There are a couple of events going on right now, each on a different scale in size and web design. In my opinion, one is a fantastic web design, the other is completely a waste of clicks.
The 2010 Winter Olympics Web Design – Gold Medal
The Vancouver 2010 web design is a wonderful mix of colors, theme, layout and tons of content. Photos, events, video, interviews, medal counts and so much more. It captures the energy of the games while easing interaction will all of the events and stories.
My only critique of this web design would be the left alignment. It just makes a site feel crowded and crammed to me. I get what they were trying to leverage with the design elements to the right, but they should have stayed true to center alignment. Here is another post full of great Olympic design examples.
The Minneapolis Home & Garden Show – DNQ
Locally, the Minneapolis Home & Garden Show event kicked off today and this web design is about as lame, boring and unfriendly as it gets. It gets the Did Not Qualify award for not being worthy of finishing the race. I’m sure the Home & Garden Show is very interested in bringing in as many attendees as possible, but this website won’t motivate a soul to get off their couch.
I could even forgive the poor web design if the content was solid, but that’s a whole different kind of fail. How about some photos or videos from past shows (non distorted please). Show me what the experience is. Let me know about concrete deck builders, granite fabricators or tree care specialists.
Now only if I could say I was going to attend both events this weekend.
