Week 3 Part A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

     Business websites are a very important tool to get information across to readers, and there are many factors that play in to the attractiveness of a cite. Through the suggested links on Canvas I have been able to view some easy and aesthetically pleasing websites along with confusing and poorly designed cites. I knew that I wanted to look at Craigslist because I have always thought that it was an ugly cite, but my dad would be on it all the time looking for his next fixer upper car to play with. 

   

    Maybe from my father's point of view Craigslist is a great website to use, but from my eyes, it is ugly and poorly designed. First and foremost, the color scheme needs to go. There is nothing appealing about the obnoxious blue hyperlinks for every single piece of information on their cite. Nothing grabs your attention because every piece of information is the same size in newspaper style columns. I understand that the website is not meant to be an informative or entertainment outlet and that its purpose is to bring people in who want to sell and buy items or services. However, when it comes to these available jobs, services, or houses, there is no contrast between any of these very different postings. Honestly I wouldn't have noticed any of the different options that Craigslist has if I didn't have to look for this assignment. There is a huge list of hyperlinks on the lefthand side of the website, but most of those hyperlinks appear to be nonsense and do not contain the essentials at the very top. The first link is to the Craigslist app, then the faq's and legal area, a section on avoiding scams and fraud, etc. and the 12th hyperlink which seems to be the most important is the best-of-craigslist section. In my opinion, Craigslist should heavily trim down on the hyperlinks in the left section of the cite, which is what most people would see in the first place. The search bar shouldn't be near the event calendar and hyperlinks on the left, it should be in the top center area of the cite because many people don't go to Craigslist for their leisure, they go with a specific item or service in mind to look for. Another suggestion is to break up the main page with every category on it into 3-4 pages with pictures of what the main focuses are. For example, one page could be jobs and services with a couple of photos that demonstrate the array of options there are available, and instead of hyperlinks to every single service or job, they could have links to the most popular ones and have the search bar readily available for someone to look for a more specific category. I could go on and on about my dislike for the Craigslist website, but I think it is pretty self explanatory. 

    My second choice for a poorly designed website was definitely gatesnfences.com. As soon as I opened the website I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that was thrown in my face. I've been looking at it for two minutes and I still can't narrow down any of the information that I'm looking at. It definitely reminds me of Craigslist in the sense that it's overwhelming and obnoxious. The green at the top of the page reminds me of boogers and the extensive red hyperlinks on the left side of the page look like ketchup...it makes an ugly looking Christmas. The website doesn't even have the company name at the top left of the page, and I really don't even know what the business name is...? I should not have to look that hard to find out what business I'm looking at. Update: it is called Gates N Fences, but there is no logo and the top left of the page says "Welcome To: Gates N Fences" and the name is in red. Still though, it doesn't catch my eye and blends in with the rest of the page. It has over 60 hyperlinks on the left side of the page, and you have to scroll to see all of them. I thought hyperlinks were designed to make looking for information easier, but it's a lot more difficult when you have over 60 of them to rifle through. Another aspect that is displeasing is the photos on the cite. The only photo that slightly catches my attention is the first photo at the top left of the page because it's separated from the rest of the information and you can actually rest your eyes somewhere. The rest of the photos are jumbled together either at the top or bottom of the page. The bottom is where most of the photos are but you have to scroll down to see all 10 photos lined up next to one another. What would help is to relay some of the information on the page near one of the photos so that readers can get a visual for what they're reading about. Another suggestion is for them to narrow down the excessive hyperlinks. The links have a main link and then all of the subcategories attached. All of those subcategories could be taken away and the main focus of the hyperlinks could be on the main types of fences that the company has available for installation. The entire website seems to be a word vomit of the business and doesn't allow the reader to find the main focuses of the company. 

    A website that I enjoyed was the Headhunter Hairstyling website. The color scheme is calming and welcoming which brings me in as a reader because I want to feel calmed and welcomed when getting my hair done. The company logo stands on its own in the top left corner which verifies who the reader is reading about. There are two main links on the front of their page with a phone number and details about their services. It allows the reader to choose what they're looking for instead of a bunch of unnecessary information being shoved in their faces. The other links at the top of the page are for showcasing their stylists and their work. It leaves a little bit of mystery for the reader to explore more about the business and find the photos that are appealing to them. As you scroll through the website you see a photograph of a lady getting her hair done with a smile on her face and a small paragraph thanking the readers for choosing their website. This adds to the welcoming aspect of the business and makes me want to go get my hair done because I've been trimming my own hair for a while and need a stylist! As you continue to scroll you can see the business itself with an added effect of disappearing as you scroll up or down. It makes you want to find the sweet spot to pause at the perfect place to see the building and all its glory. I also really appreciate that the last photo of the website is of the staff with an accompanying paragraph about the company. Everyone is smiling and looking happy which makes you want to read about the company. Near the photo of the staff is another hyperlink to meet the stylists. I like this because you don't have to scroll all the way back to the top, which really isn't far, to find this information. At the very bottom of the page there are links to Headhunter Hairstyling's Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp. Great job on the website...I honestly might have to look into it more for my next haircut. 

    The other website that I felt to be well designed was the National Park Service website. The company name is clearly printed at the top left of the page and there is a big photo of beautiful scenery that poses the question: Are you prepared?......I don't know! Am I??!! The newspaper style columns work for this cite because they're broken up by photographs. The information under each photo is related to said photo with a brief amount of information that can be clicked on in case a reader is fascinated by a specific area. I like this because it gives a sneak peak about all of the information available without giving the most important pieces away. Another attractive aspect of this cite is the search bar being front and center to find whatever national park you want to find, and if this isn't enough there is a hyperlink right beneath the search bar that allows the reader to see all national parks and search through a map. The website is straight to the point. It isn't cluttered just as one wouldn't want to see one of our nation's beautiful parks cluttered. The cite is clean and utilizes a white background to accentuate the beautiful photos of green trees and mountains. The neutral background helps to make the photos stand out and draw the reader in. There aren't too many words on the website because the information isn't the biggest piece. I feel that the website is designed to let nature take control and be the star of the show. 

    Web design is a very big factor of the attractiveness of a business, and seems to give a hint at the personality of the business. If I needed a new fence I can tell you right now that I would not utilize Gates N Fences because their website gives the impression that the business is messy and unorganized. It makes me feel like building a fence on my own wouldn't be so bad. I've never used Craigslist and do not intend to because even after looking at the website for ten minutes I couldn't narrow down any of the information that was in front of me. It really baffles me that my technology despising father can navigate through the content, though he is transferring over to Facebook Marketplace, so maybe he's catching on. A business website needs to be aesthetically pleasing and straight to the point. I know I would have some challenges in creating my own website because I think that all information is important information, but I do think it's much easier on the eyes and brain to encourage the reader to dig a little deeper. Not every piece of information has to be a hyperlink, Craigslist. 

I'm unsure if the blog pages of my classmates have not been refreshed but I couldn't find anyone's blog posts about aesthetics, design, and branding.