Website #1 - http://gatesnfences.com/
To me, immediately, the website's landing page is far too busy. There are options all over the place, most of the text on the left-hand side of the page is extending over the buttons that it's ostensibly supposed to be placed in, and everything is in very tight quarters with each other. On top of that, the heading is hard to read at points with the green & black background image clipping through black text, which overall makes the page seem very jam packed and intimidating. It reminds me of older website design - almost like a GeoCities-style look to it, which could be improved upon easily.
First off, I would make a simpler landing page - most of the information on the right hand side could be put into an 'About Us' page or something similar, for people looking for more information. Keep the basics and simple details first and foremost - leave the information about what they can make and custom design work on the front. Also, I'd clean up the spelling and grammar errors that are somewhat present in the text. Next, I'd take the buttons on the left hand side and make them collapsible at the very least. Clicking on the black button should bring out a drop-down menu or a sidebar that offers further choices, instead of just having them all listed. I'd also either change the buttons to fit the text or remove them entirely, instead leaving it as a simple black background, white text drop down menu. The images too would need to be cleaned up and moved to their own page, as to not clutter the middle of the page.
Website #2 - https://www.pennyjuice.com/
For me, the colors of the site are too bright and clash with each other. Pastels like that are hard on the eyes as main page colors, and looking at the site for too long could cause headaches and discomfort. The banner at the top sticking with the page the whole time is also a tad bit bothersome, as it blocks images and text when you've scrolled down, instead of letting you see it when you need to, and getting out of the way the rest of the time.
I would first off make it so the header doesn't travel with the user as they scroll - leave it at the top. If they want to make sure that something is visible for site navigation at all times, a sidebar would be much better, with the page scrolling on the right and the bar on the left. That keeps it nice and out of the way. Then I'd either darken the page, or mute the pastel tones used for the sections. Something much less bright would be nice, but keep the same overall color palette, as it evokes childhood and youth, which I think is the design intent.
Website #3 - https://www.headhunterhairstyling.com/
This splash page is great - it's simple, clean, and is immediately telling you what the site is about and who it's for. The video is immediately present - and it tells you that this is a salon site, about hair styling. The navigation is clean and precise, the colors compliment each other, and the information available is just what's needed - nothing more, nothing less. It provides contact information, social media presence, and just enough detail to keep you interested right on the front page.
Website #4 - https://www.apple.com/
It's no great surprise that the Apple home page is done well. It's clean and straightforward - gives you the information about new products in a teaser form, to get you to investigate further in the site itself. It shows off each product on it's own little bar, and provides links to get to more detail on each one independently, no need to dig around the whole site or use a search bar if you don't want to. The clean black & white color scheme compliments the site well, and the good use of it means that the colors of their products pop against the background.
Conclusion:
Good design and aesthetics make me want to keep coming back to a site, or at the very least, explore it more. A site that's designed to be pleasing to the eye makes me want to keep it open, whereas one that's hard to look at or a pain to navigate often makes me just close it out of frustration or anger. Making sure your site is pleasing to interact with is key to keeping people coming back and using it again and again - if you don't, you're just losing eyes on your web page.
To me, immediately, the website's landing page is far too busy. There are options all over the place, most of the text on the left-hand side of the page is extending over the buttons that it's ostensibly supposed to be placed in, and everything is in very tight quarters with each other. On top of that, the heading is hard to read at points with the green & black background image clipping through black text, which overall makes the page seem very jam packed and intimidating. It reminds me of older website design - almost like a GeoCities-style look to it, which could be improved upon easily.
First off, I would make a simpler landing page - most of the information on the right hand side could be put into an 'About Us' page or something similar, for people looking for more information. Keep the basics and simple details first and foremost - leave the information about what they can make and custom design work on the front. Also, I'd clean up the spelling and grammar errors that are somewhat present in the text. Next, I'd take the buttons on the left hand side and make them collapsible at the very least. Clicking on the black button should bring out a drop-down menu or a sidebar that offers further choices, instead of just having them all listed. I'd also either change the buttons to fit the text or remove them entirely, instead leaving it as a simple black background, white text drop down menu. The images too would need to be cleaned up and moved to their own page, as to not clutter the middle of the page.
Website #2 - https://www.pennyjuice.com/
For me, the colors of the site are too bright and clash with each other. Pastels like that are hard on the eyes as main page colors, and looking at the site for too long could cause headaches and discomfort. The banner at the top sticking with the page the whole time is also a tad bit bothersome, as it blocks images and text when you've scrolled down, instead of letting you see it when you need to, and getting out of the way the rest of the time.
I would first off make it so the header doesn't travel with the user as they scroll - leave it at the top. If they want to make sure that something is visible for site navigation at all times, a sidebar would be much better, with the page scrolling on the right and the bar on the left. That keeps it nice and out of the way. Then I'd either darken the page, or mute the pastel tones used for the sections. Something much less bright would be nice, but keep the same overall color palette, as it evokes childhood and youth, which I think is the design intent.
Website #3 - https://www.headhunterhairstyling.com/
This splash page is great - it's simple, clean, and is immediately telling you what the site is about and who it's for. The video is immediately present - and it tells you that this is a salon site, about hair styling. The navigation is clean and precise, the colors compliment each other, and the information available is just what's needed - nothing more, nothing less. It provides contact information, social media presence, and just enough detail to keep you interested right on the front page.
Website #4 - https://www.apple.com/
It's no great surprise that the Apple home page is done well. It's clean and straightforward - gives you the information about new products in a teaser form, to get you to investigate further in the site itself. It shows off each product on it's own little bar, and provides links to get to more detail on each one independently, no need to dig around the whole site or use a search bar if you don't want to. The clean black & white color scheme compliments the site well, and the good use of it means that the colors of their products pop against the background.
Conclusion:
Good design and aesthetics make me want to keep coming back to a site, or at the very least, explore it more. A site that's designed to be pleasing to the eye makes me want to keep it open, whereas one that's hard to look at or a pain to navigate often makes me just close it out of frustration or anger. Making sure your site is pleasing to interact with is key to keeping people coming back and using it again and again - if you don't, you're just losing eyes on your web page.
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