Web Design

[Aaron M]

I'm not sure how many people are aware of this (that is, of people that know me) but web design is something that I've always been interested in. Quite a bit of my free time is dedicated to that... just looking at websites of all sorts... from corporate organizations to news sites to personal pages and everything in between, following design trends, etc.

I'm curious what everyone else things of as good web design... and I'd especially love to see websites that you think are well done.

I think I am a big fan of pages that flow really well... what I mean by that is that they immediately grab your attention without overwhelming you with information... but the content that is presented pulls you farther into the site. I can post a few examples, later.

Thoughts?

[Jeff Allen]

I like it simple and profesional with a lot of space so it isn't overwhelming..at first anyway.. I've seen a few that pulled it off. I guess it's all about the landing page really for me.. I mean you can have a lot of other information underneath.. I like having a simple prof. landing page.. that's it..

[Jeff Allen]

I guess it's the same thing your talking about ...."whithout overwhelming you with information, pulls you in... yeah,,, it's what I like,, RTO did a good job I think.. even though, yeah it is a lot of content, but otherwise, I might not read some of the stories I read..

[Aaron M]

Have you seen YWAM Outback (Darwin)'s page? It's incredible.

YWAM Outback

I recently looked up my "home" base in Canada, YWAM Turner Valley, and they have a brilliant new page up, too.

YWAM Turner Valley

[Jeff Allen]

Yep.. right on... thats what I mean... I like it cause it's mostly visual (not much content),, simple,.. I have to say Darwins is really good.. it's organized off the bat.. , but I have to say Turner Valley's I like even better, they basically did the same thing, but organized more content, simply.. I like the landing pages havn't gone into the site any deeper than that. I see what RTO is after, and they got it as far as a social network, but man, would be cool to have it organized in a way that just flowed.. yeah maybe it doesn't matter, but I think it works well to have it simple and fluent at first,,, go from there.. my opinion.. I am used to RTO's site now though, so I just kinda run around through it, however if I wasn't familiar with it.. I'd rather look at something fairly broad or organized in nature and go in from there.. anyways....

[Jeff Allen]

I don't want to get into a compare / contrast thing because I don't think those sites are social networking sites (I havn't looked very far into them), my feeling on it is I think you could still have a social network site with a page that was simple, organized, and looked good as a landing page.. I don't know this for sure,, you may be just dealing with to different "animals", don't know
I see the function behind having it organized like that would be so that you could have your main broad topics, or in Turner Valley's case many topics, but the point is that there highlighted so you can grow it.. in those areas that you've listed.. kinda creates a foundation per say to build and grow upon.. thats the point I see in having a landing page like that.. so immediatly not only does the audience know what your points are, but you do as well,, it works for both..

[Michael Cusack]

I agree with Jeff, it needs to be simple, yet professional . so that it isn't overwhelming, I quite like YWAM Darwin's Website simply cause the home page is simple. YWAM Townsville I can use it effectivlely and quickly but someone from the "outside" , I think would probably be a little overwhelmed at the amount of stuff we have on their, We have 10 drop down menu bars, RTO's Latest News, Video's, A a random selection of Ning Members, Ning's Latest Activity, featured blog posts,Music, Ning Group Links, Advertising For All of our upcoming schools, Ning Discussions, the welcome to reef to outback speech(although we prob need that one), I guess I am just in a constructive criticism mood, I don't dislike the site, I am just offering an opinion, and I love what Reef To Outback is doing with communication and media to reach the unreached, but I think if we are going to be at the Forefront of this lets be at the forefront, lets keep the front page simple, if people are seriously interested they will go beyond the front page, "lets engage them from the beginning, lets make the front/home page captivating not overwhelming" how do we achieve this research, a plan, then action.

[Jeff Allen]

amen brother,, a little challenge.. is a good thing..;)

[Aaron M]

Hey check this out:

http://www.skialpine.com/

[Aaron M]

Some more sites for you that I think are great. My favorites are the first one, emotionslive... the Gucci site is probably my favorite of this list of sites... I think it is a figure of what I love about websites... great images that aren't simply static on the page, but dynamic and alive, but the site itself is quite simple. The 2advanced studios is a great page, too... the stunning vista is there to feast your eyes on, but you also have all you need close at hand to work with.

http://www.emotionslive.co.uk/
http://www.javierferrervidal.com/
http://www.gucci.com/us/index2.html
http://www.creaktif.com/
http://www.visitcascadia.com/
http://www.susannepaschke.com/
http://www.2advanced.com/