https://keoconnor.exposure.co/the-faces-behind-the-food

https://jessicagiannelli.exposure.co/red-roof-plus

This webpage is an interactive site that allows fans to enjoy artwork and be kept up on the recent and soon coming moves of the artist of Brandon Boyd. Most known for his vocals and lyrics within the band Incubus, he engineers his website to display his creative personality as a whole. His paintings, sketches and writings are all included.

Aesthetically it is a sharp design for a website being just white and bold black lines. It seems clean and offers a clean slate to better enhance the quality of his images, letting the colors and lines be better examined and appreciated. The information is very deliberate and simply written. Easy to follow yet very informational and chronologically filled. The tone is one that is cool yet humble. It reflects an artist and his eclectic talents. The page is not too busy as if to attract attention and be boastful, but rather simple and allows the artwork to speak for itself.

The webpage flows well. Each clock is followed with a seamless transition to the next page. The professional essence is one that I wish to emulate on my page. One that does not do “too much” but provides everything just enough.  The combination of color pictures with the sharp design tightly seals the outlook of this webpage design.

Avril Lavigne is a singer who takes on the look of punk rock. Her website is a lot of dark colors with a black background. Seeing as she is the main focus of the website there is a large picture of her on the home screen. There is then a tab bar that lets you know you can be directed to events, her bio, news, and pretty much everything Avril. The language is very simple so that anyone of any age who went there could understand where to go. You can find out a bunch of things about Avril Lavigne through the options on the top bar of the screen and are directed with simple to understand words such as: “music, events, bio” etc.. There is also a screen next to her picture that shows her newest song and gives you the option to listen to it, obviously a scheme to get you to listen to the new song and have incentive to buy her new album. What is most successful about this site it the fact that no matter where you go in the site it is all information about Avril. The only reason anyone would be on her site would be to attain information on her and this site makes it clear that they have it all. They also do a good job at keeping it dark which is what goes with her style. I would take away from this site the fact that they keep it to the point. If i have a website I would want people to be able to go on it and be able to navigate themselves through everything with ease instead of like some websites where you have to hunt for what you’re looking for.

(I will upload the picture later when I get better service, it will not upload at the moment)

http://www.avrillavigne.com/us/home

Tucker Max is the author of his biography storyline I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. He has an awesome website where he provides blog posts, audio interviews, insights to chapters of his books, and several other assets in order to make his name known. He uses a very laid back casual language that shows the dirty mind of a young man who loves to party. He does not hold anything back and recognizes he is an asshole. This is apparent on the homepage of his website which says, “My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole” (www.tuckermax.com). He is imaging him self as a do/say whatever I want type of personality. He doesn’t seem to care if people don’t like him. Probably because he knows that a large audience of young promiscuous men will enjoy his work, and thats the audience he wants to attract. The most successful assets of his website is that it is very easy to navigate through, and he provides direct links on his homepage to buy his books, and movie. The layout supports his tone because of his wording in his homepage along with the color scheme of black and red. These colors seem to go hand and hand with dark humor. What I like about his website is his ability to make his personality known with just a simple paragraph.

Looking at Lee Child’s website, a personal favorite writer of mine, it is interesting to see that it isn’t actually his name that is most prominent. Instead, the name of his famous fictional character, Jack Reacher, is placed in bold and large lettering directly at the top. This goes to show how strongly linked Lee’s career is with the character that he has created. At the top of his page he has sections of his website dedicated to his books, news, upcoming events, gear, and a FAQ section to stave off a hoard of emails and common questions. The flat, dark color scheme and the serious photo of Child fit in with the personality of his famous character Jack Reacher, and the style of his books, which aren’t afraid to go to dark places. The best part of the website is its simplicity and ease of use. There aren’t any questions as to where specific links are and it is simply laid out with few bells and whistles. The minimalist design is something that I would definitely incorporate into my own website.

http://www.leechild.com/

Gregory Woodman is a photographer who I initially discovered from the Instagram app. He takes still photographs usually in nature and there is often a singular person or persons as the subject of the photograph. He captured my attention because I love photographs of mountains and majestic places on earth, as well as bodies of water, and these are some of my favorite themes for photography. Gregory always manages to get the correct lighting for his photos, which is impressive especially since sunlight is the light source for many of his photographs and he has little control over the sunlight. On his website, he has several links to various albums and photo sessions involving different subjects. His subjects range from places in nature to individual portraits and photo shoots to wedding pictures. Gregory places his photos one after another on his website which can sometimes be overwhelming but also has the effect of narrating a story and forming relationships between the photos.

