GOOD DESIGN:
Bittersweet Pastry Shop
https://bittersweetpastry.com/?srsltid=AU7gw4VP1tRlySCWgds-eZO6G-Y-tR5ph0WQD5hg0-rezQn16sZTjyFE
Overall Design:
This site’s design is very good. The color palette of white and mild orange, along with white and black text, is very appealing, and it is much better than the poor quality site’s colors. I really like the fonts the webpage chose. They fit the theme of cakes very well. It’s a very modern design. The home page also has a nice wedding picture slideshow at the bottom of the page.
Navigation:
There’s a nice menu sidebar on the site. I like that the logo at the top of the page brings you back to the home page. There are simple, easy to understand buttons throughout the site. I really do not see anything confusing regarding where things or pages are located. The site displays all of its products and pages very well.
Functionality:
The site and pages load very quickly. There are no speed issues or broken links.
Content Quality:
The pictures of the company’s desserts are super good. Very high quality, and the cakes look super tasty. There are plenty of cool captions throughout that fit the vibe and style of the site. The pictures highlight the color and texture of all the desserts. I like that some of the cakes have graphics highlighting the individual parts of the product (i.e. buttercream frosting, chocolate cake, milk chocolate mousse). There are also high quality wedding pictures for the slideshow at the home page’s bottom. This company has a whole lot of variety when it comes to its products. Cakes, wedding cakes, breads, pastries, brownies. It has a ton.
Site Effectiveness:
This site works very well. It has a high quality design with great content. The company makes it super appealing to make customers interested in their products, and the pictures of their cakes and desserts definitely make interested people want to stay. The company improves itself with this website.
Poor Design:
Elemental Bread Company
https://www.elementalbreadco.com/shop
Overall Design:
I do not like this site’s design very much. The color palate is bland, and the black, yellow, and occasional red text with the light brown background don’t mix the best. The text fonts also seem a little outdated. The background of each page is a picture of bread that may or may not be a basic bread png. The frames for the picture slideshows for the company’s products feel very limiting.
Navigation:
It’s very simple and easy to find and get to what pages you want to be at. However, there are many links for recipes throughout the website, and all of them open to different pdf’s. Although it is good that it doesn’t open the pdf in the same tab as the site, I feel like the site could find a more creative and appealing way to display their baking recipes.
Functionality:
The site and its pages load pretty quickly. It takes a little longer to load when viewing products for sale on the site.
Content Quality:
The pictures for the company’s products are good quality and are very appealing. Every product also has a nice little catchphrase or blurb about the baked good, which works well. The recipes also seem to be decent, but for both types of content, I think they could be implemented better.
Site Effectiveness:
Overall, this site is not a horrible website. There are good things here. The baked goods look great and tasty. However, it feels stale and boring. It may not turn every customer away, especially those very interested in buying baked goods, but it does not do its job the best it can. It could improve a ton and create more opportunities for the company.