Navigation
There is a primary navigation on the homepage, including “news”, “tour”, “discography”, “archive”, “exclusive”, ”shop” and “links”. I think these groups make sense because “news” is to tell fans what the bands are doing recently; “tour” provides performance schedule; “discography” lists all their albums, singles and DVDs;”archive” shows band’s pictures in different period; “exclusive” provides other information like interview clips during each album released, and joining mail list choice; “shop” contains ringtone download, t-shirt, souvenirs and other related products; ”links” brings people to Placebo’s other sites on YouTube, MySpace etc.
The primary navigation is always on the top when I switch between different subpages. When I put my mouse on one link, its color becomes red and after I click, it becomes white so I always know where I am and I can always go back to the homepage by clicking the icon “Placebo world.co.uk”.
Architecture
This site has a simple structure. When I click a link on primary navigation, the secondary navigation appears on the left. When I click a link on secondary navigation, its content shows in the main window. I think the secondary navigation is necessary because it shows a clear structure without bringing people confusion. For example, if I click “tour”, I can see all the schedules from 1995 to 2007 list on the left. Then I can choose any year I want to look at easily.
Content/Typograpgy
This site uses weight and size to show different appearance between labels and contents. For example, the font in primary navigation system is bold and has larger size. The content in main window is normal weight and has smaller size.
I think most labels of the navigation are clear. But I would like to change the label “archive” to “pictures” because archive includes many things such as files, images, videos and so on, but when I go into this “archive” page, there are only pictures in it. So if the title just simply called “pictures” it will be more clear, and easier to understand.
Grid/Structure
The structure of pages stays consistent as I go from one page to another because all the colors and layout keeps the same. The only changes are the content of text and its secondary navigation system. When I look at the “discography” page, I think the focal point is the cover of every album. Because their colors are quiet different from the background color and the albums on the top bar are also moving, which attracts my attention as soon as I open the page.
Icography/Imagery
The images on Placebo’s site are their albums’ cover in “discography” sub page and members’ pictures under “archive” sub page. I think the number of images is fine. But I would like to see more pictures of them because I am their fan. :D
In "shop" page there are some icons telling people what kinds of product they sell. From mobile shop, digital downloads to clothes. The icons are obvious and pretty easy to understand. Additionaly, they are beside the introduction of product. It takes me little time to understand them.
Color Palette
In “news” page, there are four colors: white, black, red and blue. Each of them has unique function. Black is background, white shows main content, red is the date of news, and blue represents links that bring you to other pages. I like the dark background because it makes all lighter colors pop out on it.
Site Focus
The object of this site is to publish latest news, tour schedule and sell albums and related products to Placebo's fans.
The most useful features I think is that they put "latest news" at left column of homepage so I can not only get their news at homepage without clicking "news" but also browse other information on main window.
The only thing I would improve is that I find the information of buying albums is under "discography" link but not "shop". I understand this design because it is convenient for people who want to buy songs when browsing discography. But since songs are their main products to sell, I would like to add this information to "shop" page in order to let people find "buy album/DVD" in both links.
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