When i started designing the Yeahmate website, I quickly came to a dead end with the project. I thought as a bit of a geek, I would find it easy designing a website; after all I'm on them all the time! It was not however. I simply wasn't looking at what made up a website, just looking at them from an audience point of view. I began to research some blogs and website that were after the same audience as mine: techy, IT professionals with a slant towards computer networking.
Ryan Block
Ryan Block is a technology journalist and used to write for engadget. He is an internet celebrity, if you will but used to be a network engineer. This is is personal website where he keeps a blog and information about himself that serve to promote him should any potential job opportunities.
His website is fairly minimal, white background with black helvetica and a touch of red for headings and links. It looks professional, while not remaining boring, but also appeals to the trendy types that make up his audience who expect a high level of design.
Packet Life
Packet Life is a networking blog, something network engineers would look at to our ilovetypography. It serves a distinct purpose and is based around an industry. It contains news articles as well as a wiki which serves as a share knowledge pool like wikipedia. This is similar content to what will be found in the blog section of Yeahmate.
The design of the website isn't bad, but it is fairly dull. It is designed around a 2 column layout. The logo isn't great and colour choices are fairly standard. As this is a website targeting people working in the industry, it seems as if the authors are more concerned about content than style. The authors writing this blog are also more than likely fulltime, this being their main job so the website doesn't need the level of professional feel that say, maybe Ryan Block's does.
Firewall.cx
Firewall.cx is a huge resource for networking professionals - it is even recommended by the Cisco Networking Academy (THE networking people). However, it is an abomination from a design perspective. Horrible logo, horrible top banner (Star Wars/sci-fi come computer components?) and an inconsistent layout. The website is also mainly black, which if you're going to do, I'm a person who believes it needs be done well.
This website again, is clearly one aimed at people who have careers in networking or who are wanting to get into networking. It is aimed at information, not design, but I wonder how much is lost through bad design, wether it be people who refuse to you the site (or is it just designers, or even me, that do that?) or just not being able to navigate/see what you want to be looking at.
Arden Packeer
Now this is a website done right. I have chosen to show this because it seems very similar to what Yeahmate will be. Ardeen Packeer runs this website and it contains information about himself but with a big focus on his blog that focuses on passing various qualifications a network engineer would need. It is a nice, clean design that is attractive enough you want to read it.
