Traveling Through Sites

Lately, I've been working on my application for the study abroad program in Florence, so I've been going on the SU Abroad website fairly often. the website is done mostly in sans serif with some serif. It has a black, gray, white and orange color scheme. It is very simple and easy to understand, but without being dull.

The first thing you see is a row of categories to choose from ("interested students," "accepted students," "parents"...). This is divided from the rest of the page with a photo from one of their programs. They make finding a program easier by allowing you to search by location or subject, or under summer programs. It also gives you a search button. On the other side, you can find the various deadlines for different programs. Although there is more text on the pages that give explanations as to what each program consists of and how to apply, they mostly tried to keep text to a minimum.

As Lupton said on page 63 of "Thinking with Type," "Designers provide ways into--and out of--the flood of words by breaking up text into pieces and offering shortcuts and alternate routes throgh masses of information. From a simple indent (signaling the entrance to a new idea) to a highlighted link (announcing a jump to another location), typography helps readers navigate the flow of content."

This site manages to do this successfully through uses of various techniques. The fonts and the color scheme make the website readable. The minimal amont of text and the different search options and links allow the user to search quickly and tihout having to get through irrelevant information. The images make it visually appealing to the user. The invisible lines between the three main columns on the page make it appear more organized.