Nothing particularly new or innovative about this, but I think it’s a good example of a website done well. The overall style is pretty good and there is some good attention to detail.
There are a couple of issues with links, ie. a missing hoverstate and text i didn’t realise was a link.
I’m not really a fan of the large sub heading box on the internal pages.
Apart from that, I really quite like the use of typography, the logo and the details thrown in.
My eyes kind of get lost with all of the different styles in the FAQ, but otherwise, I like the font choices and logo. I also like the color scheme.
I’m not %100 on board with the cartoony form fields, but I know that’s the style they were trying to capture.
Lastly, I’ve just never really been a huge fan of italics as over states. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been able to get it to work right, but I would have been just as satisfied with a more traditional over state (whatever that means).
Like the colors and typography… the subtle textures and cool illustrations are great too.
The radial process buttons on the homepage, however, seem quite out of place or unnecessary. Might be better to just embrace the white space, or place it underneath the ‘About Us’ and ‘Good Fit’ content. The italic hover state is kinda weird too, but it doesn’t take away from anything.
I’m getting some rather large usability niggles, currently in my Chrome browser…
The “Fire When Ready” doesn’t do anything, creates a script error of some kind.
The form page for submitting a project, will not go away, there’s no way to leave the form without submitting it possibly, or I’m just missing it.
Clicking off the form did not make the shadow box go away.
hmmm…
Love the illustration.
I like the logo, illustrations, roll overs, and the footer. Not digging the serif typography (seems too formal compared to the rest of the site) or the sections that you can’t click to navigate away/back from, such as “Order Now” and the “Client Login”, though the latter of those examples probably is just nitpicking.
@tdub Can you please look at yourself in the mirror before criticizing other people’s work? Look at your (ap3r)ture logo. A good designer could probably create a better one using Word Art. And your TasteRoom design is fugly, fugly, fugly!!
I know you’re going to once again say that this isn’t about your work but the site that is showcased here. But aren’t you nitpickers embarrassed to comment on something you aren’t even good at?
If you looked like Ugly Betty for example, wouldn’t it just be plain inappropriate to go parading saying that Barbara Streisand is ugly? Well, that’s probably a lame sample, but you get the point. Aren’t you embarrassed? I don’t ask for a lot but even just a little embarrassment?
Sometimes people see things that the designer doesn’t, no matter their experience. I’ve seen multiple examples of ordinary people saying “I don’t get the design… is that supposed to be a letter A? Where’s the line in the middle?”
Even without a molecule of design in them, they just gave the designer a critical piece of information that could improve the design in order for more people to understand it.
Brushing away critique / suggestions without first checking their validity because of their source is a bit arrogant in my personal opinion.
Let’s take tdub’s comments for example: the serifs. Have you tried changing the fonts to a san serif? You can easily do so with a browser tool like Firebug. I did, and guess what, tdub has a point.
The sans made the site feel younger, friendlier, much like how the illustrations do. Was the use of serif a bad choice? Not really. But the serif is a bit more serious in comparison – so my guess is that the designers felt that maybe using a sans would come off as being TOO friendly, and might alienate some of the older potential buyers.
I’m not saying all the critics are right, but you can learn a lot from them. The message is the one that’s important, not the messenger.
It’s obvious John has no business being on a website like this, as his comments are both never about the site that’s showcased (for some reason he’s decided to attack the site of the agency I work for), and lacks anything relevant to any verbiage used in the industry, excluding the expertly articulated “fugly”. Get over yourself, John, and either be a contributing member of this site and act like an adult or leave; It’s that simple. I can only assume you’re jealous, as you have no site linked of your own, or are upset that I’m doing something I love, making money from it, and having an ever growing clientele. I’m not at all embarrassed. If I was, I wouldn’t link to our site. Out of respect to the author of Awesome JS and N.Design, this is the last retort I’ll post against John, as all it does is clutter up the comments with self-admitted mindless drivel.
