Web Design Critique – Think Design Blog

For the second installment in my new feature I will be critiquing a website I am very fond of called the think design blog. If you like what you read please visit last weeks blog when I critiqued the web design ledger, for more of the same.

I chose think design as its a website which stinks of great design, I mean the whole site just wreaks of it. So as before I will be breaking the critique into the following topics.

Initial Impressions

The first impression of the site is the overwhelming inspiration that the site gives to the viewer. My eyes are immediately drawn to the strong inspiring header. I am lead down to the content. There is a clear welcome message which immediately helps me to identify what the site offers and who it is targeted at. I am then drawn lower to the content. the arrangement of colors and texture mean that by this point the design, which could be a hindrance if used as a background, has in fact faded to a highly readable off white. The use of advertisements offer a good revenue source, whilst not over whelming the design of the site. Below this a useful sidebar gives all relevant information about popularar posts and site links. A solid user friendly design.

Colors

The color scheme for think design really ties the website together seamlessly. Just looking at the design you can feel the flow of color leading your eyes from top to bottom. Its the careful attention to detail that keeps the use of textured images in harmony with the color scheme of the website. You are left asking yourself which came first, and to be honest its been done so well I couldn’t even hazard a guess.

Navigation

The navigation for the site although understated is still in keeping with the overall design. Current pages are highlighted in green and hover links the same. Part of the reason for the understated nature of the navigation is so as to not subtract from the beauty of the header. Yeah the website looks kick-ass and yeah the authors at thinkfour probably could have made the navigation much more imaginative, but I think one of the greatest measures of good design is not just the ability to know how to create, but also know when to stop. If the navigation was worked up as well, it might come off as over kill, the page would probably take longer to load and the overall essence of the design would be lost to the suffocation of style. This hasn’t happened because the author has demonstrated a clear knowledge of their craft, which is what has resulted in such a great site.

Identity

The colors and style  for the site all emanate from the logo. It has an authority over the design. Clearly the design has been centred around this brand identity. The logo itself is one of the best I have seen in a long time. I really like the use of opacity over the leather banner. Again this is a great example of the bold nature the website defines. The logo has a real sense of originality. I particularly like the way the ‘I’ does not have a dot even though its in lower case, its something that the eyes don’t even register until closer inspection. This attention to detail is what sets the Identity apart from other design. It also means that in future if new events and offshoots wish to be launched they can also share this technique to maintain the branding. I could spend all day going into the precise details of why I like this logo, needless to say its a very strong aspect of the overall design which has been executed with perfect precision.

Design

The overall design of the site is stunning, There simply is no other word for it. If you were to visit the site for the first time, it would simply mesmerize you, even if you weren’t a design orientated person. I know this has certainly been the reaction of many of my colleagues who I have shown this site to.

The site implements a very hip and up to date appeal. Its using the latest in design techniques, borrowing from ideas of print in design, which reminds me of a great seminar Elliot Jay Stocks gave on print in design trends. One of the things I really love about the site is its use of badges, It is something that’s popping up all over the web at the moment, but nowhere is it better applied than here.

The use of leather and threading combined with other textures is really what sells this design to me. Its like nothing else out their ar the moment, its bold, it flaunts itself, but most importantly its incredibly well put together. The footer also deserves a mention. a lot of designs falter because they don’t follow the design past the cut-line of the page, think design blog doesn’t do this, instead it keeps the flow by displaying a rich footer which compliments the rest of the design.

If I had to pick one weakness of the website, and this is really nit picking, I would question the use of a image for the initial introduction to the site. On other pages this is replaced by actual HTML text, so why not do away with this and use a more SEO and page load friendly solution? This is just my opinion of course, but It seems like the site is loosing out on its potential to be optimised. This is however a very very small issue.

Summary

Overall this site really does nothing but impress me. I has great content, which flows from the design and really has the ability to make its audience look in awe at the beauty and craftsmanship of the design, This is without a doubt one of my favourite websites at the moment and that is for all the reasons stated above. This is more than just a website sharing resources and inspiration, this is a source of inspiration. And for that I commend the designers.