Smart Alice’s Web Design Blog

Home Page, Web Site of Louis Lortie

Monday, March 1 marks the 200^th anniversary of Frederick Chopin’s birthday.  In honor of one of my favorite composers let’s talk about the web site of pianist Louis Lortie.  For me this web site is the epitome of why we bother to build web sites.  Louis Lortie is a  concert pianist and recording artist.  At his site there is a great depth of information about him, his career and discography, and, most interesting, it showcases his thoughts about music interpretation and its challenges.

Here’s the treasure you’ll find on just one page, Chopin:

• An excerpt from the score of a Chopin Etude
• A series of videos
• A photo of Chopin

The series of short videos showcase  Lortie playing two of the Chopin Etudes (a glorious aural experience) and Lortie, at the piano, talking about his approach to playing the etudes while playing excerpts to illustrate his thoughts.  As each video plays, its title  changes from black to lavender so you can keep track of where you are in the series.  Or, you can click on the one you want to hear.  Great user interface design!  Notice that underneath the video the timer is presented as a musical staff!  Clever design!

Chopin Page, Web Site of Louis Lortie

My only criticism is that the text on the home page is hard to read – a result of using a justified right margin and the italic font with very little line spacing.  The  opacity factor on the font doesn’t help either.

Lortie has created a passionate web site with great depth of information that gives us a window into his soul and the beauty of the music he plays.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design, smart web design for businesses who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.

Today’s Boston Globe has a web design comparison between the Bush and Obama versions of whitehouse.gov.  The article is very informative for those of us working in visual design and for those who are thinking about designing their own web site. I’m including a link to the article here.  And, I’d like to add my own 2 cents.

Layout

The Bush layout for whitehouse.gov used a typical three column layout underneath a horizontal banner.

The Obama layout has a large top section divided into two distinct areas over a three column layout.  Obama’s designer knows about  Fibonacci based proportions which we see here as 1:2:3.

The result is a much more visually appealing layout than the mundane Bush layout.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.

The experience of good web site design feels like settling into a comfortable chair. However, when the design is visually exhausting, it repels the user instead of inviting him or her in. Let’s take a look at how two yoga studios present themselves on the web and see how we feel about them.

First, the Dog

When I look at the home page of Laughing Dog Yoga the first things I notice are a) the layout feels awkward and b) there are way too many fonts. The layout is basically an endless list. This creates big blank spaces. It makes my eyes tired to scroll through it. On a more personal level, I find the color scheme unattractive.

Font Crazy

There are six different fonts in the left navigation pane and five different fonts in the content area, for a total of 11 different font variations. Fonts vary by color, size, style (bold, italic, etc.) and typeface.

Note the links in the navigation pane are all caps and in white with a drop shadow for an overall blurry (that means hard to read) effect.

The design principles of repetition and clarity should govern your font selection. Too much variety prevents the user from finding and focusing on information.

My overall experience: Uncomfortable

The Lotus – Love Those Colors

By contrast, Mudita Yoga Studio features a beautifully composed photo on the home page.

Look closely at the colors in the lotus blossom. You’ll see these same colors used throughout the site for backgrounds and borders. A collection of related colors form a color palette and this is one characteristic of good design.

I see only three fonts used on the home page. Each one is distinct and each one has a function. There is a font for the name of the business, a font for the navigation buttons, and a font for the main content. Immediately my eye understands and I feel comfortable reading and investigating the site further. I might revisit the sight later just to enjoy the photos. If some of the photos change, that’s even better.

My overall experience: Enchanted

What do you think? Which site do you prefer? Send me a link to another yoga site and tell me how the design affects you.

Analysis by Smart Alice Web Design.