3 websites with good colour schemes:

www.cakesweetcake.co.uk - This website uses shades of peach and teal as the main colours. These are complimentary colours and work together very well. There are also some shades of brown and beige, which are warm neutral colours, that bring a feeling of wholesomeness to the design. All of the colours together could be described as an earthy palette, which is good for a bakery, because you want the user to think of natural ingredients and freshly baked goods.

qlpros.com - This website uses four main colours, charcoal grey, light grey, white and yellow. These colours look great together and the site gives great visual impact. The white text on the dark grey background, and the dark grey text on the yellow background are both high contrast, making the site very readable. Shades of light yellow are calming and cheerful. The charcoal grey contrasts give the website a level of professionalism.

stuntbox.com  - This is good because it is black and white and very clean. The link hover state brings a pop of red which works well in keeping the site visually interesting.

3 websites with poor colour schemes:

www.abercrombie.co.uk - Abercrombie and Fitch made their website just like their stores ie. really hard to see. They used a colour scheme of grey on grey on grey. There are many parts of the website where there is not nearly enough contrast between the text an background, especially in the footer. They also used grey as a background colour for the products which I think was a big mistake as the products should pop visually.

Multiple shades of grey apparently give a sophisticated, modern feel to a website, but personally I do not think it’s worth sacrificing usability.

www.videosoniclab.com - This website has too many colours, it is very loud despite having a black background, the colours are too bright, it hurts the eyes. I don’t know where to look.

www.rzent.co.nr – This website is just plain ugly, with too many colours trying to grab the focus of the user. The yellow text on red is a bit over the top, and the blue text on the red background is completely unreadable.

References:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/28/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design – Jason Beird

The Dead Sea Squirrels – an upcoming indie rock band from Sheffield

1. www.blink182.com

I think the Blink 182 website is a good one to look at for inspiration, as it integrates various social media platforms into the website, and allows the fans to get involved.

The news tab on the homepage is a blog that has all of their news updates with integrated videos and photos. The fans can comment on posts right there on the homepage. The other tabs contain each of the band members individual twitter streams. The video section has all of the bands youtube videos. There is also a forum where fans can chat about the band.

This website shows how you can utilize social media to keep the site constantly active, with regularly updated content. Fans can also sign in with one of their social media logins eg. facebook, twitter or google, and get involved in the conversation.

2. www.snowpatrol.com

A bands current album cover is often used as their branding for the duration of the promotion of that particular album, and so it makes sense that it be integrated into the website. In this particular case, the album cover image is used as the header/background, and the same typography from the album cover is used as the title for every page. Also the tour dates are designed to look like the sun from the album cover. There is a lovely consistency thoughout the website and the bands artwork.

3. theneversettingsuns.com

The hand-drawn elements of this website give it a quirky, DIY look and feel. I like the colour palette which mixes the sepia tinted photographs with the monochrome background. I like the grid based design. It looks almost like a scrapbook and does a lot to give you an impression of the band. This website is for an up and coming band, and therefore does not portray the band as big rock stars but rather in a very lighthearted way.

Throughout all of these 3 websites you can see the necessary elements for a band site. Media is very important ie. music players, videos and photographs, as are tour dates, webstores for music and merch,  biographies etc, and these as guides when planning the content for the Dead Sea Squirrels website.

Beech Farm – a homely bed and breakfast in Cornwall.

For this website, we are given two pieces of information about the Bed and /breakfast; that is it homely and in Cornwall.

1. www.visitcornwall.com

The first website I would draw inspiration from would be the Visit Cornwall tourism site. This website gives you a good feel for what Cornwall is like from a tourism perspective, and gives lots of information about the local attractions and sights. For example knowing that Cornwall is a coastal town with watersports and cliffs and nature gives you a lot to draw from for design inspiration. Also I think it is important to highlight in the content not only the features of the bed and breakfast, but also of the surrounding areas.

2. www.roundhousebarnholidays.co.uk

Roundhouse Barn is a B&B in Cornwall. I think this is a good site to look to for inspiration. The muted colour scheme, using pale blue and beige, shows how you can incorporate the elements of the beach in a very subtle way.

The image slideshows they use show a nice mix between luxury and more intimate, homely accommodations. For example there is an image of a handwritten note containing the words “friendly” and “relax”, fireplaces, and intimate lounges. This creates an overall tone of a very relaxed environment.

Another good thing about this site is that it has availability calendars so you can check availability without having to fill out any forms or contacting anyone, you can see immediately what dates are available and at what price.

The accreditations are very prominent at the top of the page, and there is a link to TripAdvisor travel reviews.

3. kentraw.com

This website is good to look as a design guide in terms of usability and content.

