Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Form and Content 1: http://melissahie.com/

 
     
I began my search at the website http://vandelaydesign.com /blog/ design/unique-website-layouts/ looking for some unique website designs.  It took me to http://melissahie.com/.  This website demonstrates a unique way of showing a portfolio and of navigating throughout sites.  

Melissa Hie is a web and graphic designer who wanted to create a site to show what she has done (her portfolio) and how to contact her if you want her design expertise.  Her website is unique in the way that you navigate through the site by sliding from page to page.  Each page on her site has a button with three-quarters of a circle and an arrow.  If you click on the button the next page slides into view.  This way it is not endless links in bars, instead you are guided through the website page by page, more like a book.  Her design leads the viewer to become more engaged in the site and read through all the information presented.  This site is very simple, to the point, and informative yet unique and pleasing.  To have both function and design is what graphic design is all about.  

Not only does the navigation work so well but other simple design elements like the typography, the hierarchy, and the color scheme are also strong.  The typography throughout the whole website is very simple and consistent.  Because the design was strong, she did not need to use complex font.  The goal of the website is to inform, so complex font would be distracting to those who just simply want to hire a good web designer.  The hierarchy also is a strong element.  Each page has a clear cut title, subhead, and/or body copy.  There is no competition between these layers of focus.  I also liked her color scheme.  She was able to use bright colors like purple, lime, pink, and turquoise but its not too bright or random.  I think by having the pages slide from one page to the other it ties the colors together and make the pages have unity.



1 comment:

  1. gorgeous website design and layout...made me a bit dizzy though with ALL the bouncing...i was looking for a more in-depth design analysis here...what about the graphics, textures, patterns she used? Why did she choose those colors? How she called out aspects in her copy? etc. You touched on them, but did not discuss why?

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