New Art Exchange

Because Gold factory is based around contemporary artists I thought the ideal place to gain some ideas would be around other art websites.

I got the idea of the New Art Exchange website when we went to visit the museum early on in the year. Like the Gold factory site it has been kept to a very minimal design however you are immediately welcomed with a strong image that clearly shows the viewer that the website is based around art.

Rather then sticking to a white background they have used a light gradient that is subtle yet makes the background stand out but not take the focus away from the images. They have unusually used two striking colours (purple and pink) for the titles but it works well, with the light background. They have kept to the light background/bold titles throughout the site, what I found interesting was that the background tone change with the colour of the title i.e. when the title turned turquoise the background to a light gradient turquoise.

The designers have taken the users into consideration by looking at the text. Even though they have used a grey font (which may be hard to see with some users) they have given it a bold look, using a simple and easy to read font. I feel that having the font bigger has used up page space, making users scroll down the page more; it is not a big problem however internet users do not have a very big attention span.

The photography used really brings out a strong impression of the museum, they each show different aspects of the museum giving the user a strong idea on what the museum does. The images are clearly the main focal point and I get the impression that because they used such big imagery they made the text at a larger size. I think that the imagery was the best part of the site, it could be a smaller size but maybe having the image at such a large size really makes a strong impact on the viewers impression on the museum.

They have put two navigation bars placed at the top and the bottom. It has been laid out easily enough so the user can click on the link and be shown sub links, they have all been labeled easily so the user knows exactly what page they are being sent too.

The site is a perfect example of what a contemporary artist web site should look like; with its simplistic look and easy navigation, not to mention only inputting the information that the users are looking for. They do not completely give away what the exhibitions are about, giving the users a taster of the artists work leaving them with curiosity.