Week 3A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

I chose my four websites in no particular order. The first website I looked at was Gates N Fences. My word, let's talk about the amount of text on the homepage. When the page first loaded my jaw literally dropped at how wordy it is. The menu to the left of the page also has a lot going on. The viewer has to know what type of fence they want to navigate to the correct page from the menu. If the viewer doesn't know what they want then they'll have to click through the different pages to find what they are looking for. Another issue with this website is the images on the individual pages. When the viewer hovers over the image text appears, but it is hard to read on top of the images. The images also look as if they were taken on a cell phone and not a professional camera. That being said, this website does not come across as professionally done. To fix these issues, the developer could lessen the text and make it bigger. A simple design can go a long way. Better quality images would also help this website a lot because they would catch the readers' eyes. 

The second website I chose was the Calfornia Center for the Arts, Escondido. While this website is better designed than the previous one, it still isn't great. The header image has low quality making it blurry. One of my main issues with the website is the font size. It is large and therefore makes the main page seem messy. To fix this, the designer could just make the text smaller and allow some white space. The navigation bar at the top does not drop down, instead,  once the viewer clicks on it, they are then directed to a part of the page with the menu. It would be easier to just have the menu drop down for better user experience. This website is more professionally done than the last one, but it still does not have the pizazz of a professional site. It seems like they have used a template, which isn't bad, but they have not done a lot to customize their site. Also having been to the Center for the Arts, I feel like their website is not representative of their business. 

HeadHunter Hair Styling has a good website. They have a fairly simple design. The designer did a good job of keeping the logo in the left corner and the navigation bar at the top. No matter the page the user is on, the navigation is easy to sift through. The user knows exactly what the business is and prices are listed as an estimate. They also include examples of their work. They do a really good job of giving the viewers information right up front and answering basic questions like what the business is, how much services are, who are the stylists are, etc. This website comes across as professionally done because of how simple it is designed. Their website makes me want to be a client of theirs because it is bright and upbeat. The website also makes the business feel like it is much bigger than it is. The website also leaves the closing information in the footer on every page. 

The final website I looked at was the National Park Service. This website is very clear in what it is, the user goes to this website for information on national parks and that is exactly what the viewer gets. The simplicity in the design makes the website pleasing to look at. The navigation is simple as well. Because this is a government website, it is professionally done, but it looks that way as well. The typography is easy to read since it is a sans serif font and the proximity between the elements is clear to the viewer on what is grouped together. I also like how they have different navigation menus. The viewer can navigate across the different states to find a specific park and they can also navigate across the website through the main navigation bar at the top of the page. The website is bright and makes viewers want to visit different parks across the country.