Okay, two things ruined the site for me: the red boat in the middle, and the red-white stripes at the top.
If you’re going to go for an old century feel, you need to be consistent, otherwise the elements won’t mix well – why is the red boat not a galleon like in the logo? That would’ve been a great brand opportunity, but it was missed. In fact, before anyone says “it’s a peg on a map”, keep in mind it’s not even the same art style. Maybe if it was in wood or metal? But it looks like red plastic.
The red-white stripes were obviously inspired by the lifebuoy/lifesaver/kisby ring, but I had this nagging feeling it didn’t fit in the same time period, so I did a bit of searching. All it took was 5 minutes to find out that red-white lifebuoy’s are a fairly modern application. Galleon’s are 16th century ships, and illustrated maps with squids et al are also rather antique, whereas widespread adoption of lifebuoy’s only began around the late 17th / early 18th century, which means the standardized safety stripes were not implemented until sometime after.
Which probably explains why you don’t see them in Pirates of the Caribbean (similar time period).
I have to agree with triple d here. The site lacks some small details that could have made this site more cohesive. The red boat for one, the other ‘shipwreck??” silhouettes throughout the background too; these should have conveyed the olde look. More research was necessary to find better engraving/hand-drawn images in those cases.
Totally excellent. The only prob is the boat in the middle. I didn’t even know that was a boat. They could have made the boat more detailed to look like a boat, and perhaps some animated ripples around it to make it look like it was in water. Overall: excellent. They could even just remove the boat and it would still be excellent.
There’s a mindset in which these sites are made that I can’t seem to appreciate. There’s a ton of great elements, but the way they’re thrown together makes it feel like it says “Look! We’re designers too!”
11 Comments
some lovely illustrations throughout this one!
Okay, two things ruined the site for me: the red boat in the middle, and the red-white stripes at the top.
If you’re going to go for an old century feel, you need to be consistent, otherwise the elements won’t mix well – why is the red boat not a galleon like in the logo? That would’ve been a great brand opportunity, but it was missed. In fact, before anyone says “it’s a peg on a map”, keep in mind it’s not even the same art style. Maybe if it was in wood or metal? But it looks like red plastic.
The red-white stripes were obviously inspired by the lifebuoy/lifesaver/kisby ring, but I had this nagging feeling it didn’t fit in the same time period, so I did a bit of searching. All it took was 5 minutes to find out that red-white lifebuoy’s are a fairly modern application. Galleon’s are 16th century ships, and illustrated maps with squids et al are also rather antique, whereas widespread adoption of lifebuoy’s only began around the late 17th / early 18th century, which means the standardized safety stripes were not implemented until sometime after.
Which probably explains why you don’t see them in Pirates of the Caribbean (similar time period).
C’mon designers, you can do better.
I have to agree with triple d here. The site lacks some small details that could have made this site more cohesive. The red boat for one, the other ‘shipwreck??” silhouettes throughout the background too; these should have conveyed the olde look. More research was necessary to find better engraving/hand-drawn images in those cases.
On that topic, I think it would have been more suiting for the site to look like an old map, with Sepia toned images instead of the blue… like this:
http://www.rsna.org/rsna/media/pr2004/images/benson/Benson1_03_map_old.jpg
The layout/grid work is not too eye-pleasing either – particularly in the “Who’s onboard” section, (which should be spelled: on-board, btw.)
Cool concept, bad execution.
Who put that lego in the middle of the map?
Quote Marshall… nice site and good illustration!
Totally excellent. The only prob is the boat in the middle. I didn’t even know that was a boat. They could have made the boat more detailed to look like a boat, and perhaps some animated ripples around it to make it look like it was in water. Overall: excellent. They could even just remove the boat and it would still be excellent.
There’s a mindset in which these sites are made that I can’t seem to appreciate. There’s a ton of great elements, but the way they’re thrown together makes it feel like it says “Look! We’re designers too!”
IMHO usual site!
Nothing outstanding there is no…
The concept of layout is not fully thought through.
See capture – http://twitpic.com/3yk3ao/full
It is just one page site and Google PR is 0. The colors are dull and lifeless what is so unique about this site
Why do you care that the PR is 0? That seems incredibly knitpicky to me. Discuss the design and not the result of some un-knowable algorithm.
That’s a good illustrations !!!