WSA Winner
Thursday December 15th, 2005
One of the keys of great design is the use of the right idea at the right time. Kutztown University's design department seem to have hit this mark precisely with their scrapbook-inspired website.
All of our judges were impressed at how the tangible textures and well-worn artwork evoke so well the craft and tradition of design which often seems to be missing in our digitally-defined world, and yet still balances this intrigue with a usable interface. An excellent blend of form and function.
“Surprised by design! This site is gorgeous. Not only does it give ample support to the activities related to an educational resource - it does it with the 'book' metaphor which makes logical sense since we go there to study. The visual treatment is gorgeous with an old world feel that has just enough of the right modern elements to make it work. LUV it!”
Carole Guevin
“Unusual, complicated design very well executed, standards compliant, and accessible too. The layered look captures the feel of a design/ arts department perfectly. Great work.”
Makiko Itoh
“I love the feel of this site. It does a great job of combining the visual style of the designers with an easy enough to use interface for what is a audience appropriate Web site. Very nice work.”
D. Keith Robinson
Original review:
I'll admit, the book-style interface is a little unusual at first, but once you browse around this site for a while it becomes quite comfortable.
There's a nice, tactile feel to Kutztown University's Communication Design website. It almost takes you back to when graphic design didn't involve computers -- crumpled notebooks, wet ink, and a real cut-and-paste ethic.
It's great to see a traditional graphic design institution embracing Web Standards, and hopefully they'll be producing graudates that understand their value as well.
Reviewed by Cameron Adams
#1
It's an excellent graphic design program that finally has the excellent web site it deserves, and is an excellent choice for a Web Standards Award!
Posted by Rob Weychert :: December 15th, 2005 at 06:13 PM
#2
Nicely done, I rather like the book style interface actually, its unusual and refreshing. Standards compliant and all, nice work!
Posted by Garrett :: December 16th, 2005 at 05:29 AM
#3
Very odd design, especially for an university. Very beatiful though.
Posted by Viktor :: December 19th, 2005 at 05:23 PM
#4
Interesting design. It is easy to navigate and the markup looks compliant
Posted by Seattle Web Guy :: February 10th, 2006 at 03:20 AM
#5
I'm certainly not disputing it's lovely but if you disable images the site becomes unusable because of text on background colour.
Whilst everything validates, shouldn't there be provision for this in a winning design?
Posted by devolved :: February 13th, 2006 at 06:44 PM
#6
Excellent design, phantastic graphics, clear structure. I like this site. Congratulation for winning Web Standards Award.
Posted by jonas :: March 4th, 2006 at 10:42 AM
#7
Well, I don't like it seems boring to me. For me the colors are unusual maybe that's why I don't like it but overall, good work.
Posted by Reuler :: March 5th, 2006 at 11:57 AM
#8
I absolutley love the fact that this design dosn't have the same "boxy" look that so many standards compliant websites do, for that it definitley deserves the praise it's recieved.
Posted by Solomon Rothman :: March 6th, 2006 at 07:05 AM
#9
Unique design. Finally the use of a book in a design is brought to a new level.
Posted by Christophe Brock :: March 9th, 2006 at 08:38 AM
#10
very nice design. I just love the interaction!
But i'm wondering when will their be an update? since we are almost april?..
Posted by Wim Verreyken :: March 25th, 2006 at 12:13 PM
Comments on: Kutztown University Communication Design Department