This rather interesting, fascinating, and constipating assignment sent me to the deep dark realm of the infamous CSS. As I enjoyed the wide variety of benefits involved in the Firefox Web Developer Tool bar (fabulous tool by the way) I began to realize that this web design jazz is not as simple as I thought it would be. In fact, CSS is downright SCARRRY! I surfed to the most loved and loathed MySpace site and hesitantly applied the View CSS option. AAAARRGGH! A list the size of the Bible appeared before me featuring headers, footer, fonts, background colors, tables, links, images, what have you. I applied the Print Preview option to receive a mediocre copy of MySpace’s page in print friendly view. I have a great respect for those geniuses who are able to apply these CSS Rules with their hands tied behind their backs. Curiously, I decided to escape the clutches of MySpace and move on the Hasbro’s My Little Pony website. I had no idea those lil ponies involved soooooo many CSS rules! Background styles, image styles, colors….. oooh the colors, links, borders, headers, margins, columns, and widgets? Excited to put a picture of this site on my wall, I applied the Print Preview option. My Little Pony’s print preview was not that bad. It did look very different from the website and the images were still available in their overly-colored glory. I have a very long road to travel before I can add up to those My Little Ponies, yet we have to start somewhere.
I stumbled upon a challenge assigned to me by my Web Design instructor to find four websites matching the four common color schemes Monochromatic, Complementary, Triad, and Analogous. I fished through the world wide web to come up with these four possibilities.
I thought Hershey’s.com was a great example for the Monochromatic color scheme. Hershey’s features a rich brown tinted with a neutral brown followed by a light gray and silver hue.
The following site features fabulous e-cards, yet the site is a bit of a headache inducer. Jacquie Lawson exhibits the Complementary color scheme with the bold blues and reds.
The Harlem Globetrotters brings out the dark yellows, blues, and reds necessary for the Triad. This scheme in particular was a tough one to follow due to it’s over exaggerated brightness.
Last but not lease and one may beg to differ, I felt the Homies World website expressed an accurate Analogous scheme. It’s bright oranges tapering off into a dark red reflected this color schemes artistic simplicity.
Exiting the world of color schemes leaves me with the wonder of possibility; how color could affect the general purpose in web design. Wow, what an experience.
I believe the key to Typography reflects upon the interest and creativity of a web page. The fonts must grab the reader and encourage them to remain enthusiastic about the website for days, months, or even years to come. One of the websites I visit alot, Realtor.com at http://www.realtor.com/ expresses clear, consistent fonts which are simple to follow and quaintly colored. The letter flow is basic expressing the simplicity of navigating throughout such a complex site involving real estate. Although the lettering in some layouts is pretty small, it is just small enough to be readable and to allow additional information to be entered, leaving no loose ends.
As I was admiring horse pics, I had come across Best Horse Photos.com at http://www.best-horse-photos.com/index.html with a puzzling font. According to the theme of the site, I didn’t feel that the font matched the site’s intentions. The script is incredibly bold and rather loud, perhaps appropriate for a gaming site. The informative paragraphs produced a congested layout that appeared rushed and drew me away from the content. I feel the author of this site could have been a little more creative regarding the site’s construction, at least linking the text to the artistic view of horse pictures. I’m not talking about Palace Script or anything fancy shmancy, perhaps a nice Lucinda Calligraphy font may have been acceptable.
Have you ever encountered a website that tried to sabotage you? You know what I mean, the one that makes you want to toss your $2,000 machine out the window? Well hold on to your seats folks, the worlds WORST website just happens to be UAF’s Blackboard Learning System. I have struggled with this disgusting site for almost four years, yet I am forced (with a gun to my head) to deal with it until my student years are over. The unfortunate events of Blackboard lie completely beneath it’s support center; I do apologize to those who work for them, I mean no offense 
. My Blackboard sessions have not been updated for three years and I do enjoy encountering my old classes every time I open up my course list, YAHOO! If there are quizzes posted on Blackboard, the Auto Correct method is just not accurate. I can’t count on my fingers how many times I’ve had to contact my professors in order to re-correct my work. I did enjoy the prompt regarding a new password each year, yet it would have been nice if I could actually use my new password! Yes, Blackboard is a nightmare and yes, it does make me want to smash my PC in. I am destined to be held hostage under the wrath of this website until the bitter end of my student career. Thanks Blackboard!
