Mess Hall-Chicago's website is a mess! I admit to reading Jess Kaz's blog prior to even going on the site, so maybe her post tainted my experience of the site. But, really, is it necessary to have every single link POSSIBLE on the homepage? I'm known for disliking the scrolly, text-heavy homepage, so as you can imagine, I'm not a fan of this one. I like their simple color scheme and blocky format, but how about some separate tabs for "links" and "Rogers Park resources"?
I like their calendar, how everything is there and color-coded and how each event is a link that - when clicked on - leads to more information. I've been frustrated by the lack of info on other websites, so this is great...only thing is the only way I could get back out once I was in was by pressing my browser's "back" button, which is slightly irritating. This is unfortunately true on not just the calendar page...
The Love Letter to Chicago is great (however, the links at the bottom don't always work....oops). The links that do work bring you out of the site rather than opening a new window or tab, which would be preferable. This is another great Chicago community art resource (and, wow, they're not even a non-profit!) but they could use a "shower," as Kaz suggests...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Pros Arts Studio
Pros Arts Studio seems like a great, home-grown Pilsen/Little Village community arts organization...with SAIC Art Ed's own (or former?) Giselle Mercier as its executive director. No doubt that this organization is up to great things, but they could use a little help conveying that visually and virtually!
While I admit that the low-budget, amateur website feel does give me a warm and fuzzy feeling (I realized I kind of miss blue links that turn purple upon visitation), I do have a few suggestions:
While I admit that the low-budget, amateur website feel does give me a warm and fuzzy feeling (I realized I kind of miss blue links that turn purple upon visitation), I do have a few suggestions:
- enlarge name/logo, especially on the home page, but throughout the site would be good.
- redesign that top menu bar...the orange grid thing has got to go.
- cut down on the amount of text throughout the site by at least half.
- choose a font & size to use throughout and stick with it; sans serif would be ideal!
- intersperse links throughout so different portions of the site talk to one another.
- the calendar could be spruced up...how about embedding a google g-calendar? This can be done very easily...
- what's with the "showcase" page...I don't get it.
- to end on a positive note, I think the photo selection is great.
The Chicago Art Department (CAD)
WOW. There are so many cool community arts networks in this city. The Chicago Art Department
seems to be no exception. It's great to be filing away all these great places to take (cheap!) classes post-SAIC.
At least its scrolly home page is light on the text. It has visuals, video, and broadcasts, which is pretty cool to see on a homepage. It gives just enough info on the first page to make me interesting in learning more. And learn I did. I learned a new word: "intermedia" which is sort of the digital equivalent for "mixed media." I heart the graphics on this site. I love how the sidebar changes with each different menu item. It keeps it dynamic, and they've chosen interesting images. Except I just realized these graphics only change for the first three sections, and then they stay the same...slightly disappointing.
The Events/Exhibitions is a little scant on information -- I thought the listings would be links with additional info, but no: disappointing. Nice embedding of flickr/youtube archives within their site. Resident artists: cool. Very alive site -- it definitely makes me want to visit in person someday.
seems to be no exception. It's great to be filing away all these great places to take (cheap!) classes post-SAIC.
At least its scrolly home page is light on the text. It has visuals, video, and broadcasts, which is pretty cool to see on a homepage. It gives just enough info on the first page to make me interesting in learning more. And learn I did. I learned a new word: "intermedia" which is sort of the digital equivalent for "mixed media." I heart the graphics on this site. I love how the sidebar changes with each different menu item. It keeps it dynamic, and they've chosen interesting images. Except I just realized these graphics only change for the first three sections, and then they stay the same...slightly disappointing.
The Events/Exhibitions is a little scant on information -- I thought the listings would be links with additional info, but no: disappointing. Nice embedding of flickr/youtube archives within their site. Resident artists: cool. Very alive site -- it definitely makes me want to visit in person someday.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
MCA
The Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago is a great museum in person, but how well does its website match up? Hmmm. Let's see. The design is not inspiring aethetically...i.e. what's with all the white space on the homepage. I think it could be tighter, more square. I *really* like that no scrolling is required on the home page. Finally. The flash presentation of different things going on in those bottom three squares is helpful; I in fact found out about a stencil screen printing workshop that may be very useful to an arts integration project I'm working on at MAS. Cool. I think they overdo it a little bit by having items at the store flashing by as well: that's just plain distracting. And the top exhibition info should remain static (I know there are two exhibits going on, but maybe just have a different one randomly come up and then stay static).
