Inspiration Design Model 5

Site: http://www.secondstory.com/

The main homepage of Second Story Interactive Studios is a little confusing at first. Once you relax and look around though it becomes very intuitive. I think the randomness of the main area on the index page is the reason for this confusion. I do like the large background image- it adds a cool element and it’s random!

From the home page the rest of the pages are laid out very well. I love the way the bottom navigation stays stationary while you scroll though the body of the pages. I also like the way the navigation is centered with their logo and some of their projects were laid out under the navigation bar.

All of their body text is formatted the same and the design is very consistent throughout the site. This helps the user navigate between pages and projects. Also- because the bottom menu stays stationary the user feels very connected to this and isn’t distracted and doesn’t loose concentration on the navigation. Their color scheme fits the profession/corporate mentality well.

Inspiration Design Model 4

Site: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/

The Theban Mapping Projects site has a clean look to it. Although the side has a clean look, my mind is having trouble figuring out what to do or where to look on their site. The navigation is in a semi-predictable location (upper right) as is their logo.

I think part of the problem that distracts the users attention is the animated gif in the center of the page. This immediately draws my attention away from the other elements of the page. As soon as I look away from the graphic and try to concentrate on something else the graphic changes again and draws my attention away from whatever it was I was diverting my attention to.

Once I tear my eyes away from the animated gif, I notice that like terms for their navigation buttons don’t really work well. I’m not sure what a few of them mean and I’m forced to click to find out. Maybe I’ll pick a good choice maybe I won’t.

I finally scrolled down the page and noticed that there are additional, although less relevant, navigation elements attached to the very bottom.

Inspiration Design Model 3

Site: http://www.terraincognita.com/

The Terra Incognita Productions site has a very clean look to it. The top navigation works well with the secondary navigation below it. The buttons are easy to pick out and the black text is easy to read. I like the way the site is centered on the page and requires no scrolling.

The different sections are laid out well, with the correct choices and options. People visiting this site are going to want to see examples of their work, how they design, and where they design. They provide links to projects they’ve worked on as well as explanations about the different projects to give potential clients an idea of how they work.

In the “Behind the Scenes” section they provide a nice step-by-step process about how they approach and complete a project. This helps give the appearance that the company is well organized and their thought processes are well thought out.

Also, another nice touch to the page is their contact information is always displayed no matter where the user is on the page. This allows the company to snag the user into a sale no matter where they are on the page. They simply can just click and contact the company.

Inspiration Design Model 2

Site: http://www.rustboy.com/rustweb.htm

I really do love the nice clean interface of rustboy.com. The buttons are easy to read and the navigation is nicely laid out on the top with the secondary navigation on the bottom. This design for the navigation works because of the fixed size of the page. The secondary navigation never falls below the scroll because there is no scroll.

The colors work well because of the contrasts between them. The blue/gray background color contrasts and complements the brown text and buttons while providing a modern mechanical look. It provides this modern mechanical look while preserving the cleanliness of the site.

The “Movie” section provides the user with some nice clean high-resolution movies of Rust Boy in action. While the clean high-resolution video is nice it takes much more bandwidth than a lower-resolution would. The high-resolution is nice because users of this page are going to be looking for high quality because they’re interested in CG.

The “Making Of” section adds a nice touch to the site. It really lets the user learn about how much work is put into the CG. This is what the web is really great for. Sort of like a highly interactive “extra” like on a DVD, but for a web site.