Web Journal #14 - NFL Team

Denver Broncos.com

My family and I hope to one day move to Colorado so although I've always been a Cowboys fan I guess I should become familiar with the Broncos too.

The site is CSS with a few embedded tables and a good amount of Flash interactivity. The main nav along the left-hand side expands to show sub-nav elements when selected. A "breadcrumb" is also displayed across the top of the page to facilitate easy backward navigation.

There's also a clever game schedule feature just below the page banner which displays upcoming game opponents, times, etc. (All database driven Flash, of course.)

Nice site, nothing to complain about, very easy to navigate and keep someone occupied for a while... nice blog implementation as well.

Web Journal #13 - Hotel

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts

While in college (the first time-back in the 80's) I worked for Sheraton-Dallas. It was a very nice hotel, at least the parts that guests saw, so I thought it would be nice to see what their website looked like as I'm unlikely to ever stay at one of my own volition ($$$$).

A big interactive flash movie with CSS positioned over the top of it--what more can I say. Very few tables. The layout is sweet. The master navigation stays at the top no matter where the site takes you. Reservations, Special Offers, Vacation Ideas, and Preferred Guest options fulfill nearly every need a future guest may have. Even the color is inviting.

It's easy to get around and even easier to reserve a room.

Now I only wish I could afford to make that reservation...

Web Journal #12 - Restaruant

Chili's Grill & Bar

Yeah, I know... why not choose something a little more off the beaten path? Well do you know how few truly good restaurants have their own website?

Chili's is your standard corporate table-based website. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of CSS in there too, but the layout is definitely TABLES and lots of them!

The look and feel is fun, but simple. The navigation is across the top and each page keeps the same energy level. Finding a store is easy, just the basics, even a menu of what's offered at your nearest Chili's.

Flash is used for animated ads and such (for cross-selling).

Nothing really ground-breaking here, just simple and effective. Also nothing to really dislike.

Web Journal #11: Travel Booking

Hotwire.com

css, simple layout, easy to navigate, easy to find deals on major types of travel and lodging; air, hotels, cars, cruises. a tabbed main nav remains consistent throughout the site, but isn't the only route to the main pages. the home page has an easy-t0-use application for starting your search.

like that the site "remembers" your initial trip information and self-populates the data on subsequent pages. lots of good information... looks like they thought of everything!

dislike that the tabbed menu requires you to select the actual text to activate the link... it should activate when you click anywhere on the tab.

Web Journal #10: Art Museum

Riverside Art Museum


Located in Riverside California, the Riverside Art Museum hosts all the usual suspects... and the website does likewise. A simple layout with main navigation across the top, the CSS is as basic as it gets. Subtle sub-nav, lots of pictures, and just enough text surrounded by lots of whitespace.

The only thing I don't like about this site is that the Blog page takes us out of the normal flow of things.

If only my K9 site could be this nice....

New CSS Learning Resource

I heard about this today while working on a project... http://www.w3schools.com. It looks OK, I'll have to check it out when I have more time.

Web Journal #9: Gossip

TMZ.com

Celebrity Gossip at its best...TMZ.com is a simple CSS three-column layout with a header and footer.
The left column is an incredibly long list of links, while the center column contains a variety of "top stories" with accompanying photos and movies. The right column is a combination of alternating advertisements and feature links.

I think this layout works well for the content. A lot like a newspaper, the columns serve to break up the content into more digestible chunks.

However, the long list of links in the left column should be organized differently. It just seems too long to be manageable. Or maybe it works because users can always scroll to their favorite link because its not buried in menu somewhere...

Web Journal #8: Real Estate

Reality By Monica

Reality by Monica is a local Re/Max realtor site that looks to be template based. Initially it looks pretty nicely laid out with plenty of white space, a head-shot of Monica, lots of pictures and a sidebar main navigation. But, if you dare to scroll down... beware...

The first page is 3270 pixels long. Lots of text that no one will ever read--it basically describes all of the features that the navigation will take you to. It also describes what to look for in a Realtor and why you should choose Monica.

Overall, I liked the first impression of the site, but didn't like all the text that followed. The navigation keeps you on the main site, but occasionally takes you to a new site (fortunately it opens in a new window).

Web Journal #7: Auto Manufacturer

Myers Motors

Myers Motors sells a clever little electric vehicle called the NmG (No More Gas). The website is simple, easy to navigate, and well laid out. It features a top navigation bar that remains consistent throughout the site, an embedded flash video, FAQs, purchase information, contacts, and even a parts store.

The site is colorful with lots of images of the vehicle in a variety of situations and answers just about any question someone could have about the vehicle, except how much head/leg room it offers.

The site uses minimal CSS, mostly for text styles, not for structure which is table based.

There is also a Photo Gallery which, unfortunately, opens it's larger images on a new page rather than in a smaller window or gallery app. This is a bit awkward.

Another "feature" which I didn't like is the 2 minute flash video that plays everytime the home page is loaded. A controller would be a good addition since the video is nice once, but annoying the second time, third time, ad nauseum...

Web Journal #6: Movie

Mr. Woodcock

From the makers of "The Wedding Crashers" comes "Mr. Woodcock", a new movie about overcoming one's past.

 

The website for this movie is flash based and full of one-liners from the movie, several interactive animations, movie trailer, story summary, cast bios, downloads, and a rather odd midget wrestling "game".

Navigation is aligned with a classroom ruler across the center of the page. Since the navigation is bisected by a huge graphic of the main characters, its almost awkward to use at first, but as soon as an item is selected the "ruler-nav" flies to the bottom of the page where it stays until home is selected. A welcome feature is a search box at the top of the page for finding where the movie is playing via zip code (the results open in a separate window).