The menu bar has good headings, but they all sort of run together. Finding info is easy enough -- the categories are clear, but the translucent drop down menus w/small text and distracting pictures are hard to read. They have a good selection of podcasts.
The menu bar has good headings, but they all sort of run together. Finding info is easy enough -- the categories are clear, but the translucent drop down menus w/small text and distracting pictures are hard to read. They have a good selection of podcasts.
Monday, March 16, 2009
three walls
three walls in Chicago creates a network/physical space for contemporary artists and discourse about art. Cool!
In general, I liked the site. Nothing too flashy, but for the relatively small organization it seems to be, it has it together. I like the wood beam over on the sidebar. I am filing the following info away for when I'm a CPS teacher: "In conjunction with Chicago Public Schools and CAPE (Chicago Arts Partnerships in Educations) threewalls organizes an annual 'thinktank' for CPS Teaching Artists...CPS Teaching Artists spend one week in a series of lectures, followed by studio time and group discussion, culminating in self-directed exhibition/presentation at threewalls at the end of the program." You mean we can be artists and teachers at the same time?
My biggest criticism of the site is its calendar. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on at threewalls, and they could convey that more effectively. One single calendar that incorporated openings, events, talks, and residencies all into one would have been more effective than the separate calendars. I'd recommend grid rather than list format. I also wish it gave more information about the presenters; often just their name and the date appeared, so I couldn't see at a glance what these people were about -- this would have been helpful.
In general, I liked the site. Nothing too flashy, but for the relatively small organization it seems to be, it has it together. I like the wood beam over on the sidebar. I am filing the following info away for when I'm a CPS teacher: "In conjunction with Chicago Public Schools and CAPE (Chicago Arts Partnerships in Educations) threewalls organizes an annual 'thinktank' for CPS Teaching Artists...CPS Teaching Artists spend one week in a series of lectures, followed by studio time and group discussion, culminating in self-directed exhibition/presentation at threewalls at the end of the program." You mean we can be artists and teachers at the same time?
My biggest criticism of the site is its calendar. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on at threewalls, and they could convey that more effectively. One single calendar that incorporated openings, events, talks, and residencies all into one would have been more effective than the separate calendars. I'd recommend grid rather than list format. I also wish it gave more information about the presenters; often just their name and the date appeared, so I couldn't see at a glance what these people were about -- this would have been helpful.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Creative Audio Archive
CAA at Experimental Sound Studio made for a pleasant visit. It is simple with just the right amount of color/photos to keep it lively (in a subdued sort of way). It seems like they are performing an important niche service for indie audio. It would be great if they had a searchable library of some sort, so that even if audio files couldn't be accessed directly online (I know they'd need a huge server to do this), you could peruse around online to see what's available.
This little space in Ravenswood looks like a great spot. If I should ever need to record some sound, I'll keep them in mind ;-).
This little space in Ravenswood looks like a great spot. If I should ever need to record some sound, I'll keep them in mind ;-).
AREA Chicago
It was interesting to visit the website of AREA Chicago, because back last semester in our Eth-Ped class, we had someone (his name escapes me now) come in and talk to us about the organization and its mission. So now it's interesting to see how that lines up with how they represent themselves virtually. I would say they line up pretty well. It is definitely a great resource with lots to offer art education and activism. The search feature was great in terms of search (thesis) topics of interest and linking that with local events and people. Good stuff.
It is clear that they are going for a no-nonsense aesthetic...very simple, b&w, no frills. I think this is a fine approach, and it is actually kind of refreshing considering how flashy some websites can get. I also imagine they don't have a huge budget to devote to fancy web design, so it is understandable that it is bare bones. I wouldn't be opposed to an accent color here and there, or the links changing color for clarity's sake. I feel like a broken record, but I do not appreciate scrolly home pages, and unfortunately AREA's is (like many) very scrolly indeed. I think it is totally appropriate for the news archive pages to be scrolly; it was actually nice to have every article in the issue displayed right there on the left hand sidebar.
I found it a little confusing that "ART/RESEARCH/EDUCATION/ACTIVISM" appeared at the top but it is not a menu bar. It would be silly, of course, for these to be separate menu items since they're all related, but in any case, it's a little confusing...other than that, g'job AREA.
