Web Site Rule Breakers
Post your 5 web site "Rule Breakers Web Sites". Be sure to give a short sentence or two describing each site and why they are good rule breakers.
posted by CDK & Technology in the Classroom @ 12:25 AM
TECS 822 Hypermedia & Hypertext
About Me
- Name: CDK & Technology in the Classroom
- Location: Hays, Kansas, United States
My undergrate degree is from Florida State University, and as we all know the undergrate degree is the one that holds the most memories. I grew up in Largo, Florida. How I ended up in Hays Kansas, will forever remain a mystery.
Previous Posts
- Kan-Ed Learning Station Portal
- Photo Manipulation
- WOW: Inamge Abudance
- Kan-Ed Learning Station Portal
- Final Project
- Webpages and Video & Audio
- Really Ugly Website Reflection
- Top 10 Champions
- Media Libriaries & CSS
- URL for Your Own Blog
10 Comments:
Website #1: Absolut Vodka
URL: http://absolut.com/
Description: After entering your birth date this site automatically loads a really neat introduction page with video and sound. Check out the “Reality” link for one of the neatest navigational things I have seen—it looks almost like a chemical formula, but slides around when you move your mouse. Definitely a must see, even if you don’t like vodka. A break from the ‘norm’ for sure.
Website #2: Joop!
URL: http://www.joop.com/
Description: After entering this site, a full page photo is the background for the navigational links included therein. The links are also listed on the right, if you choose to use those instead; a nice tweak to the traditional start/home page.
Website #3: Wax New Media
URL: http://www.wax.co.uk/site/index2.html
Description: This site is far from traditional; sounds, video, and cool transitions. Lots to see here with what can be done with interactivity—not surprising from a company that boasts “creative communications.”
Website #4: Cocoon Branding
URL: http://www.cocoonbranding.com/cocoon.html
Description: This page has a fantastic navigational “tree” –the colored flowers also play a little ding when you hover over them. (I wonder how they did that!) Nevertheless, it is fun to play with.
Website #5: Lightmaker
URL: http://www.lightmaker.com/
Description: Opening page is really unique in its navigational structure: lots of blocks that flip over when you hover over them. Again, not surprising from a company that designs pages for other companies like Cartoon Network. This site/company has won a Macromedia Flash design award, for obvious reasons.
#1: www.gatorade.com
This site has been very catching for me. As a coach, I participate in the Gatorade Player of the Year program and whenever I need something, it is very easy to find at this site. The colors are great to go with the theme of the their logo and the introductory clip is cool.
#2: www.inspiration.com
I have probably mentioned this one before, but the intro. clip at this site is awesome. The color and button arrangement at the site make it so friendly and inviting to use. I love it!
#3: www.nashvillecvb.com
After visiting Nashville last summer, I remember that their site was pretty catching. There is a rotating background full of city life pictures and attractions to get the user interested. I really liked how everything you need loads in the browser space without having to scroll anywhere.
#4: www.countrystampede.com
The first graphics here are intriguing, especially if you don't know what the country stampede is. Once you get past that, the pages get kind of crammed with information, but I'm not sure a better way they can inform the user of so much they have going on for the weekend.
#5: www.shedaisy.com
A former student of mine loves this group and frequently encourages people to check it out. The background is subtle, but appropriate and what is really interesting is how they did the mouse overs for the major links.
Website #1: Gucci
URL: http://gucci.com/us/index2.html
Description: This site has stunning images, rollover buttons, and is very easy to navigate through. Even though its layout is simple, the site has a sophisticated look to it.
Website #2: Adidas
URL: http://www.adidas.com/us
Description: The images on this site really caught my eye! Both black & white and color photos are used, which supplies a nice contrast. The site also includes movies, created to model different clothes and fashion. I can tell that this site really taps into their teens and twenties audience. It's also easily navigated.
Website #3: Dr. Pepper
URL: http://www.drpepper.com
Description: Besides being my favorite soft drink, this site uses color and flash to catch the viewer's eye. Fizz bubbles are constantly moving, which makes me thirsty just looking! I'm sure this is what the company was going for!
