Site Critique
- Started
- Last post
- 11 Responses
- mtgentry
I haven't had an art diector to work w/ to get feedback on this site and its been frustrating. I would appreciate any feedback. Some stuff like the intro isn't finished. Cheers.
- stewart0
now that's a strange website.
hold on...
- easy_target0
maybe its just there while your still developing but does the red border around the main "container" need to be there? its quite distracting to the eye (for me anyway)
- stewart0
i like some parts of the website: the animated fishes.
what's not working for me is the navigation. the png-buttons (leaves) disappear when i scroll the page, also the mermaid.
when i scroll the page and click a button so i can read a bunch of text, sometimes i have to scroll again to read the text because it's hided by the bottom of the page.
another thing is that i see difference in illustration styles.
fishes are photographic, the little animations are in a different style, and also there's the mermaid drawed in another style. i think you need just 1 style or a strong combination of styles.personally i also think that the story isn't strong. polluting the sea by dropping a plastic bag in a sewer?
- mtgentry0
Thanks for the feedback Stewart.
Our programmers are working on the png safari issue.
Yeah I agree about the illustration styles. The bottom of the ocean looks too rendered- this was an asseet supllied by the client. I'd love to make it more flat and graphic looking but I'm not sure how.
Plastic bags are actually one of the main sources of pollution in the ocean.
- stewart0
Plastic bags are actually one of the main sources of pollution in the ocean.
mtgentry
(Sep 26 06, 12:12)i'll accept that as true.
it's important to make people aware of their environment.
- garett_west0
And with ocean currents they carry all of that garbage out to sea and it creates giant swirling heaps of garbage in the middle of the ocean. Crazy.
- Nairn0
I find it quite confusing - there's no content hierachy and it's initially quite hard to work out 'what to do' - is this aimed at children?
I'd get rid of the browser scrollbars and have some big jolly buttons, or a fishing line (or whatever) to use as depth navigation, and have graphic details going down the sides to define things more - maybe include the section navigation (rather than at the browser base, which jars with the background depth graphic)
The water needs more ..er.. depth, in the 'z-plane' (?) - more wee details to catch the eye as you go down (paralaxing behind) - distinct from the clickables, of course - but in a way, to promote and define the interactive elements more.
If it were all Flash, you could load new content directly in that window - maybe even tinting darker as the depth increases. Loading in seperate windows isn't user friendly - what's worse is that the content isn't selectable! This is for education, no?
I'm also finding the mix of graphic styles awkward - especially the videoFish.
Do you have permission to use the Little Mermaid??
It's a noble attempt, but if you're going to go down a fancy route, you have to make sure it all gels.
The best of luck to you.
x
- mtgentry0
The act of scrolling down takes you deeper into the ocean. I think actually works well. Some content isnt selectable for programming reasons- they're working on it.
Agree about giving the ocean more "depth".
Yes its for kids and yes we can use the Little Mermaid.
Thanks for the feedback Nairn!
- Nairn0
No worries - just to make clear - what i meant by the scrollbar comment was more to do with integration - you're right that you should vertically 'drag' your way down - i just felt that relying on the browser scrollbars was confusing and would be better effected within Flash.
- mtgentry0
I wanted to use the browser's scrollbar because people (especially kids) are more accustomed to using it. One less thing to have to think about when looking at that chaotic layout : )
- recreational0
I found the scrolling confusing, and it wasn't clear to me at first to scroll down, I think b/c the mermaid is at the bottom, and she disappears & reappears when I scroll down...I liked Nairn's idea of the fishing line. Maybe the mermaid & nav could be combined and they both move down the line together either on the left or right side of the page. I think a constant vertical element could make it more organized and easier to follow, which would make it less chaotic. Also maybe the animations could be in organic shapes like the intro text. And some of the animation seems too slow.
I think the messages and plastic bag story are really good, btw. I had heard a program on npr where they were talking about these football field sized swarms of debris that collect off the east & west coast, and about the Albatross dying.