RE: Web-site look and feel

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

On Thu, 27 Jan 2000, James Purchase wrote:

> On the "look and feel" front, Erik, please take a look at 2 sites which I
> have come across - the first, "cyber-aquaria
> (http://members.tripod.com/~Toshir0/cyber-aquaria.htm), is a personal
> web-site that has some nice photography and features the "black background +
> grey/white text". I hate tripod.com hosted sites because of the pop up
> advertising windows but the guy does have an eye for design.

This site definitely does with the pictures what I was considering good
about black-background sites.  Just like using black backgrounds in the
tanks, I think it makes the picures stand out well.

The text, as you have noted, is difficult to read, and the fonts on both
sites all display as "typewriter" courier on my Linux box here at work.  
I need to take a look at both sites under IE to see how they are "supposed
to" look.  (I'm now in the unhappy situation of having BOTH my main home
and main work machine fried at the moment, and am working on my "#2"
systems which are both Linux boxes.)

One possibility we could try is to have the site divided into "information
kiosk" type pages (entry forms, what the contest is about, etc) and
"gallery viewing room" (sample and real entries) type pages.  The former
are text-intensive, black-on-white, functional, printable as forms to be
mailed, etc.  The latter is much more sparse in the amount of text... This
is where people will browse the showcase.  Maybe the layout encourages
people to wander around the galleries and explore, just as you would a
museum or fishroom.  The focus is on the pictures, with supporting
descriptive text almost like the small cards sitting next to paintings on
the wall... maybe could in fact be represented as light "cards" embedded
on the page as well. 

Just some thoughts.  I might try to sketch up a realization of this when I
get my computers back, if it still makes any sense then. :)

  - Erik

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com

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