Quality Sites
1 - Toyota.com
The Toyota website is quite well put together. It is clean, clear and uses predominately white to make any colors stand out strongly. The navigation is clear and the information is aligned in the center of the page. The Toyota logo sits at the top of every page.
2 - Oh apple.com and your beautiful things.
I love all things apple for the clean, simple lines and expression. This website is no different. Similar to the Toyota site it is mostly white, with splashes of color concentrating our attention. I like that there is no more information to scroll to on the splash page.
Problem Sites
1 - http://www.richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp
Problems: Oddly enough the rich soil splash page itself is well set up. However, this specific section of the site is very difficult to follow. The content seems random, though I can see how the author was attempting to express a very clear and well organized point. This makes it very challenging for the reader to continue. I would be tempted to find another website with more simple, straightforward information. In fact, the content is so poorly organized that I can't quite tell what I'm reading. Additionally, this page doesn't appear to have any relation to the main website - no logo or identifier.
2 - gforceracecars.com
First of all, typing that website address in is actually somewhat difficult! I think it could use an underscore or dash or two. The red, white and black color scheme is very jarring. This coupled with a video makes many areas of the page compete for my attention. I don't know where to look first. As you scroll down the page (something I hate) the alignment of the font seems to shift due to the photographs. I also am not enjoying this. Overall the page is unpleasant. The same colors could be used in a completely different balance to have a pleasing effect.
I also didn't really like the racing site, but I didn't think about the influence of the color palette. I think you're right that it's a little too stark, maybe over-dramatic. It comes off as kind of out-dated. I also didn't think about the URL like you did! Probably because I just cut and pasted. I think it would be better if it was shorter. However, I wonder if just gforce was taken or something else easy and quick.
ReplyDeleteHaha yes the URL for the racing site is totally confusing.. great observation. I had the same thoughts about the apple and toyota websites being really well designed. I also chose to write about the richsoil website because it really did have too many problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree - the Racing website needs a makeover. I guess these guys just see red when they are racing and when they are making their website.
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Check this site: http://www.active-domain.com/resources/million-dollar-domains.htm