I dont think the site tdub links to is bad by any means and if they are getting business then obviously they are doing something right and in all fairness they didnt say they designed the tasteroom site, they said they did back end elements and photography. I guess john cant read very well.
I understand all the negativity being thrown your way as your comment was just a little too harsh and not really warranted.
I believe there are different levels of design, imagine along the lines of ‘TOP, MIDDLE and BOTTOM’, I appreciate what you’re trying to say but nobody should be bashed on their level of design, we all love what we do and there isn’t necessarily ‘BAD’ design because aslong as people are making a living and the client is happy with what we do, then so be it! Not everything has to be award winning to survive out there
And people are entitled to their opinions, some of us share the same views and others don’t, it’s just the way we are!
@Dudey, half the time it seems you don’t even have a side or stance, you just pick the opposite of popular belief or someones opinion and argue it, haha. Am I wrong?
Forgot to include that while it seems that way, I still do agree with you though. Some people just don’t know how to deal with criticism. Then again, (maybe not in this situation) comments like John’s verbalize a reality that everyone is either too nice to say or don’t even realize.
I try not to have a side as much as possible. Maybe that’s why it appears that way? I do read the comments if I’m not the first one to critique, and if something I’ve noticed has already been said, I do try to avoid repeating it (unless it truly is a glaring issue and really needs to be emphasized), and instead try to see what else hasn’t been mentioned or seen.
If I sometimes come across as playing the devil’s advocate, I assure you, it isn’t intentional.
We were torn with Serif vs San Serif for the body as well – ultimately went with the serif option since we decided it fit the retro-look better and like dudley mentioned it made it “more serious” Close call though.
The lack of a homepage link on the order form wasn’t an accident – but we’ll discuss this.
17 Comments
Nothing particularly new or innovative about this, but I think it’s a good example of a website done well. The overall style is pretty good and there is some good attention to detail.
There are a couple of issues with links, ie. a missing hoverstate and text i didn’t realise was a link.
I’m not really a fan of the large sub heading box on the internal pages.
Apart from that, I really quite like the use of typography, the logo and the details thrown in.
My eyes kind of get lost with all of the different styles in the FAQ, but otherwise, I like the font choices and logo. I also like the color scheme.
I’m not %100 on board with the cartoony form fields, but I know that’s the style they were trying to capture.
Lastly, I’ve just never really been a huge fan of italics as over states. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been able to get it to work right, but I would have been just as satisfied with a more traditional over state (whatever that means).
Like the colors and typography… the subtle textures and cool illustrations are great too.
The radial process buttons on the homepage, however, seem quite out of place or unnecessary. Might be better to just embrace the white space, or place it underneath the ‘About Us’ and ‘Good Fit’ content. The italic hover state is kinda weird too, but it doesn’t take away from anything.
Overall a lot to like here.
I’m getting some rather large usability niggles, currently in my Chrome browser…
The “Fire When Ready” doesn’t do anything, creates a script error of some kind.
The form page for submitting a project, will not go away, there’s no way to leave the form without submitting it possibly, or I’m just missing it.
Clicking off the form did not make the shadow box go away.
hmmm…
Love the illustration.
I like the logo, illustrations, roll overs, and the footer. Not digging the serif typography (seems too formal compared to the rest of the site) or the sections that you can’t click to navigate away/back from, such as “Order Now” and the “Client Login”, though the latter of those examples probably is just nitpicking.
@tdub Can you please look at yourself in the mirror before criticizing other people’s work? Look at your (ap3r)ture logo. A good designer could probably create a better one using Word Art. And your TasteRoom design is fugly, fugly, fugly!!
I know you’re going to once again say that this isn’t about your work but the site that is showcased here. But aren’t you nitpickers embarrassed to comment on something you aren’t even good at?
