XI. Sanjeev Shankar

XI. Sanjeev Shankar http://www.sanjeevshankar.com/

Navigation:
The website is very straight forward. What you see is what you get! Unlike other website that people have to navigate around to understand the structure. The overall website has 5 different clickable categories; however, the center image of the home page is also clickable. The center image leads people to the most recent project. This is a really good strategy to keep people to revisit the website. Once people visit the website, they can just click on the center image on the home page to know what the most updated project is. Obvious there are hierarchy in the website; however, it does not show clearly with designed layout. Most of the sub-category list is not clear defined with different color, different font, etc. The website is to promote Mr. Shankar’s art work. The way the project divided into different category is really bright. Projects are either “studio work” or “professional work”. Also “research” is another interesting category. People are able to know where the artiest get his inspirations. There is no confusion and people can go back and forth between pages and all the category options are always list on the top banner. Overall the website is really easy to navigate around, but the graphic is really weak. The stronger graphic of the website is a plus to the artiest.

Architecture:
The structure of the website illustrates the clarity of the artist’s thought as clear and straight forward. From the design and the structure of the website, people know that the website is just focusing on artiest, himself and his work. By looking at his “professional work”, people are willing to notice the potential of artiest. The permanent menu banner and non additional navigator allow people to swatch navigation anytime and the consistent layout keep people orientated.

Content / Typography:
By looking at the typography, people will know that the artiest probably spend most of time on the art work. The content of the website is clear shown; however, the lack of the design makes it not as interesting as other website. If the image is the focus, it should be bigger. If the text is the focus, it should layout in a way that allows people to read then easier. The font on the site maybe is not the best choice. Since this is the artist website, the visual effect is really important especially the home page as how it would catch people with their first glance.

Grid / Structure:
Some pages are with consistent grid system but not all. The inconsistent structure will weaken the website and lose people from navigate around. The main menu always located at the same upper banner and the list of the sub-categories is below and the content covers the rest of the page throughout most of the exploring experience. The only issue is the most of the information pages, “research”, “about” and “contact”. All the text is line up on the very left edge of the page, which is a little distracting.

Iconography / Imagery:
There is not a lot of iconography at this simple website. Because of the purpose of the website is to promote an artist’s work; the quality of images are the key. After click into either “studio work” or “professional work”, the page show a list of the sample image of each project. By click on each sample image, people will allow to see more image of the same project with information. All the images are displayed with decent size that allows people to have clear understanding of the project. Beside the images, there is not much to say about the website because of its simplicity. The major thing that I would change is the font. It shows that the designer did not put lot thought into it, which shouldn’t be. The font type or size or color will affect the overall design of the website and the quality of it.

Color Palette:
The contrast between the background, the font color and images emphasis the purpose of the website. The black background does not just stress the text but also all the images, which is the key of the website. Overall color palette works really well for most part of the website. Only the text dominated page does not work as well as images page. Not just as what I said earlier that all the texts are align to the left edge then cross the whole width of the page is not attracting. The colors between the different headings are not much different. If the text can align to the center of the page as how the images are place on the other page, graphically the website will already improve a lot. Also the text color and size should have identified different and enough spacing between lines, which will allow people to read the context easier.

Site Focus:
The main purpose of the website is to promote an artist’s work, which is shown obviously with good quality of images. The simplicity of the website allows people to navigate around easily; however, it might lose people’s interest. The publicity and the background and the experience of the artist are illustrated really precisely and evidently, which might attract some potential clients. The only thing that needs to be considered is the graphic of the website.