1) What kind/type of website is it (commercial, fan site, informative, helpdesk, forum for art and culture or music etc).
This website showcases the work of a design company called Segura. This website is commercial. The site says that Segura provides ‘Graphic design, print advertising, logos, catalogs, annual reports, brochures, corporate identities, posters and new media’ as well as other things.
http://www.segura-inc.com/about
This links to who is the website for, who is it directed at? Who might be using it.
This website is directed at any individual/person in business or any companies/community groups who have a product or service that they need some design for.
Students could use this website for research purposes, like myself.
You then need to evaluate it in terms of its function and user group – what will they think of it?
What are the visual aesthetics of the content of the website? What is the immediate ‘feel’ of it? A PMI might help
Plus – If you like ‘exploring’ a website I assume you would really like this one. It is colourful and there is a lot to see.
Minus – The feeling of not knowing where to click first on this site is paralysing. There is so much going on, it’s totally overwhelming. I can’t see what the sections are.
http://www.segura-inc.com/
I can see they have used a grid. The grid isn’t helping me at this first stage to understand what it all is.
Interesting – I am interested to know why someone would design their homepage like this. I am interested to know what the different sections are.
ask WHY it has been designed like this and HOW does it communicate.
Page size/length. Are these beneficial to the site or do they make it difficult?
I didn’t find any problem with the page size and length. If I have two windows open at the same time the site takes up two-thirds of my monitor which is a bit annoying.
How are images used? PMI but be specific about effectiveness and purpose
Plus – I like that they used images on their news page. Makes it look interesting and eye-catching.
http://www.segura-inc.com/news
Interesting – It was interesting that small images were used in the first column. I don’t remember seeing this before.
http://www.segura-inc.com/portfolio/categories/8/custom_font
I was really surprised to see these satellite/bird’s-eye style pictures to show where they are located.
http://www.segura-inc.com/about
Minus – I suppose one could criticise the pages for having too many images. The images on the left are there permanently wherever you click. Some people may find them distracting. I don’t really see the point of having the images permanently on the right. I find it distracting and it detracts from the impact of the final designs.
How is typography used? PMI being specific about:
- Tone of voice of the type
- Choice of typefaces – are they effective for screen use?
- Bulk or lack of type – is it too much, too blocky, too small etc. Say HOW/WHY it works or does not work
Plus – The tone of voice is friendly and confident. It is probably a good thing that this site uses only Tahoma in sizes 8.5, 9 and 10.5 as there is already a lot going on. This site doesn’t need a lot of different typefaces. There isn’t too much type which is good.
Minus – The type is quite small which some people may find a problem. I haven’t had a problem.
Interesting – I can’t think of anything interesting about the use of type on this website.
Back ground colours and textures? Effective or distracting? How and Why.
The background colours are white and grey. The grey has a faint pattern. I don’t find it distracting.
Does it have gimmicks, animations etc? How and why are they effective or not?
This site didn’t have any gimmicks that I could find.
Is the unity of the website spoiled (or aided) by commercial banners and so on?
There are no commercial banners or adverts which is nice so I’m not distracted.
Navigation – is it easy and straightforward or difficult and frustrating? Describe HOW and WHY this is so. Be specific as this is very important.
There is no problem with the navigation. Once I realised that there is a little menu that shows me the different sections, it was easy to use.
How do design elements such as link buttons help the navigation?
I was a bit disappointed that there was only this one image to look at for the client Cultura. One useful option this site has is the option to click on the name of the client to see what other designs Segura made for them.
http://www.segura-inc.com/portfolio/44/logo
So I can see that altogether, two sets of design have been made for them. I clicked on the second set.
http://www.segura-inc.com/portfolio/clients/29/cultura
I was happy to see that there were more images to look at in the second set. I zoomed out to 50% here so some of the pictures can be seen.
http://www.segura-inc.com/portfolio/194/stationary
Add any other points or comments not addressed directly by these questions.
I think whoever designed this site thought it was really important to show everything on the home page. I think this is a mistake because it’s so overwhelming. I don’t see the point in having all these different sections squashed on to the page at the same time. I can’t imagine why they thought this was a good idea.
http://www.segura-inc.com/
The other thing that happens when you use a layout/grid like this is that the columns end up being different lengths. By refusing to break out of a grid they have ended up with long lists like this which seem a bit stupid. So much space is being wasted.
http://www.segura-inc.com/portfolio/250/packaging
