Article Response and 3 Websites

Similar to the article we read last week, Ethan Marcotte's Resposive Web Design expresses similar sentiments about the growing need for flexibility and adaptability in this day and age of web design. To better demonstrate this, Marcotte uses the evolution of architecture as a means of expressing how something that is innately so rigid and immutable has become something with fluidity. He talks briefly about responsive architecture and how there are rooms that have been designed to move and react in response to human movement or even temperature. As with architecture, Marcotte urges web designs to move away from fixed and confined design and to lean towards responsive web design - design that is "not only more flexible, but more adaptive to the media that renders them." An issue that is fairly common in the web design industry right now is creating websites that can be viewed consistently on all media devices; and using media queries, fluid grids, and flexible images are just a couple ways to help solve that issue. However, responsive web design extends far beyond just the issue of device compatibility. Setting a trend for a new future of adaptability also means extending the horizons for web designs, because there is no moving forward unless you push the boundaries.

1. Website I love: https://www.16personalities.com/personality-types

16personalities.com is a website that walks you through the all the different MBTI personality types, including a personality test and a thorough breakdown of each type. Although this website isn't the most technologically complex, I think the site has a very clean interface that is easy to follow and aesthetically pleasing. The whole site focuses on four main colors, each of which are on the more mellow and muted end of the color spectrum - olive green, golden yellow, turquoise, and dark magenta. There are also 2D abstract shaped figures for each personality type which further enhances the clean theme of the site. All web design features aside, I find the content of the site really interesting and useful in understanding more about my "MBTI personality type."

2. Website I dislike: https://www.reddit.com/

Despite reddit.com being one of the most highly trafficked websites and being known as "the face of the internet," reddit severely lacks any kind of style or form. The site features rudimentary levels of web design with little to no attention to any kind of aesthetic detail. It almost looks as if the entire site was made without any hint of CSS styling. Although the site is certainly more well known for its witty and snappy content, it wouldn't hurt to add even a bit of a color theme or a font other than a generic sans-serif font.

3. Website of interest: https://www.starz.com/series/blacksails/featured

I don't know if this counts as a website of interest, but as soon as Professor Pagano mentioned Game of Thrones and pirates I was hooked. With all the same characteristics that makes Game of Thrones one of the most successful TV shows to date, Black Sails is a show I am more than excited to start watching (especially now that the new season of GoT will not be released until 2017). I am sure that Black Sails will too have a complex cast, filled with intricate and well-developed characters, gut-wrenching plot twists, enticing action scenes, and stunning videography.