominate color, such as blue or purple, in the layout. This is a nice feature that I have seen in only a few other places, and is one that could help provide inspiration when you have a color for a web design but don't know what to do with it.

One thing that I don't like about this site is the large gradient-filled rectangle in the center of the header. It is empty of any content and it appears that something didn't load there. If it is intentionally placed it is a bad design choice because it simultaneously non-functional and covers up other header elements like wood grain and paint splotches. And while it is only on element on an otherwise nicely designed page, the prominent placement really makes the entire site look a bit unprofessional.

Check out CSS Creme here:
http://csscreme.com/

Unique CSS:
This web site provides a twist on the "best of" concept by featuring only four websites per month, the best of which is determined by user votes. I like this concept because it involves the web community while still maintaining a high level of design credibility. This is accomplished because judges select the four finalists from a pool of websites that have been submitted by designers. They can ensure that the public, in turn, is only able to select a favorite from four quality designs. This avoids the problem of the public choosing a poorly designed site from an uncurated pool.

What I really like about this web site is the curation aspect. Rather than continue to showcase all the finalists from each month, only the winner's site is featured. This creates a truly curated selection of designs and adds some clout (or bragging rights, as the website points out) to actually winning. Overall the featured websites did indeed live up to the juried mission of Unique CSS. They were different and exciting, embracing a variety of design looks, but all worth perusing. Featured winning web sites extend back to 2008.

As for the design of the Unique CSS website, I like it less than I do their  mission. It's not confusing or cluttered, but it isn't quite clean either. It's easy to navigate, but somehow the design just seems blah. This is a bit counterintuitive, but perhaps stripping away a few elements would actually make it more engaging. The design would have a minimalist identity. Right now it doesn't have any identity, since it is neither playful or purposely stripped down. It is simply there, without adding too much clutter but with a few too many elements to be considered purposefully pared down. First, the winner stamp needs to go--it's cheesy. Second, the alternating white and gray boxes that separate list elements on the home page could be eliminated. Yes the alternation differentiates the items, but they are short enough on their own that it isn't necessary. The boxes also look like elements in a bad Word table or Excel spreadsheet. I also dislike the white header. It is not handled in a purposeful manner so it looks a little unfinished. Perhaps a white-on-white texture would help there with adding the element of color.

The bottom line is that the intent of Unique CSS is great. The web site contains beautiful web design examples and some good information. The design, however, interferes with the enjoyment of the contents.  

Check out Unique CSS here:
http://uniquecss.com/home

Cool Home Pages:
Interestingly, this website has an awful home page. The predominant colors are blue, orange, and white, and the overall design looks something like the old Reverse Phonebook website. Seriously. My point is that this design is generic in a way that screams basic template instead of sophisticated minimalism. Amazingly, there is a design academy section on Cool Home Pages that discusses the use of minimal color palettes. It reads:

"Websites like www.Apple.com, www.EddieBauer.com have used limited color space and yet look sharp, even Cool Home Pages mainly uses 2 colors, Orange and Blue."

While I agree with the sentiment, I think holding up this page as an example of appropriate color use is egregious. It is simply unsophisticated and, quite frankly, takes away from the contents of the site.

The recommended websites are pretty good, depending on the section. Clicking on "very clean" yields nice choices, as does the "low-bandwith" category. Even so, I have seen more questionable choices here than on other similar web sites. For instance, the "fun" category has some nice choices, but also a lot of garbage. I have seen better interactive and quirky sites featured elsewhere. Sure, this somewhat subjective, but really good sites tend to adhere to some basic design principles that quite a few of these designs lack. There are some duplicate postings in the same categories as well, which occasionally wind up next to one another (see screen bites in "fun").

This site does feature some good content, but not really the best stuff out there. It is worth a look, but ultimately other similar sites are just better, easier to look at resources.

Checkout Cool Home Pages here:
http://www.coolhomepages.com/   

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