Week 4A: Aesthetics and Design

  Website aesthetics and design are what capture and hold the attention of the viewer.  They can be the deal breaker between a sale or just another visitor hit. Take http://gatesnfences.com/ for example.  One look at the website and my head aches.  My eyes don't know where to hold their attention and the number of options along the left side makes me want to just close the window. The main section is very text heavy and the font size seems to be varying without any reasoning.  What the company should do is significantly reduce the text on the main page. The bottom section should be moved to a separate page rather than taking up valuable real estate on the home page. I think most of the links on the left side could be compiled to reduce the quantity as well.

  Another company that has a decent website but could use improvements is  https://www.pennyjuice.com/. The company's website has a lot of color which for the topic, works well.  I think that the main issue I have is spacing.  The amount I need to scroll to get all the information displayed on the home page is excessive. After scrolling several times, I come across three paragraphs that could have easily fit on one screen or broken down to just two scrolls. Aside from spacing, I'm confused as to what the purpose is.  I initially thought it was a juice manufacturer focusing on kid sales but I see something about childcare justice on the top right corner.  There should be a clear purpose for viewers.

  On the flip side, there are websites that also have some good things going for their website.  Take https://www.apple.com/ for example.  They're menu options are straight to the point and the color scheme is very simplistic.  The home page is a variable design due to the ads for their products cycling through.  Sometimes it'll be an ipad taking up the screen and other times it'll be an iphone.  Overall, they kept everything straight to the point.  I find it very easy to navigate and find what I'm looking for.

  Slightly more hectic on their first page but similar to Apple, https://www.toyota.com/ is well designed.  I have one issue which is that there is a lot going on but I think they have designed to be more of a controlled chaos.   Everything I need is easily accessible at the top and there are just enough options to get me where I need to go without going overboard.  I actually love that conveniently a bottom menu lines up when you're at the top of the screen to give you an upper and lower menu bar.