Good & Bad Website Designs

GOOD DESIGN. [ 9Gag.com ]



9Gag.com is one of my favorite websites to go to when I'm bored and have absolutely nothing to do. This website is basically a collection on cool, weird, and funny images and videos found floating around the 'net. It is very minimal. The interface and layout (sleek header, simple color palette, not busy at all, centered & vertical content) are very pleasing to the eye. (The logo and header colors also change during holidays but NOT go over board--I love it!) A great feature is the ability to switch your view from list to grid. I also appreciate the option to scroll up (or previous page), down (or next page), and favorite the content by using the keys J, K, and L, respectively. I can spend hours in this site and not get frustrated by a busy layout or worry about annoying advertisements or blocks of text.


HORRIBLE DESIGN. [ yvettesbridalformal.com ]
(WARNING. Disturbing content ahead?)



If I can include a 'nsfw' tag on this website, I totally would. This website was circulating on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I should share this hideous excuse for a "legitimate" website; so how and where do I begin to critique this design phenomenon? First of all, the website url is yvettesbridalformal.com, yet the title is Yvette's Wedding Dresses Panama City Florida Yvette's Yvette's... lovely.

But that is nothing compared to the layout. If I stare at it any longer than 3 minutes, I just might get an brain aneurysm. Now this is where I have difficulty nit-picking the bad design decisions from the main page alone; I will begin to list as much as I could:

1. THE BACKGROUND "MUSIC". Who in their right mind wants to hear your cellphone ringtone play on your website? This is not only annoying, but creepy as well. It's just unacceptable.
2. THE BACKGROUND + IMAGES. Everyone is entitled to their own way of designing a layout, whether using a repeating image, texture, or solid color, but everything gets lost once the images get placed randomly on top of a background that is way over the top. Keyword here: BUSY.
3. FONTS! The links, the text, the font size and styling... must I really have to go into detail with this one?
   
4. CONTENT. Yes, she sells bridal gowns, tuxedos, and jewelry accessories. But is it really a good idea to be posting up links to her "MSPaint Pix", "Recipes", her portrait painter, or even "Thermonuclear Apocalypse Salsa"...?
   
5. There are plenty more, but I'd rather you make the discovery by yourself, if you dare. ;)

"Established 1980"-- now does Yvette mean the website or business...? Makes me wonder.