Website #4: Disney
URL: http://disney.go.com/
Description: This fun, kid-friendly website has multiple pop-ups and great navigational tools, with sounds included. The homepage looks like a theme park and is very colorful! I think I want to visit this place.
Website #5: Giorgio Armani
URL: http://www.giorgioarmani.com
Description: The feature I like the most about this webpage is that it includes background music as you are surfing. Photos are used as buttons for everything, and some photos have shadows, a feature I thought added sophistication. This site also uses flash, and is very easy and fun to navigate. I love shopping, even if with this site, it's really just dreaming!!!
Website #1: Dresden Dolls - www.dresdendolls.com - This is a web site for an alternative rock band. It is a very creative site, and is a definite "rule breaker." It goes along well with their band image and unusual music style. Could one expect anything less from a band whose big hit is "Coin Operated Boy"?
Website #2: RelientK - www.relientk.com - This is a very cool Christian rock band. The site has a nice layout and includes a large number of sections.
Website #3: Pepsi - www.pepsi.com - As with other web sites in the competitive drink market, this site is totally different. It uses rotating images for navigation.
Website #4: Interstate Football League- www.interstatefootballleague.com - I love the introduction to this semi-pro football league web site.
Website #5: Jellyvision - www.jellyvision.com - Jellyvision makes the interactive game "You Don't Know Jack." Their website is just as creative.
Website # 1: Booking Buddy - http://www.bookingbuddy.com/, is a web site that is all about “function”. It is not fancy, doesn’t have way cool graphics, but is easy to “navigate” and is an all in one stop for the budget minded traveler. It has a pull down menu, where you can search all the main airline carriers, car rentals and even cruises.
Website #2: Pat Carli, Coldwell Banker Legacy Realtor -http://www.patcarli.com/, is a real estate website for Albuquerque, NM. The theme of this website is “organization, ease of use and function”. For anyone who has looked for real estate, it can be frustrating obtaining information regarding properties. Many sites are designed to “bait” you with a cool property, but require you fill out a form so the realtor can “call you back”. Pat’s site, on the other hand, is easy to navigate and supplies detailed information regarding the property you are interested in and her phone number if you are interested.
Website # 3: Marc Gunn, http://www.marcgunn.com/, is a website that I found quite unique. Marc Gunn is a self-described “Celtic Folk singer, poet, web designer, photographer, music business educator, traveler, and psycho cat lover”. I particularly enjoyed clicking his “Listen to my Welcome Message” feature.
Website # 4: ZooZoom, www.zoozoom.com, is a Fashion Magazine website with incredible photography. It also includes articles about musicians, artists and works of photojournalism. Perhaps most important, the photographs and articles were designed to be relatively quickly downloaded, even on my “56 K dial up connection!”
Website # 5: National Geographic Education, http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/index.html is a website designed with educators in mind. It includes lesson plans in a variety of subject areas, and is “free.” If educators desire additional materials there is a link to a store where you can purchase them. The theme – “usability, functionality and accessibility”.
Website #1 Gyles Brandreth
http://www.gylesbrandreth.com/
This is a different site, kind of weird. It loads with some Flash and then once it is done it has a picture of the guy. The links though are just the letters of the alphabet, but the letter does not necessarily match the information it goes to.
Website #2 Janus Investments
http://ww4.janus.com
Not typical, kind of fancy. Pop up information as you point at different textual links.
Website #3 NASA
http://www.nasa.gov
Has some flash and cool pictures. It seems like many sites are trying very hard to look more and more like tv or movies.
Website #4 Lamborghini
http://www.lamborghini.com/
I was shopping for cars and came across this site, I am joking of course. This site has a cool opening page with flash and sound effects. Once you enter, it is movie time. Cool graphics
Website #5 Nike
http://www.nike.com/
Another site loaded with flash. Pretty cool and techy. Each section you enter also loads with a flash of some sort. Once again, it is like watching a commercial.
Here are my 5 web-site rule breakers in order of my favorite on down.
1. www.billnye.com
This is a science web-site that pertains to Bill Nye the Science Guy from TV. It is full of scientific explanations and activities that can be done in the classroom. Homepage is definitely not following the rules, but is very pleasant and easy to understand.
2. www.50states.com
A great site for Social Studies and finding facts about any of the 50 United States. Although not following typical format, the states are easy to find and it is easy to get back and forth from one page to another.
