Minor Project 2: Student Website Critique

I chose Alison Ambrosi's website to critique from the websites about Quinnipiac's alternative spring break trip

1. Describe the "look and feel" that governs the web page/web site.

The design of the site is relatively simple, for the most part, the information is logically distributed among the various pages, which are all easily found with the above navigation. Each page consists of a main photo element followed by the main text content of the respective page. There is also a side bar on each page which provides additional images and bits of information. I feel like the site's heavily reliance on images goes a long way to express to the visitors what the trip was like, and it gives future students who go on this trip an idea of what to expect.

2. Comment about how the use of the formal elements of design support (or do not) this "look and feel" as it applies to: color-contrast and harmony; selection of images; the color key of those images; color for information architecture; type family choice and type setting; use of white space (negative or empty space), spacing in general and the use of graphic elements such as rules etc.

The site generally makes good use of the space it is given. The two main colors(pale yellow and blue) of the color scheme are not the colors I would chose, but they work. The third color should be rethought. The darker yellow does not go very well with the pale yellow. The darker yellow is actually the theme of the "About" page and when you compare it to the green, red or bright yellow-orange of the other pages it is evident that it is a weak color choice. The dark yellow is also used in the navigation.

3. Comment about the layout of all the web pages of the entire site. Does the design of the basic page architecture (header, body, footer and other elements) create a over all unified design?

The pages of the site have some elements that are inconsistent. All of the pages have the information contained within neat white boxes and colored banners which colors follows the theme of the page. The "About" page has its first grouping of information without a white background or colored banner, which looks out of place when all of the other content on the site follows a different format.
It is also bothersome that there is no clearly marked link to go back to the home/splash page.
This is especially troublesome because there is a page that can only be navigated to from the home page. I feel like both of these pages deserve a spot in the main navigation; they could take the places of the "ASI" and "Blog" links because these links belong in an "additional information" section, plus they are a little confusing because they take you to 3rd party sites.

4. Comment about the following if it applies: visual hierarchy of elements and of type and how it promotes readability.

With the exception of the "About" page, every page follows a logical visual hierarchy that makes use of both text and color. These pages all have a main colored banner which states what the subject of the page is. Sub categories use similar banners, but they are smaller and use different text. This system allows people to quickly understand how the information is laid out on the page within the first second of of viewing.

5. Does the web page work? Is it successful? Why or why not?

The site undoubtedly has its flaws but it contains elements of a successful site. It has a simple navigation system and it is very informative with logically placed photos and text.