Comments for Sonya's blog

Comment on More thoughts on my site by smdeane

smdeane — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:30:14 +0000

I know this isn’t your lasted blog posting with regard to your website design, but I wanted to go ahead and leave comments about your project.

Since our small group talk amost two weeks ago, you made significant strides in your approach and layout. I found that your integration of photos and text on your subject, in addition to the availability of different languages (I know we talked about that option in our group talk) will not only draw in transnational audiences but contribute to the study of modern architecture in Spain.

The two points that stick out from class comments and agree with include:1) Pages are a bit text heavy, and 2) Layout design for each page requires a little more “fine-tuning”. It would mean using succinct descriptions and tying together the colors, motif, and photos. Personally, I like the idea of your motif on every page, but it would be helpful to know how and why you came up with it. Perhaps you could use a “roll-over” to explain the design you created.

Question: Are you going to have a section dedicated to scholarly interpretations? Sorry, I cannot remember. If not, I think it would be beneficial to your site.

Your photos are fabulous; they almost speak on their own! But of course, your accompanying text with detailed information will bring insight to the each structure, and I think it will create more interest in architecture from interdisciplinary fields too.

Comment on Project at hand by Mike Harding

Mike Harding — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:48:40 +0000

I’m always sort of suspicious of letting something “speak for itself”, especially if there is a narrative, no matter how minimal, that’s being conveyed. I like the idea of selecting fonts and so on that both mediate and help bind a site together. I have stumbled across sites that are both minimalist yet very consistent in message and flow. If you do go with some specialized font be sure and test it on several different browsers and platforms (Windows and Apple). I have seen some very nice modernist fonts look quite nice on one platform but look pretty hideous on another.

I like the idea of providing building locations. Would there be some connection to a mapping utility such as that provided by Google? I know that may sound a bit “touristy” but for visual people like me having a map provides important context for the building. Just a thought….

Comment on Project at hand by meconnors

meconnors — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:01:58 +0000

I think you’re asking all the right questions, or at least your questions are sounding similar to mine, so if nothing else you’re in good company I think how you want to make your site appear is entirely up to you (I guess that doesn’t really help, but seriously!) I don’t think it would be cheese to emulate a modernist design in your site at all because I think that would really drive home to the viewer what kind of site they are viewing. Of course you can equally argue that you just want each image to speak for themselves and not interfere with too much design (I’m thinking in particular about several weeks ago in class when we looked at the National Gallery of Art site where the background was plain white, which made the images really stand out)

I will be interested to see what you decide and I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone to hopefully help with not just my ideas, but also those of the group.

Comment on Project at hand by smdeane

smdeane — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:45:13 +0000

To answer your question: First of all, I do not think it is, as you say, “cheesy to emulate artistic sensibility of modernism” in your website design. On the contrary, I believe it is important to integrate some architectural cues via graphics, fonts, or icons that reinforce the modern theme. However, at the same time I believe it is also important to strike a “balance” between artistic design and clear, cohesive information on modern architecture in Barcelona, Spain. In otherwords, I recommend that you combine some artistic elements in a way that does not interfere with the beauty of the architecture.

Questions for you: For my clarification, of the 115 (plus more) different buildings represented in Barcelona, my question is do you plan to include all of these buildings along with biographies, historical narratives, links, etc. including photographs for each? If so, that’s a lot of information…you will need assistance in your research, so don’t forget to include additional funds for assistance in your grant request. Also, do you plan on breaking up the material into certain time periods since there are so many buildings, and make it more digestible to your audience? What will you say on your website or do in practical terms to target your audience…it would be helpful to clear about your audience.

I think you have a great idea, and I look forward to getting together in our group to discuss this all face-to-face!

Comment on Hello world! by Mr WordPress

Mr WordPress — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:52:41 +0000

Hi, this is a comment.
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