GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Hello, fellow classmates. It is I, Mai Vo.

I am honored to fix this notoriously horrible website: https://www.art.yale.edu/

I created the first layout in professional school style that matches Yale University's website and its competitors (Stanford, Princeton). I used the same color scheme and made the directory clean, inviting, and organized.

I wanted to create a much more aesthetic layout in the second version which I find is more artistically pleasing. I had fun creating the second because it was parallel to my style of designing; sleek and simple. I might continue with this one for my final and see what other improvements and adjustments I can add to make it more aesthetic.

Hi Mai,

Well done making both your concepts infinitely more eye-pleasing than the original. Even with no comparison, they're really strong. I know you said you like your second concept more because it's a little more minimal and simplistic. But I personally love your first one. And I think this is actually because its a bit more image heavy, and you did a really good job of laying them out in a nice irregular grid with consistent spacing that is BEAUTIFUL!..not everyone masters this. Also, I really like your font choice for your first concept. The rounded, sans-serif style gives it a clean and contemporary feel.

Hi Mai,
These are great! I love how you kept the page clean, professional and went with the same design as the University of Yales page. Both of these designs are great, and there's not really something I can think of changing. You simplified the information and made readable sections and tabs to find the information. Great job, can't wait to see the final result!

OMG, Mai! Are you actually trying to ~gasp~ tie the branding of the Yale Art website to YALE UNIVERSITY? The scandal of it all. Yale Art would gasp and turn away. Some student in back would start crying.

Believe it or not, I actually like the look of your first one better. I think it's the use of contrast. The splashes of dark and medium blue really come out against the white. Your header is a great framing element around your logo. I also like the geometry of it all. You've taken the web building blocks approach and really ran with it. One little subtle thing that stands out to me is how your spotlight photo hits the top, left, and bottom edges, while your gallery is more centered in it's space with well used margins. In fact, the whole design uses margins really well. I like how you space out the exhibitions on your computer inner page. Good photo selections, too. The photos really reinforce your content and show off different parts of the Yale School of Art, from the campus to student work. Your navigation is easy to see and use. And I like the underlined rollover/page indicator on your buttons. Good stuff!

One area where you could really strengthen this layout is alignments. You have so many hard edges, you could really play with them to create shapes and lines that are not there. For example, on the inner page of you mobile design, you could line up the left edges of your Yale logo, the "H" on your "Home" button, your headlines, image and bodycopy and create an invisible line on the left side of your document. You could do the same on the right by lining up the right edges of the "s" in "Arts", the "n" in "Admission", and your bodycopy to create a similar invisible right line. There are other opportunities to do this throughout your design. Poke it and see what happens.

BTW, in case anyone hadn't noticed, the Yale Art website has gotten worse since we checked up on it last. I think I might stop by and show it off in class tomorrow.

Nice work!

Hi Mai,
I like your first design a lot, it looks clean and the dark blue on the white looks nice. I cannot really think of what you could change to make it better, good job!

Hi Mai, I really like both of your designs and that you decided to tie it in more with the rest of the schools branding. I do prefer your first one though, I think haveing the solid blue spaces on it helps the design and makes it feel more complete. Good job!

Hi Mai,
These are definitely easier to look at. I like that you used a blue color scheme that is similar to the actual school's website, but it is still clearly it's own site, it's together but separate. I like your use of columns and grids for your images and info in your first designs, as well as that you have a distinguished header and navigation. In your second designs it took me a moment to realize what was what, but it is a cool idea to have the navigation centered and then the info and elements around it change depending on the page selected.

Hello Mai,

As you stated, you indeed made it sleek and simple. In the first one, you did a great job laying out the information, it was easy to read through all the information so that is a really good sign. I feel though "School" and "of Arts" feel a bit disconnected from each other, maybe bring them together a tad more.

I really like how you have four pictures together at different sizes. It's very simple but also adds a lot of visual interest. I really love the professional look of your site. Its really good and in my opinion its the better of the two.

Hello Mai,
I prefer your first website more because it looks professional, clean, and it looks like a college website. I really like the use of blue and white in the design, and how you included the picture of yale in the home screen. I also like how the layout looks when you click on a navigation button. I agree with Micheal, about the alignments. Great job, I'm looking forward to seeing it live!