Brother Richard Oliver OSB

Monk of Collegeville, Minnesota

 

 

Review of Sarah Kelly

Sudz and Jiggy

I like the cool, understated palette that suggests clean beaches and clear water. I like the driftwood graphic for the navigation bar. Clever. The graphic of the wharf is also very effective, leading the eye from right to left and then down into the navigation bar.

The "Pirate Inspired" font works well in all caps, but it took me some time to decipher "... sitting on the beach earning 20%." The deep purple looks black on my monitor, but the decision to use a triadic scheme is a good one.

Losing the palm tree and background texture simplified the design, made the white space more effective, and promotes clarity. The effect is a little sun-drenched. Maybe the colors, as suggested elsewhere, could be enriched. On the other hand, not all of your graphics are in place, If some of them are dark, the contrast with the pale color scheme could be striking.

I'm not sure if the rounded boxes are just placeholders or permanent features of the design. Perhaps not all of the elements need to be so enclosed. The boxes, although subtle, look less "natural" than the beach environment you capture so well.

I think, Sarah, you have brought the design through the development process with improvements at every stage. The end result is a website design that is novel, welcoming, colorful, appropriate for the website's purpose, and successful. Good work.

Richard Oliver

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Review of Steve Petersen

Essential Basketball

I really like the simplicity and clarity of "Essential Basketball." This is appropriate for a website about "No-Frills Basics." The generous use of white space fosters "readability."

I like the subdued color scheme of split complementaries. For such a hot sport as basketball, the website is quite cool. The spare use of orange only in the heading and hover is quite effective. Making the players shirts match the subdued blue background is an inspired way to create harmony.

I like your choice of highly legible fonts that support the website's purpose. The horizontal rather than the expected vertical presentation of the elements in the Shockwave navigation menu is a surprise, but it seems to work for 3 or 4 items. Maybe the main navigation items could be in bold face to make them less shy?

I wonder about the repetition of "Home - Contact - FAQ - Links" in the footer.

The left-hand text on its side conveys to me a reminder of a file-card data system that might be appropriate for the goals of the website, but I find the irregular angle of the text more distracting than helpful.

Perhaps "Essential Basketball" could be a bit brighter, less drop shadow or a lighter color for outlining the letters?

Congratulations, Steve. You started with a good idea of where you were going with the comp and you incorporated new learning into the development of a fine production.

Richard Oliver

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Saint John's Abbey
31802 County Road 159
Collegeville, MN 56321-2015
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Rev. 05 Aug 2007 / Disclaimer
www.employees.csbsju.edu/roliver/hwg/design/