School+of+Visual+Arts

toc =Introduction= This website is very different from most of the academic website we have today. Today, most of the Art and Design websites are following a routine of being simple and clean. However, it shows a lot of information in a dynamic and even random way. Instead of being neutral, professional and neatly organized, it shows more subjectivity, informal and creativity.



Information Architecture
Sub-menu at the left **
 * Navigation - navigation bar follows a paint feeling by showing roll-over effects. The paint stays to locate user's position of web pages. It doesn't have a pop up sub-menu. The sub-menu is on the left hand side after the main navigation bar is clicked. The sub-menus also have roll-over effects.
 * Navigation Bar
 * Sidebar - the side bar provides the most popular links for potential audiences. Even without going through the whole website, the users could still get the information they want as fast as they can. Some thumbnails that are associated with main content are provided. After entering the sub-menu pages, the side bar changes into the main focus of students and visitors. (housing, finance, etc.) There's a feedback corner for visitors too.
 * Visual Attractions - a flash section was placed in the center of the website (ads section). They provides some of the recent event and main attractions. Some of the ads are linked to the website they are representing. Other ones are just visual announcements. The flash section can be adjusted by clicking the arrows for users' different interests.
 * Information & Purpose - instead of showing all the information, this website is designed to fit user's purposes. It provides all the short cuts for user to find the information they need as soon as possible. Every heading on the main navigation bar leads to separate pages. In other words, users can't see what's under the other headings until they click and visit that page. It could be both good and bad. It makes the information really clear, but the same time, limit the amount of information that users can take at once. The designer of this website might want to group the audiences.

Visual Design

 * Interface & Information Organization -
 * 1) without knowing when the last update was, this website stands out for its unique interface. Nowadays, every design website intend to do wide screen, modern and industrial looking. However this website just provide a square of visual information that really make the user to focus.
 * 2) The main page has more visual (images, flash) than text which construct a welcoming and free atmosphere. A site map was in a drag down menu that gives a broad view of the whole website. It doesn't look very professional by visual. The sub-menu pages shows the main navigation and sub-menus. Also side bar changes to answer main problems from students.
 * 3) For continuing education, it has a different structure than the other programs. It contains more images that are very representational to the topics. The audiences of entering this page could be people who never had any or little experiences with art and design. Therefore by providing images, it helps people to understand what they are looking for.


 * Style - informal, creative and free. Fuzzy edges give a hand-drawing feeling. There are several typefaces used in this website. I think it is good to increase hierarchy.
 * Colors and hierarchy - There is a very clear hierarchy in this website. As I mentioned, each sub-menu was clearly separated. Information that appears in the side bar are duplicated under different catalogs. However, I think it is necessary for this design because each sub-menu represents different department. Different colors are used for different programs. This characteristic is also presented in the main navigation bar.

Usability
**Alumni section on the side bar of graduates page Alumni page**
 * Accessibility - This website doesn't require flash players and java attach-on for browsing. All computers can support it.
 * Effectiveness - Colors themselves as identification. By looking through headlines, people can easily know which catalog has the information they are looking for. There is not a very strong structure consistency throughout the website. Different layouts are designed according to different groups of audiences.
 * Utility - This website functions well. Most of the information is set up for future student and current student school issues. There are links to student galleries and some of the events. However, they do not have extra student services as the Emily Carr University does.There's a section for Alumni **only on the graduates page**. It contains profiles of alumni and a short video. I am not sure what the reason is, but it will be really helpful for both future students and current students to see as a academic/personal reference. The layout and color of the alumni page is also different from other pages.

BAD - In this case, the heading "Student Art" should include a gallery of student works. However, only exhibitions are linked on this page. There is a detailed catalog of student work. However, it links back to the undergraduate page. I think this is very confusing at this point. The reason might be the prevention of duplicating of images. **Student Art Page** **After clicking "Computer Art", it goes back to undergraduate page**


 * Potential for Updates - so far, except the feedback section, there's no require for users to interact with this website. According to page structure, it should be easy for

Content

 * Potential audiences - future students, current students, visitors and alumni.
 * Presentation - Information is very straight forward and self-directing. The design takes the main approach of getting the user to find their information as soon as possible.
 * Catalog - Mainly five catalogs in the needs of future and current undergraduate students.

Opinions
This is a website that is very different from most of the design website we have today. As a user, I found it is very easy to locate the information I'm looking for. However, when I view it as a client, I found it very disappointing. The student gallery is a confusion. The website does provide full frame slide show for student work. If I'm designing it, I will probably put a direct link to the full frame slide show for student works, instead of leading the users back to the undergraduate menu. I like the different layouts for different audiences. It is a very practical consideration that a lot of the websites ignored.

=Resource:= [|School of Visual Arts]