For example, the location page gives you not only directions on how to get to the B&B, but also tells you the various ways of getting there ie. by car/plane/ferry, and also links you to websites where you can book the plane/ferry. It also links you to google maps so you can study the directions further. The accomodation page is split into living, sleeping and outdoors, and each section gives a description, provides lovely photos and lists the highlight of these various parts of the establishment.

The whole website is very usable, readable, easy to navigate and provides good information. Lastly, the wood effect background gives it a nice rustic touch.

Primary Health, a private healthcare company based in London.

1. http://www.abbeyhospitals.com/

I like this website for private hospitals. It has a blue and white colour scheme. Blue is supposed to convey trust and strength, so it’s an obvious choice. There are lots of photos of clean environments and smiling hospital staff. It gives in-depth information about all of the treatments and surgeries that are available at the hospitals, and about payment plans, so users are left with very few questions. Again this promotes a sense of trust in the hospital.

It has a contact form on the home page entitled “ask our advice”, which encourages the user to get in contact. All of these factors put the user at ease.

2. http://www.spirehealthcare.com/ 

I like this website because it doesn’t follow the trend of the blue colour scheme, which unfortunately makes most of the other websites look the same. This one stands out simply by being a different colour. The green they have chosen is a very calm, relaxing shade which works well. Also after a quick google search, I have learned that green can convey safety and health.

3. http://www.bupa.co.uk/

I like the homepage on this website because of it’s usability.

It’s very obvious what is clickable as there are arrows pointing at pretty much every link. The navigation bar at the top is good for giving the user a sense of location on the website. By looking at the bar they can see what page they are on in which section, for example, in the below image the user is on the “care homes” page in the “individuals” section.

There are multiple calls to action to “get a quote”, because essentially the main goal of the website is to sell healthcare.

1. Melamine mixing bowl

This mixing bowl is made from melamine which is a very durable type of plastic. It is an easy to clean material, and also it is dishwasher safe. It has a rubber ring on the base to prevent slipping and the bowl is deeper than it is wide, which allows for vigorous mixing without batter splashing out of the bowl. It has a handy pouring lip, and also a comfortable handle that aids pouring.

It’s pink, which I like because I’m a lady.

2. GHD

The product fits nicely in the hand because of its curved shape. It is lightweight so your arm does not get tired holding it up to your head. It has a long extension cord which is handy if you don’t have a plug socket right by your mirror, and the cord is twistable where it is attached to the ghd, so it doesn’t get tangled/twisted. The handle is long enough so that you have plenty of room to hold the handle on the cool parts without having to go near the hot plates/burn yourself. The on/off switch is on the inside of the two plates so you do not accidentally hit it while using it.

Aesthetically the design is quite sleek and minimal, the surface is smooth and the logo is nice.

Finally, it just works exactly as it should and straightens hair really well. I ♥ my ghd.

3. Japanese bento box

For a tightly packed Japanese-style bento, the number of milliliters that a box can hold corresponds roughly to the number of calories it holds.  You are supposed to get a certain sized bento box according to your height, sex and age for proper nutrition. Now, when I lived in Japan, I went ahead and got myself a man-sized bento, simply because I found myself to be bigger and hungrier than most Japanese people, and a little lady sized bento just wasn’t gonna do the job.

So anyway, the nutritional ratio for the bento is 3:2:1, that being 3 parts rice, 2 parts veggies and 1 part protein. And my box is designed just so. The bottom section is for rice, and then the top section has a divider for roughly measuring your meat and veg (this divider is removable for easy washing, or if you’re going to be rebellious and ignore your ratio). So when I tightly pack each section of my box with these food types, I am creating a lunch that is nutritionally appropriate for me (and my Japanese male counterparts).

Each section has a tight fitting lid to prevent spillage. The lid for the top section has a space for your chopsticks which come with the box and fit in perfectly, and there is also some room to throw in your condiments (I’ve popped in a little soy sauce fish), a toothpick (Japanese people loooove toothpicks) or a fork, if you’re going to swing that way.

There is then another lid and a black elastic band to throw around the whole lot, which fits really tightly and keeps everything together. What’s also beautiful is that when you’re finished, the bottom compartment fits inside the top one so that you box takes up less space when you’re bringing it home.

The black and red are aesthetically pleasing, masculine colours for my big man-sized lunch box.

Perhaps this may all seem a bit complicated, but everything fits together perfectly, every part serves a useful function, and I find it very convenient.

My bento box can be used as a metaphor for designing websites - If you don’t fill your bento with good food, then it doesn’t matter how well designed your lunch box is, because you’re not going to have an enjoyable lunch. This is like a metaphor for the importance of good content on your well-built website