CRITIQUE AND REDESIGN
Cafe Astrology https://cafeastrology.com
The Cafe Astrology website features a site title in the top left corner of the page header with no additional content. Below this there is a image aligned to the left and then a navigation bar which to aligned to the right. The banners that the title and navigation bar's are placed in feature different colours. On the launch page of the site, the website's name is shown at the top with small titles and paragraphs below it. To the right, a search bar and site menu can be seen.
The site menu appears to be very cluttered with a lot of options available within this menu. The title for site menu is in a pink shade and below the menu links are in the same typeface but bold and green. Hierarchy is not used here as the title should be bold to emphasise what the function is instead of the menu. The main body of text has the site name in pink large letters at the top. The paragraphs following have headers in a bold green font and paragraphs being in a different black font. Little variation can be seen in size but spacing is used to create hierarchy. The title in the top of the page has almost no presence on the page. The navigation bar being pushed to the right does not follow traditional reading patterns of the eye.
The positive aspects of this website's design is the colour palette and use of different typefaces. The colour palette within this website helps emphasise certain aspects of the site, which assists in creating a hierarchy. Titles and banners are in pink and green to draw your eye to those elements. An attempt of creating a type hierarchy can be observed as different typefaces are used to attempt to make contrast. However, the overall effect lacks as size and width are not considered. The negative design aspects include the layout and overall contrast in typography. The layout is excessive in the amount of type used, this is harsh on the eye and makes it difficult to follow. The alignment of elements on the page are nonsensical and not cohesive. The lack of different variations in the text also makes it difficult to read.
Using similar typefaces and keeping all other elements the same, I redesigned the Cafe Astrology website to be more visually appealing. I begun by creating the websites name the largest thing on the page and centring it. This will capture the attention of any visitors. I also made it pink and a featured serif typeface to further stand out. Below, I also centre aligned the navigation bar so it appears more important on the site. This uses a san serif typeface which is italicised to communicate that they are links. Next, I used the san serif typeface again but in a different colour and slightly smaller as a welcome to the page. The original design lacked emphasis on certain important features. I used the san serif typeface again and put the link in italics to match the links in the navigation bar. I condensed the amount of links in the site menu to three and placed them in boxes horizontally along the screen. This is more modern and draws attention to the most commonly used links on the site. The boxes are also coloured to contrast from the background. Underneath, a title is seen in the green san-serif style to create hierarchy.