Layout consists of apparent scenes from the film cut out and composited with graphics depicting childhood memories in thought bubbles.

The only downside I found to the site is the same problem with most flash-based sites... slow download speed on anything but a DSL or better connection and no apparent dial-up option.

Web Journal #5: Military

U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard site uses a simple three column CSS design but its not very well organized and a user can become quickly lost.

The homepage starts out fine-- open layout with plenty of whitespace, a simple navbar across the top and subnav along the righthand column-- but as soon as a you select a tab in the main menu, you're taken to a completely different site. If you select NEWS it will open a new page and the navbar changes. It's like they've taken several totally separate sites and dumped them into one "news" page, but not bothered to tell anyone that's what they've done.

Web Journal #4: National News

CNN.com

CNN's use of an "all-american" color palette of red, white and blue", lots of "white space", and a straight-forward navigation make this site easy on the eyes and pretty easy to get around. The main navigation is at the top and stays mostly consistant across all links (except for Business, Sports, and Time.com each of which take you to a different site). Breadcrumbs help to show where you are at any time. Headlines, a list of Latest News, and Video links top the page. Scrolling down the page reveals a variety of features and links.

The footer has the same links as the header including a search tool and additional related links (Podcasts | Blogs | CNN Mobile | Preferences | Email Alerts | CNN Radio | CNN Shop | Site Map).

A few items that bother me are that one link, while not taking you away from the site, looks significantly different (Politics). Also, banner ads at the tops of some pages push the navigation up or down making it an inconsistent experience (Home, US, Health).

Web Journal #3: Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHXA)

The Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport website is simple and informative. CSS driven, it loads fairly quickly. It uses a monotone color palette and is easy to read. Navigation is mainly on the left side and expands to reveal details under each of the 5 main headers. Its extremely easy to follow and provides a variety of important information.

However, it is heavily text dependent and uses few, if any, additional images to assist in way-finding. Sometimes you must leave the main site for features such as searching for flight schedules (a page that is NOTHING like the PHX site). Likewise, the airlines information page is simply a table listing of the 21 airlines which fly out of PHX. (but doesn't use any of their logos?) At least your a provided a link and phone numbers to Reservations and Baggage Services...

Then again, under Maps, Food & Shops is information about each Terminal including Museum Exhibitions featuring images of art and their descriptions. There's also an Image Library of ad-like photography of the airport and it's amenities.

Web Journal #2: Clothing Retail

KarmaLoop.com specializes in "street wear". The site is very busy...almost too much to absorb at once. But given some time, it wasn't too difficult to figure out the navigation.

Central to the home page is a slideshow of rotating images featuring models & logos below which is a linear menu of major brand names from which to select. On the left is a static menu showing "search", a "style salon" and "LookBook". These provide three different ways to search for what you like.The advanced search feature helps to fine tune searches based on gender, size, category, brand and price range. On the right is a vertical list of "top sellers" to choose from. Along the top are additional pop-ups that get you quickly to brands for guys or girls. Cart, runnig subtotal, account info, and customer service links round out the header area. Subsequent page layout is similar.

What's Hot? Lots of pictures of hip young models sporting the latest street wear.
What's Not? Really busy layout, but may attract younger customers.

Web Journal #1: Art School

Pacific Northwest College of Art: http://www.pnca.edu

The thing that struck me when first loading the page was the white PNCA logo on a black field at the top of the page. Next was the use of gray backgrounds and neon color headers (which seem rather old-school). Then the simple basics of "Inquire", "Visit", and "Apply"... obviously this school is in the business of attracting and enrolling future students. Interestingly, map, contact, and quick links are at the top of the page AND, as with most other art school sites, student work is showcased on the main page.

Layout consists of a main center column with sub-navigation on the left sidebar and additional links on a right sidebar.

Collages of imagery change out across the top of each page upon load. Student and Faculty feature profiles rotate on various page loads as well. (Great way to showcase the importance of both student and faculty work.)

Navigation is straightforward. No pop-up menus. No Flash. But, a simple gallery page featuring faculty and student work. You select which department you wish to view and whether it's faculty or student work. Then a set of thumbnails appears from which you select to view a larger example. 

One thing I found that needs fixing is when clicking on the menu bar for various pages. The box changes color on hover, but only the text is the active link. You can click and click, but unless the cursor is over the text nothing happens.

Shameless Self Promotion

1. What Have I Done?
Lot's of freelance work, none in web development. I've been a Wedding DJ, Commercial Voice Talent, 3D Illustrator, and 2D/3D Animator.

2. Software Ranking (1-10)

• Photoshop (6)
• Illustrator (4)
• Contribute (0)
• Flash (3)
• Dreamweaver (7)
• Maya (7)
• AfterEffects (8)
• CSS (5)
• HTML (6)
• JavaScript (0)
• Blogging (2)
• Lightwave 3D (9)
• ProTools (8)
• Final Cut Pro (9)

3. Do I commute from Commerce?
No, but Duncanville isn't too close either.

4. Other classes I'm taking... well, no, but I am teaching other classes:

• Digital Sound & 3D Animation @ El Centro College on Monday night.
• Computer Animation 1 & 2 @ Duncanville High School
• Audio Technology 1 @ Duncanville High School
• 8th grade Sunday School @ Cross of Christ Lutheran Church

5. Major: Master of Science in Art (New Media)

InetDev2

Well, here we go again!

This is my last semester at TAMU-Commerce... after this I'll have 5 months to perfect my thesis project and get on with life.

This blog will serve as a journal of web sites I have visited and evaluated for content, design, usability, etc.