For our final shoe project, the site that I looked to for our layout was none other than http://www.allenedmonds.com/ it was one of the sites that I talked about in the last monthly review. It’s use of dark colors and minimalistic feel was what attracted me to it. The dark colors, gave the site a mature feel, which I wanted my site to be like. The layout is pretty clean, which I liked a lot. It has the basic everything that a site needs, which is the logo in the corner that will connect the viewer back to the home page, a workable search bar, and a indication of when a consumer buys a product, he/she will know how much is in the “shopping bag”. And at the bottom, I guess you can call it the footer; there is a list of links that will show you to each page, without having the consumer try to find the page, through buttons.

The only texture, isn’t from the structure and base of the site, but by their products, and imagery. The imagery used are rich with the colors of nature and the patterns that decorate the shoes (clothes and their other products also makes up the texture) makes the site more interesting.

The search bar of JNS is not as complex as theirs, Allen Edmond’s search bar actually extends and gives you options when you start typing (almost like google), which I think will really help a consumer, if they’re searching for something basic, like ‘dress shoes’ different options pop up giving the consumer a range to choose from. My only concern is that the product page, isn’t really as attractive as the homepage, perhaps it’s the drop down field, or the surplus of information, but if I was a consumer, being enticed by the mature homepage, getting to this point in purchasing, I think I would feel a little disappointed honestly. They had a theme going on, and the feel of the product page, just feels cheap and completely lacks luster.

Past this point, once you add it to your bag, I think it’s really neat that once your cursor rolls over the shopping bag icon, a clear picture of the item you put there, and information, along with the price, and total, and quantity will be shown, and I feel that, it really gives the consumer an idea on what they are purchasing, and the maximum products you can really see is two, and the rest they tell you that it’s in the bag. In my opinion if it was only going to show you two of the products, then I think the feature is unneeded.

For JNS, I tried going for a similar feel like Allen Edmonds, we used the same dark color concept and structure, except instead of using a golden color like Allen Edmonds, we instead used a dark navy. Our site stands out because our shoes are bright in color, and the colors of the shoes doesn’t really clash with the site’s dark colors either, together with the site, it actually feels unified, it doesn’t feel cluttered or overwhelming. Our site in comparison is much simpler in comparison with Allen Edmonds, it has a structure that can handle additional shoes, (even in odd numbers) it’s a relatively clean and simple site, and that was what we were going for. Allen Edmonds, might just be a tad bit overwhelming, but they organize their information and options in a way that the consumer can understand and navigate. Consumers will like JNS for simplicity and easy navigation; it’s straight to the point, clean, and simple.