Friday, February 13, 2009

Lupton Text

When thinking of a website that involves interaction and different type faces used to help the reader, I automatically thought of Google, which I probably use at least 15 times a day but have never actually sat down and analyzed the format of the website.
If you enter the website by simply going through google.com a giant logo and search box pop up.  The logo is easily recognized because of its vast use of colors for each letter.  Once a topic is searched the results pop up in large type and the titles are in blue to make them stand out against the small black description underneath.  The words that match your search are in BOLD so they stand out and you can see how often the terms pop up.  The actual website title in in green again contrasting other things on the web page so it can stand out to the viewer.  The same sans serif font is used for all the type on the page, so the size differences are what catches the viewers interest.  Obviously the more important things are large and bold and less important simply black and small.  The indents underneath each entry where the summary and website are found visually organize the site and make it easy for the eye to jump from one entry to the next down the page.  However, the use of only one different indent level prevents the stair effect and keeps the site looking clean and well composed.
I'd used the site a million times but never really analyzed how much thought was put into it before.  Looking at it from a graphics angle shined new light on a site I've been using for years.

3 comments:

maya said...

I agree, Google is very well designed. It uses text, not icons, to communicate messages. "Text can often provide a more specific and understandable cue than a picture" (74). The Web site is easy to navigate because the text is organized and images are kept to a minimum.

maya said...
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