Axioms of Web Design

www.newrepublic.com


Business/Communication Objectives - In my opinion this site communicates it's objectives in a semi-clear way.  With this particular content it becomes difficult because the content itself is so broad.  However it is clear to me right off the bat that this site regards politics/current events.  After a bit of exploration it becomes more clear where this website stands and what it's specific communication objectives are.

Strong Grid - I think this site has a well laid-out grid.  I like the abundance of negative space, I like the positioning of the text and pictures.  It isn't too busy, but I wouldn't mind seeing some stronger lines.

Lower Right - I thought it was clever from a business standpoint to put the 'sign up' box in the lower right on this page.  Right below that they have an advertisement for the magazine that this site is collateral for.

Continuity - This site isn't designed with a lot of continuity, although it stays true to the subject matter throughout.  It isn't designed to be visually stunning, it puts more emphasis in the content rather than the  aesthetic look.

Intuitiveness - This site doesn't require much intuitiveness.  It's already clear what the links and different sections will display.  The text boxes below each category give a good preview of what each category contains.

Affordance - The environment created by this site doesn't center around affordance.  There isn't anything to do but to click on links and read.  It is less about entertainment and more about information and opinions.

Contrast - This is where this website fails.  It is very biased and specifically designed to be a channel for a very clearly defined political stance.  There isn't much contrast in the visual components of the site itself, as well as the content and information communicated.

Good Looking Means Easy - I think that this webpage does well in this category.  It is easy to read, easy to navigate, visually simple.  There isn't any distractions, there isn't even any ads crowding the gutters.  Its very clean-cut and straightforward and I like that aspect.

Converts - This site is specifically designed to be viewed on a variety of devices, including tablets and phones.  In fact, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes redesigned the website recently with specifically the conversion to aspect ratios in mind.  http://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170523571/facebook-co-founder-chris-hughes-redesigns-new-republic

Website Design

http://www.milwaukeepolicenews.com/#menu=home-page

This is the landing page for the Milwaukee Police Department.  I thought it was an impressive website for a police department as well as having a good aesthetic and coherent design.  It doesn't however format for a smaller screen, and much of the text is too small to be read on a phone or tablet.

http://www.newrepublic.com/

This website is great and communicating it's objective.  It's easy to navigate and follow and the spacing and design work great in my opinion.  This one is a little simpler than the one above, the images and headlines don't slideshow, everything stays in place.  It's not a very unique design but all together it works for me.