Week 3 - Identifying and Using Good Design

This week we explore web design and brand aesthetics. The websites I have chosen for this week's lecture is apple.com and toyota.com. Here are my findings...

**I apologize for not noticing that my whole blog entry did not post on here. Good tip to keep in mind is to be careful when copying/pasting from Word or other similar programs as text and/or formatting may not transfer as smoothly.

Roverp6cars.com
By far one of the busiest websites I've seen in a while. First of all there is a lot of information which means too much scrolling down  to the bottom of the page to see the other link buttons such as contact/email option, print, and social media venues such as Facebook and Twitter. Personally, I love using color mixing and matching and having something pretty to look at but this website is just major disaster in that yellow and cyan are not good complimentary colors and basic/simple colors are utilized and not in the most creative way either! The yellow background is horrible and the fact that there are so many pictures is just horrible and too cluttered. The menu/links are all on the left and the red block font is too straining on the eyes...at least mine. Overall this website is just too cluttered and not enough time was taken to think about their web presence let alone what they want their website to say/do. A little more organization and focus would most likely help clean up this website and make it one where more people would want to request services from this organization/company.

Apple.com
By far a really well thought out web presence/site. One aspect that makes it really user friendly is the fact that the opening page is well organized and displays the most popular apple products used. The neat thing from the start is the logo, the white apple, is on top left corner and serves as the home button when wanting to return to start of website after getting lost in the information they provide. One thing that I really liked about is the clean crisp layout of their website because as soon as you click one, product right below you get a new list, or row, with everything related to that product and any miscellaneous products in a third tier in much smaller font. Also the website provides a search bar near top right of page and there is a quick menu/link to "support" page where common problems/solutions can be viewed. Overall this is a well crafted wen site and most impressive is the detail and thought behind the organization and the hierarchical menus used when researching the different apple products and services. 

Toyota.com
Another really good website, and favorite since I drive a Toyota too. Once again we see a very well organized website. Hierarchy and layout is well throughout and navigation of overall website helps with the pictures of the different vehicles the company sells. One neat features that pops right out is the "Reviews" section/menu and the reason for that is that we get "real" reviews from customers and makes their opinions guide us in our on prospective purchase of a Toyota vehicle. I must say the 2016 Camry does look pretty bad ass, especially in blue! There is a search option near top right of page and as you scroll down the page you see the icons of the social media they use like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Navigation was easy to maneuver and I didn't feel overwhelmed by content but more at ease by the big and visible emu options especially getting to the option that allows for me to customize my own vehicle.