Proposed New Structure

This is my first attempt at fixing the main structure of the Howard Yezerski Gallery’s website. The first things I wanted to adjust was the home page. I don’t think there is a need for a splash page and a home page, it became confusing. The home page can just be simple and have a few beautiful images of the gallery. I then wanted to reorganize the main navigation since there were a few kinks within that. My other major point to tackle was the artist’s page. I want there to be a filtration system when looking through the artists, so I decided to first break the list of artists into their different mediums. I also added a search in the main navigation and I am now thinking that this will become the focus of the redesign. I want users to be able the browse the gallery this way so that they can find anything from a specific artist to something more broad like artists who paint or photograph people. In this design I also accurately documented the number of pages designated to each artist and to past exhibitions. I added proposed pages to future exhibitions because I feel like there should be some volume here as well. If you have any suggestions on how the search/browse function would work best, please let me know. Thanks!

Current Site Map

So after looking through the Howard Yezerski Gallery’s website thoroughly I was able to begin the basic breakdown of its formal structure. I wanted to not only document the website accurately but also make sense of its flaws and its successes. I wanted to find a visual language that would cater to this for both my benefit and for any other possible viewers. So I decided that color was going play an important role in breaking up information. The site map reads left to right starting with the home/splash page. Right after you enter the site the first flaw becomes noticeable. The real “home” page is titled “Current Exhibitions” but if you click on “Exhibitions” in the main navigation you aren’t brought anywhere, rather still viewing the current exhibitions. Another main problem with the site is that both “Future Exhibitions” and “Past Exhibitions” are technically sub navigations and only appear on some of the pages. If you follow the colored line out of its matching box you can see where the pages go and where they do not. Here you can see that the navigation isn’t consistent. I also accurately documented each page that exists for both past exhibitions and for the artists, they are the smaller boxes with a slight opacity change.

Personas

When tackling this project personas help to better understand who may visit this gallery and what their needs may be. For this gallery, (Howard Yezerski) and probably for all galleries there is not just one type of person with one set of needs. There is a variety of people, ranging in age, profession and especially wants and needs. Some people may be looking for something specific and others may have very little purpose at all. Having worked in a very similar gallery for a few years I had a good idea of what kinds a people were most common to this local gallery world. After some close anaylsis of the Yezerski Gallery I narrowed my personas down to three people.

Howard Yezerski Gallery

For the design research class I have chosen a gallery that I know fairly well. The Howard Yezerski Gallery used to be located on Newbury Street and it has more recently moved to 460 Harrison Ave near a large selection of other galleries across the street at 450 Harrison Ave. This gallery has a large selection of work covering different mediums such as; photography, drawing, painting and sculpture. It is a beautiful gallery with stunning work but the website falls a bit short. There are some confusing structural elements along with broken links and missing information. It is also quite bothersome that there is no way to search or filter through different artists work. The link is below.

http://www.howardyezerskigallery.com/

A sad but true Coroflot post

Check this out guys, this is what’s up ahead for us. This is a post that was on Coroflot that one of my friends so kindly turned me to. It might be a little defeating to read but it is probably pretty realistic and makes a lot of sense. Basically it seems to be that there are far too many designers seeking jobs with far too little jobs available. And we might have to settle for positions in and around the design field but with no actual designing involved. Sad I know. Read up.

http://www.coroflot.com/creativeseeds/2009/02/too_many_design_students_not_e.asp

Data Flow: Visualizing Information in Graphic Design

DATA FLOW: Visualising Information in Graphic Design.
Klanten, Robert, et al., eds.

This book looks pretty cool, that’s if you are into information graphics. The book covers everything from pie charts and line charts to molecular diagrams and complex 3D diagrams. It is a little pricey at $70.00 but it is pretty large, around 250 pages and gives a lot of examples. Check it out.

Edward Burtynsky

This  photographer is well known for his work with manufactured landscapes, landscapes altered by industry. Although undoubtedly beautiful images they comment on our compromised environment and he encourages the conversation that these images inspire.

http://www.edwardburtynsky.com/

Here’s a video on TED.com with Mr. Burtynsky as he talks about his images and why he’s compelled to take them.

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/56

Gary Hustwit (our “Helvetica” filmmaker) creates another must see

Gary Hustwit, Brooklyn-based filmmaker made a feature-length documentary Helvetica which gave us insight into that infamous typeface. Now he’s giving us another. This time it’s about people who design everyday objects, the objects that make our lives easier. The film is called Objectified and it premieres this month in Texas at the South by Southwest Festival.

There is a piece of an interview with Gary Huswit in Dwell’s March issue with the extended interview at www.dwell.com. And more can be seen about the film at www.objectifiedfilm.com