Dan Olsavsky's Blog

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

New Inspiration

There are many similar modern design characteristics among the sites in which I am reviewing this month. I will try to identify what they all are in my critiques.

http://www.caferouge.co.uk/

pros:
  • beautiful textures
  • nice layering techniques, it adds a lot of dimension
  • rich colors invoke emotions
  • well themed, this helps sell the brand
  • simple navigation
  • 2 tone background with a pattern
  • the graphics are very well done (i like locations.php, it's engaging)
  • nice dropdown concept, this helps me find my way
cons:
  • takes too long to load pages
http://www.stonebriar.org/

pros:
  • index tab at top both looks good and functions well, I can find whatever I want with out scrolling at all.
  • great layering techniques, it adds a lot of dimension
  • simple navigation
  • 2 tone background with a pattern
  • Flash banner in combination with the color palette invokes emotions
cons:
  • the rounded element (containing the service times) seems a bit out of place or perhaps just not consistent with the feel of the rest of the site... i believe this to be because it is rounded
  • i feel the same way about the "this week..." graphic at the bottom of the page on the blue bar. I would loose the rounded part.
  • i would also re-shape the background elements in the right hand column...I guess I am really not digging the curves, especially because they are curving in different directions than the other curved elements on the site. It's never a good idea to mix and match horizontal and vertical ANYTHING...unless it's a pattern. I often see this same mistake when using gradients.

posted by dano at 8:33 AM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

© Dan Olsavsky | 2004-2009. This site is optimized for viewing in Mozilla's Firefox. Some features may not appear in other internet browsers. Please note that I do not develop the content for the websites featured in my portfolio. I do however, work with some phenomenal writers that can get the job done. The Search Engine Optimization on most of the sites was done by a highly-skilled professional at Page 1 Solutions, LLC. Some of the websites have been edited aesthetically by other Website Design Professionals but I keep the Lightbox images original, because I like to keep it real. I am employed full-time, however... you too can retain my services at a very reasonable rate! A huge shout out to everybody who has helped me along the way and who continue to support me. You know who you are.. Click here to view the Sitemap or click here to Contact me.