Posted by sean in Creative on June 2nd, 2009
With the advent of faster processing and higher internet bandwidth, web designers are able to capitalize on such advantages to create websites with interesting and complicated animation and functions that weren’t possible a couple of years back. Java-heavy scripts and Flash interfaces are frequently found on all kinds of websites in order to pique visitor interest in the website. That said, these elements can often be superfluous. They can distract users from the original purpose of their visit, which is obviously not a good thing.
Designers tend to succumb to the temptation of overuse of such implementation technologies, just because they can or it looks special and cool. Sure, it is ok to create websites like that, but in the process, many often lose focus of the objective of the website in their rush and obsession to pimp their Java script.
Minimalism in web design is the current craze today. While it is not exactly a new concept in the area of design in general, it has taken the Internet world by storm. The core principle that governs this concept would simply be:
Minimalism = Less Clutter = Less Distractions = More time focusing on what is important
http://www.problogdesign.com/blog-usability/minimalism-is-just-designer-speak-for-laziness/
However, it is not entirely uncommon to find designers who are just simply being ‘lazy’, cobbling together a simple website and declaring it ‘minimalist’. Such websites are a dime a dozen all over the Internet. Yet, it is impossible to define what minimalism is and what is not. In the end, web designers have to remember that a minimalist website would have to be simple, yet be able to achieve the objectives of the website. It has to be functional yet aesthetically pleasing in a simple, unobtrusive manner, intuitive, elegant and user friendly. Less would then be more.
Here are 40 examples of some of the web’s outstanding minimalist designs.
http://sixrevisions.com/design-showcase-inspiration/40-beautiful-examples-of-minimalism-in-web-design/
sean |
Creative |
Posted by Keith Tan in Creative on October 3rd, 2008
Mashable’s one of my favourite blogs and like Facebook, they’ve recently had a facelift. Besides having a lot more “white†space and switching from a 3 to 2 column layout, they’ve introduced a pretty nifty way of navigation at the top of their pages.
The ribbon displays news articles with thumbnails and titles horizontally. Articles are grouped in tabs, based on either popularity or selected categories. A neat feature is the ability for users to hide the ribbon as well. I personally found this form of navigation quite useful and effective. Of course, too much AJAX on a webpage can sometimes be an overkill, but in this instance, I think it works for them. What do you think?
Keith Tan |
Creative |
Posted by Keith Tan in Creative on September 23rd, 2008
While doing some research for a client project, I recently visited the National Geographic website. I had come across it some time back when I read some news about it being revamped, but never had the opportunity to really take a look at it.
Nat Geo is probably one of the world’s largest creators and publishers of nature-related content. Covering a spectrum of topics from prehistoric creatures to the construction of modern wonders of the world, and having its own channels and magazines, they must have accumulated a wealth of information throughout these years. Coupled that with having to deal with a wide range of visitor profiles (preschoolers, educators, researchers, coach potatoes, just to name a few), revamping the website must have been one helluva mammoth task. And just to add to that, Nat Geo is one of my favourite cable channels too 
Well. I just thought I’d share 3 nice features that I like about the site.
Design Consistency
Despite having probably 1000s of webpages and multiple subject matter microsites, they have managed to achieve consistency of webpage layout and design throughout all of them. From the main homepage to the Green Guide microsite, you develop a sense of comfort as you journey through the pages. Gradually, you build familiarity with the website and navigation becomes a breeze. The web designers have also allowed the “personality†of each section to permeate subtlety. Notice the background design that appears before it loads. Very nice touch indeed!
The National Geographic website homepage
The Green Guide website homepage
Personalized background design for each microsite or section
Neat little navigation/search tools
In the “Animals†section, there is a nifty search tool on the right of the page. It allows visitors to find animals in an alphabetical order, or by providing keywords in the search bar. Like all good search tools these days, it displays matching results as you type in your keywords. Move your mouse over each name and a little thumbnail of the animal appears. Now, that is what I call a great use of real estate that promotes great surfing efficiency!
Nifty search tool tucked in the top corner
Search list of animals alphabetically
Search by keyword. Thumbnail of animal appears upon mouseover!
Sample views for E-newsletters
Despite the popularity of content syndication tools such as RSS and widgets, e-newsletters are still pretty much part of any organization’s e-marketing arsenal. As a website, you want your visitors to subscribe to your newsletters. Not only does it provide a means of site updated, its can also be a source of revenue by sticking  banner ads in them. However, we’ve all gone through the process of signing up for enewsletters that we found had little value later on. Some of us take the time to unsubscribe, while others (like me) choose to delete on first sight or block them subsequently. In other words, people are getting jaded from such subscriptions.
Nat Geo has added a small, but smart touch to its signup forms. It provides users to view a sample of their past e-newsletters. This way, users get to see upfront what they will be receiving in their mailboxes, and can make an informed decision on whether they wanna subscribe to it. It would be interesting to find out the impact of introducing such links, such as how it affects the subscription, open and clickthrough rates. (As I write this article, I noticed that Cnet.com has also implemented something similar however Discovery Channel has not.)
View sample of the enewsletter before subscribing
Keith Tan |
Creative |
Posted by Keith Tan in Creative on August 5th, 2008
While doing some research on some of the latest web design workflow processes, I came across some pretty good articles. Here’s one by Phil Brisk on how designers can be sucked into getting really anal about the ‘details’ (I can already picture some of us nodding in agreement!), when they should be focusing on creating designs which are usable for the intended audience.
For those interested in web design workflow processes, Jeremiah Owyang has compiled a pretty comprehensive list.
Keith Tan |
Creative |
Posted by Keith Tan in Creative, Web 2.0 on June 24th, 2008
As an interactive agency, we’re fortunate to be in the business during a time when the Internet is aggressively stamping its authority as the most pervasive form of media ever.
The Internet is a great field leveler, enabling smaller agencies like ours to compete with the big boys with larger teams and fancier coffee machines.
Websites such as iStockphoto and to a lesser extent, Template Monster (yikes! did I say that?) have revolutionized the way the industry works. These sites sell digital media files such as website templates, icons, photos, illustrations, videos and flash animations at low prices, enabling our designers to whip up visualizations and mockups quickly and effectively.
Want an image of a sunny beach resort? Or even a 1960s retro Caribbean-styled illustration of a tropical palm tree? You can almost swear by your grandmother’s grave that you’ll find it on one of these sites.
iStockphoto is one of the pioneers of microstock photography. They became a significant enough player to be bought out by industry giants Getty in 2006. Beyond offering low cost access to their stockpile (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!), they successfully built a large and active community of independent contributors. This enabled them to provide an unrivalled range of files for sale, at a very good refresh rate. From just photos, they now offer almost all types of digital media files. In May this year, they announced that a new stock audio service would be available in September 2008.
With the ease of browsing and shopping online, coupled with access to an amazing range of design work from designers all over the world, we may be witnessing yet another paradigm shift in the creative industry.
Keith Tan |
Creative, Web 2.0 |
