"The Age" Review - Online Newspaper

Funny, that "the Age" recently re-designed their website, but it somehow looks dated. Yes, there is a newspaper-like feel about it, but a newspaper-like format doesn't necessarily work for the screen. Then again, I do have issues with the physical version of the newspaper too. The format was never to easy to read. The pages are very large and hard to turn.

However, you will never have those sort of problems with online version. Firstly, I would have preferred a cleaner looking grid for the layout because the nature of the newspaper is that is contains a wealth of information and a good grid design, I think, is essential for organizing large amounts of information in a neat and economical way.

I dislike how the main headlines are centrally aligned. The type seems too small for the information that is considered of primary importance. I would have preferred the headlines to be bigger and placed in a column along the left hand side, instead there is a large image there that, I feel overpowers the headlines. The other thing I do not like is how underneath that image there is a set of image thumbnails set in a row. They look nice, but you would normally find them somewhere near the footer, however, in this case, the thumbnails are placed at about one third into the page. Psychologically, if you happen to just see the top part of the site, the placement of the thumbnails may prevent the user from scrolling down to see the rest of the page. As for the rest of the site, you will find all the conventional features of a newspaper website such as: the weather, the search bar, the navigation bar, various banners with links to articles (both local and external). Frankly, the amount of information on the page is a bit overwhelming. I also think think the visual design is very boring.

I believe 'the Age' is already overdue for a re-design.

Film Promotional Website: The Social Network

Now here is an interesting website promoting the new movie "The Social Network".

The movie is about the creator and the creation of "facebook", the ever-popular internet social network.

The index page shows us the poster art and the site features layout is similar in style to some of the facebook applications. Before entering the site we are given the option of selecting our country and look for movie session times. Also there is a link to a trailer and the movie blog powered by Tumblr.

When we click on the 'enter site' button, were in for a treat, we are navigated to a very slick mosaic-like interface where you rollover on various images, and panels slide out from under them that contain film-related information. Most images function as a menu item/category.

There is also a more traditional navigation bar offered to users at the top of the page.

Aesthetically, the design is very pleasing to the eye. The images are mostly images of different people, which stylistically conveys the 'the social network' theme. This is very appropriate, as the movie is as much about the power of networking as it is about the social network site that is 'facebook'. The thumbnail images are initially dimmed and then are highlighted when you roll over them with the mouse. A very elegant effect, which is quite popular on the web these days.

Overall, the site is very user friendly and aesthetically pleasing. I find the design to be simple, uncluttered, elegant, and unconventional. Normally, promotional sites risk having to much content and have very messy site structures because of it. To find this fine example was very refreshing.

Online Store: Amazon

Many people choose to buy on Amazon.com (including myself). And what's not to like? The website has a very useful interface, which contains many useful features to enhance a customer's shopping experience.

On entering the site however, I can't help but notice that the layout is a little too busy. There are a lot of images and several menus, and it will take a good few minutes to figure out where to go next.

The search bar, however, is very prominently placed in the header, and as long as there is a search bar, it will hopefully navigate you to the link with the info that you wish to search.

Also on the page is a 'cart' button where a customer can purchase and check-out and a 'wishlist' button where a customer can compose a list of items they wish to obtain someday.

On the left hand side, there is a list menu with different departments in which you can shop. A similar list can be found as a drop-down option pick menu next to the search bar. The rest of the page is filled with images of various products currently on sale, but because amazon.com is the American branch of the store, items other than books, CDs and DVDs cannot be shipped to Australia, which is disappointing. And there is not Australian branch, despite Amazon having other branches around the world like the United Kingdom and Japan.

Ok back to the layout, despite the slightly clunky interface, the site architecture is rather straightforward. You search in the 'search bar' it then takes you to a list of items with the relevant search result and from it the user picks the desired product.

The product outline. Is a very useful page, as it offers the customer lots of information about the product. The first way we can judge the product is by its user rating based on a 5-star key.

There are the product details such as the ISBN of the book, the editorial review as well as Amazon's suggestions of better value deals and related product recommendations. A feature on the page that I find very useful is the list of customer reviews. Reading several of those helps me formulate an opinion on what the product may be like in real life. On some product outlines, there is an option to flick through some sample pages of a book. Sometimes the customers even post youtube videos of them showing the different pages inside the book.

Overall I am very impressed with the functionality of the online store. Having shopped there before, I have to say that their service is very good too. I do wish there was an Amazon.com.au so that it be possible to purchase more types of items.

