5 Busy Websites – Do These Sites Work For You?
How can you tie together a lot of elements into one page? In this post I will explore some sites that have busy designs.
Here are some ways a site might make a busy design “work”:
Element Schemes – the design might use only certain colors or might repeat small, intricate details over and over again.
Expectations – if you repetitively post the same information in the same spot on the page, readers will expect to find information in that spot. Changing around where information is placed can be a bit like when a supermarket rearranges the aisles – the customer may have a hard time finding what was once familiar.
Repeated Shapes – similar to element schemes like repeated colors and design details, one can have a lot of the same shape (rectangles, squares, circles).
One Large Element – even if there are lots of details on a page, often one large, emphasized element can draw the design together.
Page Divisions – simple page divisions, often into three, is another way to unify a design.
The examples:
Rutgers University Home Page
Large universities have much information to present, and Rutgers is no exception. Rutgers has the red of Rutgers in the banner and the emblem below. The top section under the banner presents Rutgers’ highlights, and the white section below has many details. To my eye, the page division is a simple three parts. The Rutgers site gets updated often; however, when one returns, the user sees what is going as expected: news is on the right, highlights in that block right below the banner. See Rutgers University.
Tate Kids
The funky design of this page makes it quite busy; however, in terms of finding information, I see three navigation bars at top and four consistent rectangular shapes in the center. Even as the designer allows you to change the background, those main elements remain. The color scheme matches the funky design; you won’t find earth tones on this site, for example. See Tate Kids.
Amazon.com
What a busy site! Amazon hopefully will keep its information in expected places, unlike some supermarkets. The color scheme and the repeated shapes of the books help tie the page together. See Amazon.com.
Via Rail Canada
Via Rail Canada, a new site done in Drupal, uses the photo of a woman serving the public in a railway car as a way to draw the viewer into the page. Repeated colors include the red of the Canadian flag, yellow of the logo, and the beige of the cushioned train seats. The page is divided into two, with one long banner at top and boxes with information below. See Via Rail Canada.
Bob Reasso Soccer School
When the Reassos asked me to put *all* of Bob’s biography on the home page, I was hesitant. Wouldn’t that make it too busy? But with the idea of highlighting one element (Bob Reasso) and using the red color of the logo along with the grassy green of a soccer field, the design ties together. See Bob Reasso Soccer School.
Do you have an example of a busy site that works? Or perhaps a busy site that could use a better design?
I find that 3 divisions is a maximum. When there are more it takes a while to scan the page and locate the diffrent elements and understand the overall organization of the page.
I also like it when there are not too many colors.
.-= Ilana-Davita´s last blog ..Antwerp Train Station =-.
Thanks for the feedback, Ilana-Davita. If you find examples (good or needs improvement) you are willing to share, feel free to add them to the post.
Thank you, this is the kind of thing I don’t usually think about.
You’re welcome, Hannah. Sometimes I hear people say, oh, I don’t care about design, but when a site is poorly designed, you care, especially if you lose readers. On the other hand, some designers care only about design, so much that it interferes with or is too busy for the content.
Thanks for featuring our site! You might also be interested to know that we’re developing a plain white background with no animations as part of the ‘design switcher’ which will enable children with attention disorders to view the site comfortably.
Hannah,
I like that! For some children, the many colors and animation is great, but as you point out, some children (and some adults) find all that busyness uncomfortable. I appreciate your leaving the detailed comment.
COOL!!!! I love Tate Kids!!! thanks for posting about this Leora, just got your email, we’ve been out with the kiddies alot lately, but will be back at work on the website soon and checking out all this cool stuff.. so excited about it :)
Thanks for highlighting the site redesign Leora. I love the shot heading the page, but it almost spoils a “surprise” – I get so many happily shocked comments from first-time VIA Rail travellers who find themselves ensconced in those single window seats onboard many of our cars!
Vivian is Virtual
VIA Rail’s tour guide
.-= Vivian, VIA’s virtual tour guide´s last blog ..Fun train travel: tips & tricks! =-.
I found out about the site redesign because you decided to use Drupal. Good choice for a site such as yours (for small businesses I would usually suggest WordPress – but Drupal does well for all those different types of views a rail system will need).
A lot of people think that the design of their website does not matter. However, this is not true because the better designed the sight is determines whether or not people will want to stick around on the site and see what it has to offer.
Web Design Santa Rosa