Still Lesson 11: Inspirational Websites

Cool Websites dk: I was intrigued by the green background and parchment-type paper in a thumbnail of a website called Topia World. Upon enlarging it, I wasn't so enchanted, but I did notice something I haven't yet encountered on a website. It's a 3-D menu in the form of floating cards in a circle. You can click on an arrow on either side to spin to the next card. Topia World is a fantasy game website. Actually, the more I look at it, the more I am appreciating it. There is very subtle movement, too, when you move the mouse without actually clicking on the arrows. The cards float left, right, up, or down, depending on where you point. This further creates the illusion that the cards are floating.

I just clicked on Rudebox, and I'm seeing a pattern here. Now I'm in the center of a room, and when I click on the arrows, the room spins. The menu is on display on different sides of the room. Again, moving the mouse moves your perspective up, down, etc. When you click on a place to go, like video, you zoom in, and fade into a different scene. Wow. In the new window, the menu remains on the left, and when you move to different parts of the menu, the menu, and the layered textures that make it up, move, too. There is so much going on visually that it is hard to describe in words. I admire the artistry involved in this.

There were many "I'm so old" moments for me on this site. The menu is written in graffiti-style writing - and I can't read it! Some words I can make out after sitting there a while or moving the mouse over them and watching the words being written (That's another feature I've never seen).

Also, I'm not technologically/visually sophisticated enough to realize that the countdown numbers on the first screen were just reflecting the download time. I sat there saying, "Gosh Darn it - What is this newfangled thing?" Then I didn't have the sense to click the mouse when it was finished to start the tour.

What's more, I didn't notice the subtly incorporated "sound on/sound off" button. When I finally figured out what to do with the mouse, "WHY YOU SO NASTY?" blared out loud enough to blow me off my chair.

Wow. It doesn't take very long before a person can become visually illiterate.


CSS Heaven:

Hooping.net: I can really appreciate the difficulty of trying to stuff as much information as possible into as little space as possible. This site does everything possible to remedy overload. For example, pages are lined up vertically at an angle, so that you can see about 5 clearly and then can scroll forward if you want. Meanwhile, beneath that area but still above the fold are a set of three pictures which are switching out by the use of fades. Meanwhile, a very slow scroll menu is in between. A menu, with large type (relatively) is on the right and there's a place above to input personal info. This is a very delicate balancing act, getting all of these elements in one space. It almost doesn't work, but it does. It is extremely easy for me to feel overloaded by stimuli, but this works well enough that I don't just click out. If I were truly interested in the info here, I would be happy to stay.

FWA:

OMG. I found most of the thumbnails somewhat disturbing. I just clicked on the RoutanBabyMaker 3000. An idea engineered by Volkswagen, it is creepy genius. I picked that thumbnail out of many because of the cute, yet disturbing quality of the baby. That's because it is a virtual baby made out of a convergence of two photos, one of mom, one of dad. The baby's eyes move when you move the mouse. The site is made, I think, to appeal to women whose biological clock may be ticking, or who may just want to be mothers. Brooke Sheilds is the model. The goal of making a baby, supposedly, is to show you how safe the Routan is. From here you can go from designing a baby to designing your own car.

Aside from the marketing genius, the design of the site is pretty effective. The menu is a designed to look like a radio, and when you move your mouse over it, a blue light comes on for each menu item. I hit on the VW radio button, literally, and a promotion for thing called "Sign and Drive" comes up. Move the mouse over the cars, and the headlights come on. I was totally sucked into this. Can you tell I'm a children's librarian?

I consider myself pretty saavy when it comes to advertising, but they got me this time!

Best Web Gallery: These thumbnails are much more inviting. A lot of them appeal to me, and I'm not sure what to click on first. I'll try Paperheads. (BTW, I like this gallery. When you float over a thumbnail, a slightly larger version of the site comes up. Cool.) Oh, I really like this! I have no idea what is being promoted here, but two guys in business suits and paperbags for heads (with faces drawn on) come up in front of different backgrounds. Each background stays for a while. The first looked like somewhere in Tokyo, the next was on a beach, the next was in a convenience store. . . Oh, it looks like they are back in Tokyo.
This so cool. This company does web design. The menu on the right provides four visuals of work they've done. You can click on any number of pages for each client. A simple "About Services, Contact, Clients" menu is on the top of the primary screen. There is too much to describe in words what I like about this site. It is hilarious and cool without trying too hard. I'm sure it, too, will be passe one day!