Links, Week 5

This week in links was actually quite a bit more difficult than usual. I found myself not wanting to critique any of the sites i was coming across—there wasn't anything new, no interesting navigation, nothing catching my eye. maybe i'm just getting too picky, but it was really pretty glum! hopefully next week i'll find more inspiration.

Aruliden
interesting: the thumbnail size and layout on the home page is pretty much exactly what I was thinking I’d like to do. The size is large enough to celebrate the work, but not so large that it gives it all away on the first date.
The information offered up on the home page is minimal, just as I am hoping to do. To me this says “hi. This is my name. I have some impressive work to look at. No need to get caught up in anything else right now”

Looking through the work is simple. The nav bar remains persistent and the project breakdown is clear. I think it’s missins next and previous buttons for even smoother navigation through the projects, but all in all it’s clean and easy.


Midwest Is Best
I don’t like how the “brand new” nav bar is all different colors. Is there any rhyme or reason? It actually kind of confuses me. Note to self: don’t do this.

Sometimes I’m a fan of hand-drawn type, as long as it makes sense. Since I don’t know mike maybe it’s very befitting and I just don’t know it, but not knowing him? Eh. It’s not doing it for me.

His next and last arrows are kind of funny—they don’t seem to integrate with the look/feel of the site very well.

One thing to discuss: we haven’t talked about the option of having a downloadable pdf of my work. What are your thoughts on this lotus?


Laundry!
here’s an instance of holding back almost entirely on the homepage. No work, just color, personality and a big ole graphic. The graphic thing is something I was toying with earlier, but at this point I’m still thinking I’d like to have thumbs of my work.

The rollovers on the nav bar are certainly adding to the personality of the site, and I think it’s in keeping with what they’ve set up for themselves. While it’s not the style I’ll be putting out there for myself, it’s a good takeaway thought: don’t just design the layout, think about infusing “you” into user interaction as well.


War Design
we’ve discussed new work on the homepage quite a bit, and what I’ve ultimately decided I’d like to shoot for is thumbnails that refresh…on refresh. Here’s a new spin on the concept: featuring one at a time, cycling through featured work on its own. Always something new to look at without even having to interact with the site.


Sheridan
Honestly? They spent a lot of time in flash, and I’m not convince it was worth it. The swirling hangy things that act as the navigation make me a little ill since they move around so much (and quickly). I’m glad they have the option of “easy navigation” at the top of the page, ending the swirling madness.

Transitions are smooth, from page to page and for sliding elements, but I’m not sure about all the bounciness.

They certainly like movement based on cursor position. I like that for certain things, but it’s not always necessary. Like in the client list? Why? What is it adding? Personally I just think it wastes time.

I don’t like how there’s no linear movement around the site. once you go in one direction you need to back out of it in order to move on. Annoying!