Reviews of Folklore Sites
Alyssa Bishop- Her concept is strong; the implementation is not quite there. As we scroll, the character in white sometimes interferes with the text which is something I would change. Also the flow of her images is a little shaky, the borders of certain images are obvious and don’t mesh well. However, her text is really easy to read which is an improvement over our initial critiques in class. I also think her imagery is simple, yet elegant.
Zac Brittner- The first things I notice are several widows and also that the text is in very large chunks. I would suggest breaking up the large columns of text more. Also, the page scrolls mostly down but it goes just slightly to the side which is distracting because we scroll just enough to reveal part of the image but the sideways scroll isn’t incorporated into the story. I do like his color palette with black, white, pale blue, and vibrant red. It makes the red really pop. His first title image is also really strong, I like the choice of text and font size.
Lauren Brown- not posted as of 12:30pm, 11-5-12
Rachel Calhoun- Rachel’s is really clever. For Rapunzel, she uses the image of hair falling out a window as the point of focus for scrolling. But as the story continues, I don’t think the imagery matches because we have hair falling down a tower, into a well, and underground, but there is nothing else introduced that has to do with the story (characters, setting, etc). Also it seems like there’s a ton of text, way more than I want to read so I would simplify the story. Visually I think the texture of her image works, it is a grittier and has patterns instead of being solid colors. Also by putting the text on both sides of the page, it creates movement for our eye as we scroll, which helps the flow of the page.
Milt C.- Milt’s is really great. Even though it is only a few images, with little text, the images themselves are so unique and strong that it really makes me forget about the rest. This must have been really complicated; he used each text box as a link to the next image so you could just click each text box to skip to the next section instead of scrolling. His images are more abstract, but still really nice. Then there’s the border along the top and left side only. I think I like it even though most people would use all around border or none at all. I think it’s original and doesn’t interfere with the story. Honestly I can’t think of anything about this one I’d change.
Jake Cimba- Jake’s is also really impressive. His use of JQuery is similar to the Inception page I reviewed as he has created a lot of movement by objects to go with the movement as we scroll. And it is varied movement; one images rocks back and forth, another appears for a bit then disappears, there is a very original feel to this site. The text bothers me though, it is kind of small and can feel very alone sometimes when it’s just a line of text and a colored background. I would either add some imagery of spruce up the text to give those images more energy.
Mike Dawson- Not posted as of 12:30, 11-5-12
Brian Duncan- Interesting site. First off it has white along the entire side so was either not stretched of centered, which would have helped. I like his choice of folklore with “Inferno”, it’s an engaging tale. The photos he used work well with the story but the backgrounds he made are a little too simple. There are intricate statues of philosophers of old on plain colored rectangle backgrounds, it just doesn’t match. I also think his text is a weird combo, it starts out looking like 8-bit computer font then switches to a more gothic one then goes back to the 8-bit. It doesn’t mesh.
Mike Florence- Not posted as of 12:30, 11-5-12
Laura Keefer- Laura’s has issues. First, half the screen is blank: image not stretched. Second it is only three slides and all are the same images. She might as well just have put all the text on one. The text itself is overbearing, meaning there is too much. It takes up most of the slides and should be broken up more. One positive is her image would be nice if it was only one in a series, it’s vibrant and visually engaging, but this is lost on the seeming lack of effort for the rest.
Ryan Palaschak- Despite being rather long, Ryan’s fable is pretty well done. I like his choice of images and his composition of those images in the frame seems well-planned or at least moderately thought out. There is a good balance between image and text which has been an issue so far. However, Ryan’s also has the issue of being a sideways “scroller” but having a little scroll down room, which adds nothing to the story so it seems like it is a technical boundary issue that should have been fixed.
Liz Phillips- Liz and I discussed hers originally in class for ideas on improvement and she seemed to take most into account. Her text lines up with the action better and I think the look of her page is one of the better ones. It is simple, but not overly simple, and has good detail where needed. I very much enjoy the look. Some things I would change would be her text. Originally she had it above and below and I assume changed it to make it spatially more convenient for herself, which she did, but I would say it feels boring now with all the text lined up next to each other. It doesn’t lend enough movement to itself. Liz also had the same problem of being a sideways scroll but having to go down just a little. Everyone who does this makes it harder for the reader.
Evan Phillips- Evan has the reverse problem, his imagery doesn’t stretch far down enough so it scrolls sideways but has white at the bottom. I like his images, they fit the narrative well, but his borders stick out when the images are placed next to each other so I think he could have done something to improve the background so it flows easier. His text looks like Times New Roman or something like that is is very boring. For a folklore tale, I want to see a text that matches the story so it brings us into the story as opposed to feeling like we’re reading it which is the effect I got from this one.
Latiyfa Whitehead- This one looks really great; just has some minor technical issues. The story is a good choice and the page is centered and stretched properly for a change so the scrolling works well. There is something very artistic about her pictures; it reminds me of when Hadfield had us design original Olympic Logos. Her characters looks like design characters. The issue is she tried to use JQuery to jump from image to image like Milt, but hers is not as successful. Some work and some don’t. Sometimes there are two links in one frame and the first goes to the next frame and the second goes to the end of the story. And at the end of the story there are either no links at all or the links don’t go anywhere. I think it might have been at bit too much. It’s a nice concept when it works but overall unnecessary.
Sean Whitfield- Nothing posted as of 12:30, 11-5-12
Katie Withrow- First thing, spills down too far when it’s supposed to go sideways, why is everyone having this issue? Katie’s text has some placement issues. Her first slide has words on top of each other and for some reason at the beginning it says “end of story” and at the end “beginning of story” which makes no sense. But visually I think it’s fun. Her highly saturated color palette works for the story and the deep color choices really jump out which I like. Her text all is on the same line so I would scatter it a bit to create movement.
Justin Yaras- Nothing posted as of 12:30, 11-5-12