arturo in Corporate Identity, Jovoto, Web Design
06-21-08
After working on some logos for jovoto, being an active participant in the community and winning the Logo contest, they invited me to work with them on the Corporate Communication and the re-design of the actual site.
It is actually a challenging project for Gimmicklab thought designing for designers is not an easy task. So I’ll be working with them for a while until the project is up and running, but always keeping an eye on what’s happening in Gimmicklab. Thought there is lots of work to do there and even Sergio and Marcel are working with us now, you always have to keep an eye on your baby.
There are many ideas flowing in my head on how to design the Jovoto website but I need time to get a wider overview on how create an interface that will not only be attractive but also usable and appealing for creatives.
My main aim will be to deliver a design that will act as a carrier of ideas rather than a design itself. So that will mean hours and hours of synthesizing and simplifying, getting rid of all unnecessary elements, categorizing, differentiating, structuring… And when it’s done, start all over again thought there is always a simpler way to design.
So, hands to work and I’ll post the re-design of the site. It will of course be open to comments.
Comments2 Comments
Hi Arturo,
A friend gave me one of those little black Hydroponic flyers and I came flying home to look at the two websites, Hydroponic and jovoto. My enthusiasm drooped, however, when I found the Hydroponic site starts out with a set of instructions. I don’t have time to study manuals in order to access information on a website. I want to be delighted, not to be given tasks. So I skipped straight to “Click aquí para empezar” and clicked. I patiently waited a couple of minutes and gave up and went to jovoto.
Another deception. I wanted to browse around a bit and see what the project was about, what kind of work they were doing, you know, a first contact. I was prepared to be delighted. So what happens, everywhere I go is blocked because I’m not logged in. I don’t want to log in. I don’t want to have a relationship. (We haven’t even kissed…) I don’t want to be on their mailing list. I just want to have a look around. Isn’t that a legitimate desire?
So I left, broken hearted.
So, a 10 in frustration for both of them.
Regards,
Mike Booth
Granada
Hey Mike,
I perfectly understand your frustration, but everything has a reason.
The hydroponic website is an old-fashioned website we developed in flash 5 years ago and it definitely has to be renewed. But, the point to this site was entertainment. If you spent the 1 minute necessary to read the instructions you would have seen that you only need to use the cursors and space to interact with a virtual environment where you can even skate in a ramp.
But you are right, a web site has to be easier and more usable and hydroponic’s site is not. But the target really understands gaming and interent and they can easily get to where they want.
Note that there is also a main navigation at the bottom from where you can access all the info.
On the other hand, jovoto. This is a creative community that is in beta mode still. Invitations are given to people that are really interested in participating in the contest because we want to create a solid core group that leads the rest of the community into the next level. This group of early birds are giving us lots of feedback and insights on how to improve our site. We know that people like you that just want to have a look around can be frustrated, that’s not our intention. We will open very soon to everyone, but at this moment our core community is helping us a lot in the re-design process thanks to their comments.
So, please come back sometime and I can assure you you’ll like it.
Best
Arturo
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