Hi,
The media is painted in hues of red, blue and white with a sprinkle of stars afloat. The world watches with bated breaths as the Presidential elections of the United States gets hotter.
And as I spoke to my cousin in Florida yesterday, I realized that the air is all the more fervent there. With tons and loads of online space donated to cheer and berate both Obama and Hillary, I thought I might as well steal a glance at their websites. But the glance took a little longer and I found myself devouring the technicalities of their designs.
And boy oh boy... its frenzy out there. Not being a political person dissuades me from commenting on my preference over either candidates, but their websites … yes I am ready to speak.
Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, brought up in the lap of political regimen has a website that emits the same. Wearing the traditional color schemes of the US flag, her website www.hillaryclinton.com boasts of a regal air.
Browse down to Barack Obama’s site, www.barackobama.com and you will be greeted by a splash of fresh dreamy blue, perhaps a symbol of the freshness he claims to bring into the US government with his election!
All the tips and tricks I tell you about here on this blog find perfect examples in these sites. Both the sites are designed with utmost care and attention. Optimization would not have been an issue though ;-)
Hmm…Let’s make it interesting. If I take both of them and put them in a boxing ring… lets see who wins.
Round one: Color Riot
Hillary’s site uses loud colors, something that is not very advisable by the website designing rules. But it is pardonable considering it is complimentary to the American flag. The Republican sure knows how to waive her patriotism!
Obama the poster boy…ahem man of the youth with his dreamy hues. The first thing that I felt was freshness. It was as if I could breathe light. I guess it’s the plentiful whitespace and the soft blue palette that did it to me. The site has a soothing appeal. It is intended to I guess, for it targets the tech savvy youth of America.
Round one goes to Obama!
Round Two: Layout
The Queen Bee makes it a little hectic here. The content comes out all bold. With the text in caps and that too defined by sharp lines, it becomes a little too messy on the whole and the over impression spells clutter. Like when I entered the site, I became finicky. There were just too many elements shouting for attention. Take a ride and you will know what I mean. This was exactly what I mentioned in designing don’ts.
Pair this opposite Obama’s and you can see contrast. There is absolute harmony. With all the elements neatly arranged this is what I call a neat and clean layout
Obama, the winner again!
Round Three: The Link Saga
Hillary has her site compact. The links clearly done, I could just jump to any page that I wanted.
Obama decided to stack up. A strict no-no when it comes to designs. I had to roll that cursor down and down through all the events and features. It is too long, literally! Take a cue from the first lady and get some on links on top boy!
You have round three Mrs. Clinton!
Round Four: Extras
The Queen Bee talks. Yeah she does. It’s campaigning after all. She has on her main menu a link titled ‘videos’ that has several video slides of her life and works. Now this is great. Hillary supporters just have to refer to this link for any evidence they might need to testify their cheers.
But Obama has it planned to. I just loved the playful tools that he has squeezed in on his site. There is Barack TV Obama mobile, action center and a link to my.barackobama.com, an online portal that for personal blogs and messages. He targets the young crowd of America and has got it right for all the tech savvy supporters out there. And an add-on… What stands out on the site is the hit counter that counts records the number of people who have donated, irrespective of the amount. (BTW it was some 1,000,153 when I last saw. Goshhhh!)
I was bowled over by the counter, but then let’s call it a draw here!
So that was heavy! The winner is declared: Barack Obama! Sure he wins in my boxing ring. Let’s wait and see if he does to the White House too.
But I hear he’s anti-outsourcing. Huh? Will get you more on that in my other blog on KPOs.
Bye
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