MK12 - Review: Multimedia Studio

Today I am going to review the website of one of my favorite multimedia studios, MK12 (http://www.mk12.com/). They are famous for their visually savvy and highly experimental motion design pieces. Of late, they have been creating various film titles, for films such as: "Stranger than Fiction" and the "James Bond" franchise.

To my surprise, for a studio who's work is so outstanding, I found their website to be quite mediocre. For starters, the index page is not showing up properly, as part of the type beneath the logo disappears off the edge of the site frame on the right and the rest of it re-emerges on the other side on the left. When you click the logo to enter, the index page shows up as normal. This does not make a good first impression.

Whilst in the case of my first review of the IKON gallery, the use of white space was very well done, the use of it in MK12's website is overused. The composition is very basic, with the site being placed inside a white rectangle frame centred against a sea of white, background. While I like minimalist style, this somehow feels too minimal, to the point that it almost feels incomplete. True, the site does use some color, but it doesn't really save it from its pitfalls.

The navigation is placed on a blue bar that runs across the full length of the rectangle.

When I click on the first button called "info", a red bar slides out with the following sentence: "MK12 is a full-service lateral hyperthreaded tactical design and research bureau." Sounds like they were trying to be humorous and witty, which is never a good thing to do because you either are or not. Meanwhile, it at this point it is still unclear what the company does. It is only the "design" part in the sentence that gives me a vague clue as well as the "reel" section in the menu, which indicates that we should be able to navigate to a video show case. I click on it, and, oh man, a pop-up box! How I dislike those. It automatically starts to play the showreel.

The next section is the "work" section which is not easy to navigate. It has too many sub-sections and it is easy to be confused. It showcases the studio's best work over the years and I like how it's presented in the form of thumbnail pictures that you're able to click on. However, if the work you're trying to view is another video, be prepared to see another pop-up window!!

Next in the menu is the 'news' section which I thought was strange placement in the navigation bar, since conventionally I would have expected the 'news' section to be either somewhere close to the 'info' section or on the home page. Same goes for the 'clients' list which is the last section after the 'shop'. I would have preferred it to be closer to the news and info sections because it logical to put them there, since it would create a better understanding of the studio and its identity. The 'shop' seems more like a 'just for fun' section and feels rather pointless and annoying. It has a set of links indicating the different categories and all of them redirect you to one site being their official online store.

Overall a very disappointing experience. The website is badly designed both technically and aesthetically and it doesn't serve its primary purpose which is to promote and showcase the studio in the best possible light. The site was hard to navigate, was vague, some sections took a while to load and importantly, the infamous MK12 brilliance was notably absent from their website's design. It was absolutely lacking an identity.

It is a shame when a studio of MK12's calibre cannot promote themselves properly.

Ikon Gallery - Review: Website of Choice

I will begin this blog by analyzing the IKON Gallery website http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk. I stumbled across this gem of an index page whilst out-and-about, searching the world wide web. But I soon learned that beauty is only skin deep and that you shouldn't judge a website by its index page!

However, since the index page is the cover of our site, I will begin by complementing the good aspects of it.

The aesthetic presentation, in my opinion, is impeccable. The structure of the layout follows a tight grid system, which, in turn, creates a sense of balance and order. No element seems out of place and all are carefully aligned with each other. The composition draws our eye to the middle where a cross-fade slideshow of images plays. The website clearly serves its purpose. It promotes the gallery and presents viewers with a taste of the contemporary art that it is known for.

In one word, the overall feel of the website is - stylish. And if I were to add another - minimalist.

The effect is very subtle, in that its color palette is very restricted in just using different shades of grey and black. Thus, it is the clever use of white space that becomes pivotal in how we interpret the final design.

The navigation (or the menu) is also presented in a very subtle way. It is situated below the gallery logo at the top of the page as a horizontal list typed in a small font. It is interesting that because its small it does not compete with the slideshow below and yet it is still prominent, since the logo draws our attention to it. There is another menu in the footer area with information that is not directly related to the gallery.

Overall, a very visually pleasing design, if we don't dig deeper that is. I clicked on the first link labeled "Programme" and was disappointed to see that nice, clean design that I love so much is not followed through the whole site. This page, though still using the same color scheme and fonts, suddenly feels heavy and cluttered. The once humble and subtle navigation, had acquired a second row of menus, and now is very messy. The main content is presented in long and chunky rows of timelines, outlining the many events of the gallery. The timelines are not simple to understand and seem very repetitive and boring. The elegance is gone and the page looks like a page from a different website. There are other sections in the site that go back to normal but the design is very uneven. I wish the design was more uniform throughout the site.