The Grid

Grid Vs Non Grid websites

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The following two websites I have chosen to analyse for Grid work are as follows

http://www.bbc.co.uk - Using a strict Grid system

http://www.willitblend.com/ - No real Grid used

The BBC Website

The BBC website is an information website. The main homepage has the latest headlines from its News part as well as other snippets.

• Is there a discernible Grid?

The BBC website is focused on using grids to display its content. Looking at the website I can see they use some mathematical formula strict grid system. This style is generally used across most of the news websites.

• Is all work contained within the grid?

Judging from the view of the website, everything on there is placed in a grid format and is not out of place/overlapping outside of the Grid area.

• Do any of the elements break out of the grid?

Again looking at the BBC Homepage there seems to be no delinquent element that offends the mathematical formula of a grid system. 

• If the elements break out which ones?

No element seems to be escaping the grid rules and everyone of those elements are in place where they should be.

• How do you think this effects the overall design? 

The effect of the overal design using a Grid based system is like Law and Order and no school drop outs to be seen. The website is given a professional look meaning the visitor will take the content seriously.

Will It Blend Website

"Will It Blend" is a website that advertises a powerful blender and contains demonstration videos that show how (awesome) strong their product is.

• Is there a discernible Grid?

Looking over the home page I see no mathematical grid being used and is just a regular non gridded website to me.

• Is all work contained within the grid?

With no strict grid in place elements are lot lining up with the contents adjacent to it. 

• Do any of the elements break out of the grid?

On this website Law and Order is out the window with wild elements doing what they want and will not conform the the long arm of the law.

• If the elements break out which ones?

The question should be which elements are staying in line! By the look of this site the elements are just willy nilliy added underneath the current content with no thought of a grid being used.

• How do you think this effects the overall design? 

The website is designed to be entertaining so not using a grid system seems to give the appearance that this site is designed to be relaxing and fun to look through. I am sure eventually they would want the visitor to buy their product after seeing the Blentek Blender in use :) 

Branding - Massachusetts Institute Of Technology

The website I have chosen to analyse is this Massachusetts Institute Of Technology.

Website: http://mit.edu/

Strong Tone Of Voice

On first inspection of the MIT website, it comes across as a fashion website due to the image in the center. The image in the center was in fact showing today's spotlight which was Spring Arts at the MIT.

The tone of voice I get from this website is professionalism. Serious about education and not a Micky Mouse project.

I get a sense of a strong tone of voice for this brand as the brand this website is trying to give out is high education standards at the MIT.

What is that Tone of Voice

The strong tone of vice is the professional look and the use of colour and structure with the focus being the center of the page. In this case its a picture of a woman looking sophisticated advertising Arts.

Elements Helping

The elements used on this website to give the brand a strong tone of voice are the use of colors effectively and spacing out the content for easy reading. Giving that crisp professionalism intrigues the visitor to find out more about this Institute. The Use of a rotating background quickly informs the user what this website is about and gives focus on the branding as being a professional institute for learning.

Analysis of:

Colour - The use of colours on the website works out and is pleasing to the eye. A consistent colour scheme ensures the branding is successful.

Layout - The layout of the elements is evenly spaced with the use of white space.

Content - The content is placed around the page leaving the center the focus for the advertising of the course of the day. For the purpose of branding having content evenly spaced in a consistent manner keeps the brand recognizable.

Imagery - The only image used on this website are the Logo in the top left and the main image that is the background. For branding purposes the logo in the corner is consistent keeping the branding image the user is used to.

Typography - The font used on this website is Arial which is a well used font type used on professionalism. Using a consistent font keeps the branding in focus.

Interactivity - ????

On further inspection browsing different pages of the MIT website there were some inconsistencies with the layout and colour scheme but only a select few. Most of the pages were of consistent design.