For this week’s peer review, I was paired up with another classmate where Nathan’s blog is about automotive. Here’s a link to his site.
Design
Right off the bat, the image on the landing page really stood out and represents the website also the logo identifies the website and demonstrates the theme. It demonstrated a content-first approach from Gretz’s article. Also, really nice logo design, I like how it represents your site and it’s interesting and distinct with a person working in a car. Once landing onto the site, it displays a formal and clear format providing a functional and organized blog. Everything is well organized and separated into different categories. The pages also contain a consistent colour theme of red, white and black. The colour themes also fit in the blog as it helps deliver an energetic, clean, formal feel for the readers. The site uses sanserif font and a clear hierarchy which is easy for readers to read and give out information. The clear hierarchy ranks the elements on the page and influences the reader on the order of what to look at, where the image stands out first and then the highlighted post. It allows the image and the highlight post to stand out on the landing page.
User Interaction + Page Flow
Something that popped up to me while looking at the site is that the sidebar might be a little repetitive with the recent post as the main page had contained the post already. I’m also wondering if it is on purpose or not but for the widgets, the archive and categories are doubled on the sidebar. Perhaps reducing some widgets from the sidebar while leaving it still accessible might be better. Also, for accessible interaction purposes, it might be nice to have a footer menu as well, since it will be easier for readers to click on it instead of having to scroll all the way back up to navigate different pages.
Social Media Integration
Social media account was mentioned on the about page and with an amazing amount of follows, which is impressive. I like how it was mentioned on the about page, however, it might be nice to have it on the landing page or have a link for audiences to click into. I also suggest maybe complete (add the social media link onto the page) or remove the contact page to reduce the number of steps in the user flow.
Extra Design Decision (Image Treatments)
I found that the mini assignment 3 is fascinating with the evolution of cars and there were really nice photos, a few were kind of blurry but otherwise, the image treatment was nice. Adding on to that the story assignment fits into the theme of the site.
Overall, Nathan’s site is very functional and very informative which fits the theme of the blog. The blog’s overall design is well thought out and really helps deliver the intended information. Even though I might not be a huge fan of reading about cars but the design provides clean structure creates legibility. Looking forward for more information and definitely recommended to car lovers!
References
Gertz, Travis. (2015) “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital apocalypse.”
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