WSA Winner
Thursday June 3rd, 2004
Clean site with a very organized and professional structure. Mark is doing his best to hide his perfectionism with a loose, "howdy, folks" style of writing, but the overall feel is nevertheless businesslike. I especially like the top pitch line, the unusually large text for the navigation and the simple colour theme.
One little detail missing though, and perhaps I'm just being too old-school here, but where in the world are you located Mark?
Reviewed by Johan Edlund
#1
Gorgeous, understated and refreshing. I hate him.
Posted by Jon Hicks :: June 3rd, 2004 at 09:28 PM
#2
As a personal friend of Mark Wyner, I happen to know that he lives in hell and is a personal friend of Satan.
Posted by Spine :: June 3rd, 2004 at 10:17 PM
#3
Hmmm... I think it's amusing that he pimps "usableDesign" at the top of the page when his own design fails a bit in that department. It's a very nice looking site, but I'd hardly call that navigation usable.
It took me several seconds after the site loaded to figure out where the navigation was. That's usually one of the first things a persons eye scans for on a page, and it should be _obvious_. I first thought that the tag-line at the top was some sort of navigation menu -- the way it's positioned and formatted makes it look that way to me.
Also, the contrast isn't very good on the main menu (except for the current location). It might be a bit hard for someone to read if their eyesite wasn't too good.
Posted by KillAllDash9 :: June 3rd, 2004 at 10:30 PM
#4
Yes, I would have to agree with Jon, we hates him, we do. Beautiful work Mark, absolutely.
KillAllDash9, your complaint about the navigation being hard to find is like climbing into an 18-wheeler and saying, "Hey, where's the steering wheel?"
Posted by Shaun Inman :: June 3rd, 2004 at 10:50 PM
#5
Also as a personal friend of Mark's, I can vouch that he does indeed, bed with satan.
All you snooty designers with your snide comments can go kiss my French Curve ass.
Posted by jack :: June 3rd, 2004 at 11:54 PM
#6
This site is lovely! I do see what you mean about the tag-line stuff being reminiscent of breadcrumb navigation, but I think the large navigation compensates. Toot toot!
Posted by Jason Santa Maria :: June 4th, 2004 at 12:29 AM
#7
Wow, Mark's a lot like me, a perfectionist. I'm never satisfied with the design of my own site... I wonder if he feels the same of his own site?
Mr. Wyner definitely deserved this award. Some well-known design elements, some new ones, and overall a clean design. I wish the contrast were a bit better, though.
Posted by Hans :: June 4th, 2004 at 03:14 AM
#8
Thanks for the review and the commentary. It's an honor to reside herein this site.
Johan: I live in Portland, Oregon. I'm a local designer, servicing local clients. In the event I become a rock star and find work beyond the borders of Portland, I'll include my city of residence on my Contact page. And I'll also send an autograph to you.
All said, I'm glad you brought it up. It just so happens it was intentionally omitted.
Posted by Mark Wyner :: June 4th, 2004 at 06:47 AM
#9
Overall I like the site, but for some mysterious reason I don't see the navigation **at all** in ie5(Windows), which many people still have to use (some just don't have choice). Also, I wonder why WSA winners often ignore images off/css on problem.
Posted by Vova :: June 4th, 2004 at 07:37 AM
#10
Love the site Mark!
One thing caught my eye in your portofolio:
http://www.markwyner.com/index.php?id=portfolio&port=02
Was that built with web standards? If so, can we view it online somewhere?
And I love the irony in the Mission: "... and encourage upgrades for those with antiquated versions." From now on, I will refer to IE as 'Antique'!
Posted by huphtur :: June 4th, 2004 at 07:51 AM
#11
Classic! this design is really unique – and I find the airplane photos personally quite appealing, reminds me of my childhood and the obsession I had with passenger airplanes whether it is Airbus or Boeing … they’re magnificent! So is the site!
Well done mate!
Posted by tripeak :: June 4th, 2004 at 01:26 PM
#12
I was not aware that there are Scorpions in Oregon, I thought they were only in the SouthWest.
Posted by Dave :: June 4th, 2004 at 02:51 PM
#13
I believe scorions can be anywhere in the world; it just depends on who/what brought them there. ;)
Posted by Hans :: June 4th, 2004 at 07:02 PM
#14
Nice job son! I am very pleased with your site and know how creative you are. It is not because Mark is my son I say this it is because he has that much talent. I am proud of you!
Pops
Posted by Steven :: June 4th, 2004 at 07:26 PM
#15
Words that come to mind:
restrained, controlled, stylish, well-formed... accomplished.
My only quibble would be the one raised by the esteemed company above: the tag line is easily mistaken for breadcrumb navigation, primarily because of the use of the arrows between phrases.
But that one quibble aside, this is a really well-thought-out, neat little site, that inspires confidence.
Posted by Martin :: June 4th, 2004 at 08:00 PM
#16
I'm a real fan of this style of clean design, its refreshing uncluttered and neatly done.
"Please find the convenient navigation at the top of the page."
I think that statement could do with being altered/dropped as after reading it I went straight to the top of the page where the strapline is.
Other than that, I like it a lot!
Posted by Steve Mark :: June 4th, 2004 at 08:32 PM
#17
I sincerely appreciate the constructive criticism, especially from my peers--those who should know best.
To answer some questions and address some concerns:
1) I had concerns about the arrows, and it is apparent I should have acted upon my instincts. Excellent point: I'll try another type of divider.
2) Huphtur: yes, the site was built compliant; no, I can not provide a link at the request of my client.
3) Vova: not sure why you're not seeing the navigation. On Windows, I tested my site in IE 5/5.5/6, Netscape 4/6/7, Firefox 0.8, and AOL 7/9.
4) Scorpion comments: this event occurred in Tucson, my previous city of residence. Since moving to Oregon, I have seen no scorpions.
Thanks again for the feedback and praise!
Posted by Mark Wyner :: June 4th, 2004 at 09:46 PM
#18
I really admire this site, especially its use of dropshadows ;)
Mark, I know you've just said, "I tested my site in IE 5/5.5/6;" I'm experiencing something similar to Vova... When I view the site in IE 6, some times, but not always, when I hover over one of the navigational background images, they just "disappear," and won't re-appear, unless I refresh the page.
Besides that, though, great job, bud.
Posted by Christopher :: June 5th, 2004 at 06:34 PM
#19
I love the design and I think you have used an excellent choice of colors, layout and design. I like how the tagline at the top is laid out, but would agree that it looks like it should be clickable.
I would suggest, instead of changing the dividing arrows, to create them into links. You could take the user to a page that would showcase those qualities, possibly add the those sections as text on your portfolio page.
I think the main navigation is obvious enough for people to figure that out.
One question that I have is what the numbers next to the navigation links mean? My brain is whirling but I get no connection, maybe the meaning of the numbers are obvious or it could be that I'm running on no sleep. Its no big deal, I'm just curious.
Posted by Teevio :: June 7th, 2004 at 04:29 PM
#20
Clarification - I meant, make the text into links, not the dividing arrows into links.
Posted by Teevio :: June 7th, 2004 at 04:33 PM
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