OUGD504 // Studio brief 03: Web design initial ideas

Website concept:
A simplistic and fun website exploring modern art movements.
Target audience: Young adults, aged roughly from 14 - 25.
A lot of art history websites I have come across, as seen in my research, are heavily information based and have no real design behind it. I aim to change that and make an enjoyable alternative that sums up information on art movements and artists in simple terms. Often websites based on this kind of information can seem very off putting and boring.

Some scamps I came up with, being quite experimental with composition (the crossed squares represent images, and to be more specific, artwork:

Homepage

I want to include imagery on the homepage so that it draws the visitor in straight away, rather than just lots of text which is the problem with art history websites that I am trying to solve.

1. The first scamp shows an idea similar to blog websites. The thumbnails would be close ups of the artwork, showing the amazing detail in one of the paintings that can be clicked through to reveal the whole artwork. I think this might be too much imagery for the homepage, and not simple enough. It may be overwhelming.
2. (across) This is a minimised version, where small thumbnails are provided of artwork to click through, so that if a viewer likes the look of something they can explore it straight away.
3. Smaller spread out thumbnails which may be clearer to decipher different images.
4. Square thumbnails in a line, which I think are too small, they would all blend into each other.

The menus seen would be drop down for better user experience, rather than clicking through and giving a list on a whole new page which would be unnecessary.

1. Lots of different sized thumbnails that fit together like a puzzle, with a simple menu at the top.
2. (across) A menu down the left side of the page, with the logo above. The circle feature is segments (like a pie chart) of different artists, movements or artwork in general. This would be a unique and interactive feature for the user to explore the website.
3. Randomised artwork is displayed under the menu with some information, and it could be changed daily or weekly. This gives a simple taster into the kind of work that is featured on the website. I think I like this idea the best in terms of user experience, as it is easy to navigate and isn't overwhelming. Trying too much to be different and unique may not always work for the user.
4. A left sided menu with small segments of art from each movement with the movement name on top. I like this idea of an image-based menu.

Feedback on initial ideas:

• very small thumbnails look cramped and would probably be cluttered.
• The pie chart style feature menu is a bit unnecessary - if there is already a regular menu then why this one too?
• a blog scrolling style on the homepage seems like it would work well.