Interactive Websites Initial Research

googling the term interactive website procured  these  results, i wanted to investigate how other websites integrated some interactivity since its a specific element in the brief, as well as this the interactive element  found on these sites can be applied to the i-book part of the project.

                                           
http://www.blacknegative.com/#!/bullittagency/
The website above was dominated by photographs, some of them helped to segment the content, others had small video segments amongst the gallery which added a sense of movement, altering various squares of writing by subverting the colour's when hovering above helped to emphasise various pieces of content and highlight individual headings. in order to move from page to page you had to click and drag the page over which once again mirrors turning the pages of a magazine something i think keeps the overall site exceptionally fluid and simple. when including interactive elements i feel that simplicity is key so when introducing various interactive elements i think that dedicating a full page to each action may help movement and the usability. one of my favourite pages on this site was one in which  worlds which change and spin, defined by recognisable landmarks and i love how the background to each has been made more interesting by faded lines and pieces of kinetic text which briefly accompany each world. these worlds are seen to light up and even disintegrate which is actually really in keeping with the sites overall style. Kinetic text is a really strong element on its music page, the repeats of which match the sections of video and the sound itself. i love the delicacy of the font and how each page is very different ( im not entirely sure what the site overall purpose is) but i love the interactivity of it and how it really involves the user.

http://kolonien.nu/musik/

The website above isn't incredibly interactive but i loved the font and the simplicity of the main page. the background itself is is the aspect that moves whilst the simple text remains static, i absolutely love the font and which combined with the sharp moving photograph/video (i'm not sure which) makes the website appear very clean. i also really like how the words and links to different pages lie amongst the background ( it isn't separated through shape; specifically boxes which seem to dominate most websites) and i find that this makes the site look more natural and fresh. as long as the font itself is interesting and legible i don't see why it has to be constrained something to consider when designing my webpage. i also think that since my website is aimed at level 3 students the site itself doesn't have to be generic, as an age group i think it would be more engaging if the site style and navigation was a bit more interesting.

http://www.socketstudios.com

the site above has a very simple navigation style one that could be considered boring but i liked its simplicity,it reminded me a lot of a Story Planet style of navigation each page was a stepping stone and you could choose which category you wanted more information on and scroll right to look at the content, scrolling down revealed various sections that were defined through a static photograph. i particularly liked the top screen since the background map contained various links and videos that played when hovered over. simple but effective and it placed greater emphasis on photographs which means that the pages are not text heavy.

http://www.nickcave.com/music/

the nick cave site above is another example of very simple interactivity each square (a song title or single cover) would change to the album cover once the curser hovered over the specific square.  i liked the use of squares since it created a montage like style, crowded but visually interesting again colours were also subverted in the solid fill squares which practically broke up the images and covers. the simple side bar navigation is easy to see and helps to clarify the various categories and although i find the white background very uninteresting it does ensure that the focus remain on the main content of the site although a texture could have been used on the white to provide more interest.

http://hofratsuess.ch/nachhaltig

although the site above is a spanish website i really liked the overall style the primary colours were bright and the rough 'felt' edges and 'sewn' arrow had a very vintage feel. following the arrows helped to include its audience although i is a simple scroll down navigation. i really love the style applied to the  images (as though they've been taped on) and the sewn boxes of content contrast against the background all of which appears to be soft and textural something i definitely want to consider when creating mine.