Looking to revamp your website?
A friend of mine who is a web and graphic designer occasionally sends me amazing links.
The latest, and one I thought I would share with you, is the site of UK design consultancy Checkland Kindleysides.
It’s Flash-heavy but is still beautifully functional. The loading between sections is playful and rather soothing, and the overall design is a triumph of simplicity.
As a copywriter, I really admire their economic use of text. Everything is kept short and sweet. In this way the text serves simply to underscore the visual brilliance of the site.
I know, I know. . . we expect this kind of thing from creative agencies, but that shouldn’t stop the rest of us picking up a few lessons!
July 26th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
It sure is a nice website. But it doesn’t take long for me to find it annoying. Maybe my machine is too slow, but I don’t want to wait for a page to load when I’m after information. Having said that, if design is what you offer, your website should profile fantastic design. And as you say, most businesses could learn from it and incorporate one or two elements into their sites.
Interestingly, I’m not sure where they got the paper cut-out idea from, but it could have been the Danish artist Peter Callesen.
I saw one of his exhibitions at Helene Nyborg Contemporary in Valby. The detail is amazing in real life.
July 26th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
I know what you mean, Dan. I usually find too much Flash-work rather tiresome and quickly get bored. I think what I admire about this one is the restraint! Once web designers start using Flash, they usually go too far and you’re left with something that is so non-user-friendly it’s untrue.
They’ve employed it for aesthetic purposes but still retained good functionality - in my opinion!
July 27th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I think the key question, for me at least, with sites like this is “is it worth the wait” - and that really depends on what you’re after when you get there. The text is great - succinct, to the point (though occasionally a bit waffly and empty, esp. the ‘creative knowledge’ section), and yes the flash is nice.
Bottom line is I won’t want to wait 45 seconds for the intro page to load unless someone already recommended me these guys, which, I guess, in this industry is entirely likely.