If you looked like Ugly Betty for example, wouldn’t it just be plain inappropriate to go parading saying that Barbara Streisand is ugly? Well, that’s probably a lame sample, but you get the point. Aren’t you embarrassed? I don’t ask for a lot but even just a little embarrassment?
@John:
Sometimes people see things that the designer doesn’t, no matter their experience. I’ve seen multiple examples of ordinary people saying “I don’t get the design… is that supposed to be a letter A? Where’s the line in the middle?”
Even without a molecule of design in them, they just gave the designer a critical piece of information that could improve the design in order for more people to understand it.
Brushing away critique / suggestions without first checking their validity because of their source is a bit arrogant in my personal opinion.
Let’s take tdub’s comments for example: the serifs. Have you tried changing the fonts to a san serif? You can easily do so with a browser tool like Firebug. I did, and guess what, tdub has a point.
The sans made the site feel younger, friendlier, much like how the illustrations do. Was the use of serif a bad choice? Not really. But the serif is a bit more serious in comparison – so my guess is that the designers felt that maybe using a sans would come off as being TOO friendly, and might alienate some of the older potential buyers.
I’m not saying all the critics are right, but you can learn a lot from them. The message is the one that’s important, not the messenger.
@John he just gave a critique. He didn’t say anything out of the way. You would think the internet would give people thicker skin by now
It’s obvious John has no business being on a website like this, as his comments are both never about the site that’s showcased (for some reason he’s decided to attack the site of the agency I work for), and lacks anything relevant to any verbiage used in the industry, excluding the expertly articulated “fugly”. Get over yourself, John, and either be a contributing member of this site and act like an adult or leave; It’s that simple. I can only assume you’re jealous, as you have no site linked of your own, or are upset that I’m doing something I love, making money from it, and having an ever growing clientele. I’m not at all embarrassed. If I was, I wouldn’t link to our site. Out of respect to the author of Awesome JS and N.Design, this is the last retort I’ll post against John, as all it does is clutter up the comments with self-admitted mindless drivel.
I dont think the site tdub links to is bad by any means and if they are getting business then obviously they are doing something right and in all fairness they didnt say they designed the tasteroom site, they said they did back end elements and photography. I guess john cant read very well.
@John
I understand all the negativity being thrown your way as your comment was just a little too harsh and not really warranted.
I believe there are different levels of design, imagine along the lines of ‘TOP, MIDDLE and BOTTOM’, I appreciate what you’re trying to say but nobody should be bashed on their level of design, we all love what we do and there isn’t necessarily ‘BAD’ design because aslong as people are making a living and the client is happy with what we do, then so be it! Not everything has to be award winning to survive out there
And people are entitled to their opinions, some of us share the same views and others don’t, it’s just the way we are!
Good day…
@Dudey, half the time it seems you don’t even have a side or stance, you just pick the opposite of popular belief or someones opinion and argue it, haha. Am I wrong?
Forgot to include that while it seems that way, I still do agree with you though. Some people just don’t know how to deal with criticism. Then again, (maybe not in this situation) comments like John’s verbalize a reality that everyone is either too nice to say or don’t even realize.
@Rich:
I try not to have a side as much as possible. Maybe that’s why it appears that way? I do read the comments if I’m not the first one to critique, and if something I’ve noticed has already been said, I do try to avoid repeating it (unless it truly is a glaring issue and really needs to be emphasized), and instead try to see what else hasn’t been mentioned or seen.
If I sometimes come across as playing the devil’s advocate, I assure you, it isn’t intentional.
Appreciate the feedback.
We were torn with Serif vs San Serif for the body as well – ultimately went with the serif option since we decided it fit the retro-look better and like dudley mentioned it made it “more serious” Close call though.
The lack of a homepage link on the order form wasn’t an accident – but we’ll discuss this.
Cheers
I really like this site. My only gripe would be that I feel like there might be a few too many typefaces? I dunno if it is just me thinking that.
Over all however, this site makes me jealous
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