Week 3 Part A: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding

    For websites that I have a personal issue with, I'll start off with "https://sandiego.craigslist.org/". The three main problems that I noticed immediately is a lack of design, life, and direction. To begin with the critique on design, it lacks any sort of theme. Staring at it feels like reading a table of contents or scrolling through a Wikipedia page. Nothing particularly speaks out or "gives it any life" which may dissuade users from wanting to browse and explore the website, given their seemingly dismissive welcome. Additionally, since all the topics and subtopics are grouped together on one tight page, people may find it annoying to read through it all despite the separation and labels. It definitely seems like this website has all the necessary information down, so the only thing I would recommend is to add warm and easy-to-look-at decorations and life while maybe spacing texts out with an increase in font size! A second website that I found to be quite daunting upon entering was "https://best-electronics-ca.com/". Similar to the Craigslist website, this lacks an eye-catching theme and in turn displays a cram of words and text with little to no sense of guidance, design, or life. Once again, I believe that in terms of containing the proper information, nothing seems to be lacking. However, spreading out the info into easy-to-read sections all while being pleasant to the eye through even just some simpler design would be a great way to improve this website in my opinion. 

    One very eye-catching website that I enjoyed browsing was "https://gatesnfences.com/". Although unique to its own and I can see some people who oppose this style of design and theming, I think this is a great example of an improved version of the two websites mentioned above! Although containing a similar "spew of information on one page" style, this website did it with the great incentive of details and design that acts as pointers for the readers. This came with a great color selection that made it very easy and pleasing to the eye. On top of that, this website used many picture illustrations to further enhance the visual appearance! Finally, my personal favorite website that I was able to explore had to be "https://www.pennyjuice.com/". Garnering a very different look and style from the previous three, this feels way more "modern" which I can agree is subjective to one's liking. However, to point out its objective positives, every piece of info is very clear and concise, with great guidance to further information. On top of that, their simple yet eye-catching design made me feel very "at home" while browsing throughout. All in all, it just looks a lot more "professional" both on the outside and the inside with its ample amounts of informative and directional texts!

    In conclusion, I try to be open-minded when it comes to aesthetics and design, but I found it a bit challenging to push that away. I personally prefer a more modern style, complementing the saying "less is more" while still feeling very warm and welcoming. What I learned after looking at not only these four, but all the websites linked for us, is that any style of creation can work, the ones that seemingly can't are just layouts for what it could become. All websites start somewhere, and although some look atrocious up front, that doesn't mean that changes and adjustments can't be made over time!