Woodman’s website presents information about himself as well as his subjects and locations he photographs. For each session, he provides a brief synopsis of what the photos are and who the people are within them including his relationship to them. This allows his audience to form a better comprehension of the photos as well as making them more appealing to viewers. I would characterize his tone as intimate and relaxed. Most of his photos are in places that express a tranquil vibe and his human subjects are standing still, usually with soft, relaxed facial expressions. Something successful about this website is its organization and simplistic format. He has three links which lead to the other parts of his website, but the front page is very simple with one photograph that changes every few seconds. His background photo is very three-dimensional and has a lot of depth leading the eye further into the photo and attracting the viewer. This website has inspired me to make my website simple but vibrant and to provide explanations to my audience about the subjects in my photos.

Gregory Woodman: www.gregorywoodman.com

A personal website I chose was that of a D.J I was into about, two years ago. Her name is TOKiMonsta, and she is a native southern Californian “electro/indie pop” artist. Her personal page starts out with a very artsy picture of her with her name. An icon tells you to scroll down, and the now iconic social media selection (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) list of buttons, which is especially important because that is how she got her start, is on the left and follows as you scroll. A menu button is on the right hand corner, which starts off inactive, but can be toggled so that as you scroll, it will follow for easy access to the various sections. The page is separated into sections “CSS”, that tell different information. (tour dates, discography) The layout is very modern and simple. It is almost minimalist, leaving me wanting more. (her music I guess) The most successful aspect of this site was the ease with which I can access all the info. There are no separate pages, so it all in front of me. I want to take the ease of finding everything one page from this site for myself. I could use the same style or something similar, with scrolling or menu jumping, but make it all on the same page.

http://www.tokimonsta.com/#

William Zinsser becomes my favorite nonfiction writer after I was introduced to his most praised work, “On Writing Well.” I don’t know if Zinsser himself actually wrote the information on his website, but it was also “written well.” The site is everything you expect it to be: simple and professional.

The front page consists of a small portrait of his and a concise biography. There are also links to his blog, picture gallery, passages, and music (yes he plays the piano too!) All the information is organized in a way that emphasizes simplicity and identity. There are no unnecessary words or circular constructions; the information you need is right before your eyes, “that, finally, is the life-changing message of On Writing Well: simplify your language and thereby find your humanity.” The language seems effortless as if Zinsser verbalizes interpersonal, expressing himself clearly and simply through good words, “September the college sent me back to my unit and I was given six certificates listing the courses I had taken and the grades I received. But only I knew how much they certified.” The layout and design are also simplicity as its best: black font on a white canvas.

Everything on the page supports each other with so much care and originality; it’s so well edited that you almost can’t find anything that shouldn’t be there. I’m hoping my site to be something like this, simple but informative and elegant. William Zinsser never taught in any of my class, but through his work, he had guided me on writing in a way that no teacher ever had.

Link: http://www.williamzinsserwriter.com/index.html

The website for George R.R. Martin is really fitting to the type of writing he does. Famous for writing the epic series of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, the inspiration for the popular Game of Thrones tv show, Martin is a very dark writer who loves fantasy and action. The site portrays a lot of that as the home page shows images of knights riding horses in battle, with another image of a white dragon breathing fire. The website contains many features for fans of the novel series as well as the television show. There are current news events that relate to both of them as well as upcoming appearances from Martin and promotional events for the book and show. The website also sells products such as the books, calendars, and products of clothing. It really focuses on the franchise that all started from Martin’s books. The color scheme of the website as well as the layout, takes you to a different atmosphere. There is a fantasy based vibe going that is a mix of medieval times and middle earth (the epic Lord of the Rings series from Tolken). It combines for essentially what the world of Game of Thrones is. Another cool and ironic feature on the website is a blog written from Martin, however it is listed as ‘not a blog’ which shows the author’s weird sense of humor. All in all this website is a true reflection of Martin and his work. This helps me think about the type of writing that is portrayed in my own and what kind of thematic elements I would use if I had a portfolio-type site. It really helps me paint a picture in my head of what one should look like.

http://www.georgerrmartin.com/