It is clear that they are going for a no-nonsense aesthetic...very simple, b&w, no frills. I think this is a fine approach, and it is actually kind of refreshing considering how flashy some websites can get. I also imagine they don't have a huge budget to devote to fancy web design, so it is understandable that it is bare bones. I wouldn't be opposed to an accent color here and there, or the links changing color for clarity's sake. I feel like a broken record, but I do not appreciate scrolly home pages, and unfortunately AREA's is (like many) very scrolly indeed. I think it is totally appropriate for the news archive pages to be scrolly; it was actually nice to have every article in the issue displayed right there on the left hand sidebar.
I found it a little confusing that "ART/RESEARCH/EDUCATION/ACTIVISM" appeared at the top but it is not a menu bar. It would be silly, of course, for these to be separate menu items since they're all related, but in any case, it's a little confusing...other than that, g'job AREA.
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Stockyard Institute
The small arts/education non-profit, The Stockyard Institute, has a great mission and they seem to be doing some great collaborative work to bring different forms of arts, education, and social justice together. Their Projects>Pedagogical Factory section was impressive and another good place to get ideas for projects to do with students!
I appreciate the simplicity of the site and the straightforward navigation with the limited number of menu option up top. However, the site feels a little awkward to me. I am sure they don't have a huge budget for a fancy-shmancy website, but I think they could significantly improve the site by (a) increasing the font size several points, (b) generally orient things up a bit more on the screen so extra scrolling is not required to read the texts, and (c) somehow add more contrast to the titles (like "Press," "Support," "About Us," etc.) up top because they are sometimes hard to read against the background...which is cool, but shouldn't distract from the readability of the site...
I appreciate the simplicity of the site and the straightforward navigation with the limited number of menu option up top. However, the site feels a little awkward to me. I am sure they don't have a huge budget for a fancy-shmancy website, but I think they could significantly improve the site by (a) increasing the font size several points, (b) generally orient things up a bit more on the screen so extra scrolling is not required to read the texts, and (c) somehow add more contrast to the titles (like "Press," "Support," "About Us," etc.) up top because they are sometimes hard to read against the background...which is cool, but shouldn't distract from the readability of the site...
Touching the Sky!
If y'all didn't witness this art-meets-technology-meets-art ed. grad students hungry to make stuff & get in touch with their inner child, please check out the skyscraper project that Luthando, Meaghan, and I did at the Chicago Children's Museum...
Digital Literacy
It's funny - when I looked at our syllabus and saw that we were devoting class time to PowerPoint, I thought "isn't that kind of a waste of time?...everyone knows how to use PPT by now..." and then I had a flashback to some of the horrific powerpoints I gave this past semester and seriously re-thought my knee-jerk response. For example, those of you who were in my Histories/Theories/Philosophies class witnessed one of the worst PPTs ever created, and it was mine. What I did was basically cut and paste from the final paper I wrote about my school observations, added some images, and called it a powerpoint. While it was not a bad paper, my academic language and waaaaaaay too much text approach were ill-suited for a powerpoint.
I have - in fact - had so much training in how to write academically that I even find it hard to write on this blog in an un-academic style. I find myself going back and making my language more casual, nerdy and backwards as that seems...
I could not agree more with this quote from the Digital Literacy Toolkit website more: "While teachers and students have become familiar with the technical skills required to use images in multimedia productions, they lack a critical language to determine whether an image or a sound is used appropriately." In terms of a "web crit" for this site, I find it a little ironic that the site is so text-heavy and unexciting visually, but the set-up is very straightforward and in the "teaching" section, there are a lot of useful resources that I could learn from, as well as my future students.
I have - in fact - had so much training in how to write academically that I even find it hard to write on this blog in an un-academic style. I find myself going back and making my language more casual, nerdy and backwards as that seems...
I could not agree more with this quote from the Digital Literacy Toolkit website more: "While teachers and students have become familiar with the technical skills required to use images in multimedia productions, they lack a critical language to determine whether an image or a sound is used appropriately." In terms of a "web crit" for this site, I find it a little ironic that the site is so text-heavy and unexciting visually, but the set-up is very straightforward and in the "teaching" section, there are a lot of useful resources that I could learn from, as well as my future students.
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