3. www.members.aol.com/DonnandLee/
A FANTASTIC site for Ancient History facts, and activities. This one is a little harder to navigate through, but by no means impossible. A very good site.
4. www.grandpajunior.com
We used this site a lot when looking at other schools to get ideas for our school web-site. Has a ton of info, but we used it for K-12 school links. You can go to a number of school web-sites all over the United States and beyond.
5. www.kbb.com
Finding the value of the car you want to buy or one that you want to sell can be done with this site. A little bit much sometimes, but once you have found your way around it, it is a great resource when it comes time for the big purchase.
Tom Winters
Website #1 - www.mattmdesign.com This is a webpage that is created by a webpage designer. He has good use of color as well as alignment. He utilizes putting his link in the top right and uses a good gradient on his index page.
Website #2 - www.lucidgreen.net This is a company that creates web sites. This page also utilizes great color without overdoing it. Their links are across the top and you can read the whole page without scrolling down.
Website #3 - www.thegreatdivide.com
This is actually a website for a band out of Oklahoma. It really breaks the rules but seems to be somewhat too busy. They do a good job with design as well as incorporating Flash into their webpage.
Website #4 - www.mikemccluremusic.com This is also a musician's website. It's a little on the amateur side but does a good job with the four basic elements of color, design, proximity, and alignment.
Website #5 - www.wichitabandscene.com
As you can see, I check out the band websites a lot and usually these are a little off the wall (That's just the way musician's think). This website isn't bad. It puts the links right in the middle of the page and it takes a little while to understand what you're looking for. Overall, not too bad.
Website #1
http://pepsi.com/home.php
This site has cool graphics that rotate around the Pepsi symbol, depending on which side of the graphic you place your mouse, the images will spin the opposite direction. The images represent different sporting icons. It also has scrolling links along the bottom that move in the opposite direction of the above image. The site is easy to navigate, all the links are located in the top right hand corner, and stay constant. The search option also appears on all pages. Pretty cool site – refreshing!
Website #2
http://www.daniel-site.com/
This website is of a favorite singer of my Dad’s. I like the way it opens with a fresh look and nice a nice image of Daniel. Once you enter the site, it maintains the background appeal. The links are located at the top and remain steady for easy navigation. Only negative I found is that the text box is a little more narrow than usual.
Website #3
http://budlight.com/
Once you type in a birthdate of 21 or older, the site is pretty cool! You can view TV ads on there, so it has lots of audio and video, but loads pretty quickly on high-speed access. It has rollover buttons with drop down menus. You must click the roll over button to be able to click on a drop down menu item. At the bottom of the site, it also has text that appears telling you that the link is a popup item. In the online store, as you scroll across the items, it pops up text with a brief description. Pretty cool but easy to navigate!
Website #4
http://www.tdelaney.com/
Interesting site all-around. You have to enter the site, then there are lots of images, scrolling bars of color, text and some images. The links are fixed at the top. Not a bad sight, definitely not the run of the mill! The link that takes you to the Seam Store is pretty neat.
Website #5
http://www.chadcrouch.com/
This site seems simple by a single click getting you into the content of the site, but once there, the links on the right are all backwards. As you roll over the button, they turn and become readable. The site showcases some of his art work and provides a biography which I thought was difficult to read. Nice use of gray tones to draw attention though.
#1: Gambino's Pizza
www.gambinospizza.com
I found this one once when I was looking for a Gambinos. I found it rather interesting as the mouse is trailed around the screen by several pizzas. While it can be annoying, it certainly gets you thinking about pizza.
#2 KC Royals
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=kc
When you go to this site, video highlights from the previous game automatically load as well as a scrolling picture of players.
#3 K-State Football
www.kstatefootball.com
This site loads with an into page that you have to click on to enter. Another interesting facet is if you click on schedule, there is a breathing wildcat at the top of the next season schedule.
#4 VH1
www.vh1.com
This has automatic flash load and some scrolling music stars as well as some of the people from some of the shows on VH1.
#5 ABC
http://abc.go.com
This has an automatic video that loads and highlights a show that is coming on ABC. It is normally one that will be on that evening.
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