Group Project Critique

The group project that I was most impressed by was Facade by Justin and Shane. Their site had a great layout and was overall very well done. It seems like a lot of work went into creating their project.

What I like most about their site, and didn't even realize until just now, is that every time you go to the intro page the image changes slightly. I have no clue how they even managed to do that, but it is a really neat effect.

I also liked the type-writer idea that was used on the second page, but it does make the text very difficult to read. Perhaps it would be easier to read if the type-writer motion was slower. Making it slower would allow for the viewer to have time to read the text, and it would also make that page easier to look at; the constant motion hurt my eyes a little.

The insurgent page was executed very well. Again, this is another technique that I have no clue how to do, but it is really interesting. I especially liked that they didn't just use this technique just to use it, but they made using the technique relevant by relating to the first line of the text. At first I thought random parts of the text "explode" and then reappear, but upon playing with their site, I realize that only the text that I hover over with the cursor are affected. I like that the user has control over this page in a sense, and the effect isn't just a code that "explodes" words in a set order.

The page entitled "Woman" also showcases another great effect. I like how letters drop down from the phrase before to create a new phrase. It seems like writing this would have taken a lot of thought. I think this page, more than the others, really shows the writing ability that Justin or Shane has. Writing these lines would have been challenging for me with the use of the entire alphabet, I couldn't imagine writing with a limited use of letters.

The Terrorist page moved really quickly and I was too impatient to actually take the time to read all of the writing. This works though. Slowing it down probably would have looked boring. I like the text being fast because it gives the page a sense of chaos and disorder. When I see the word terrorist, I sort of expect things to be chaotic and all over the place. Having the page slow and plain wouldn't have made any sense. I also liked how each text moved at a different pace and in different directions.

The Conspiracy Theorist page is crazy... for lack of a better word. The line "the most dangerous thing about chaos is the illusion of order" gives meaning to the rest of their project, and really kind of creeps me out. The rest of the project is about chaos, and yet it does have an order to it: certain words explode when you touch them, certain letters fall. Perhaps the words exploding is an illusion of order because there really is no set order to that; it is user-controlled. The other pages do seem to be a definite set order though and just give an illusion of chaos. I like how there are boxes on this page that teh user can move to cover the text and reveal the pictures, but I am not sure what the purpose of this effect is.

The next page, entitled "Mother" bothers me. It starts out with really creepy images and then uses an image of Legos in court. There is also an image of a judge in a wig who just looks goofy. I wish this page would have just used serious and eery pictures, instead of mixing in two pictures that disrupt the flow. The images may relate to the text below them, but they don't fit in with the res tof the images. I like Legos as much as anyone else and that picture does make me laugh, but it really takes away from the tone that the rest of the page works to establish.

The Deceased page was my favorite. The images and text were very well chosen and a lot of thought seems to have gone into this page. I like the effect that is used to reveal the pictures too. This is much more interesting that just having each picture clearly displayed on the page. I like how the pictures overlap in a box and then reveal themselves once the cursor is on an image. I also think it was very creative to use an image of a dead fly alongside a caption that begins with "death kept flying"...clever!

The Machine page is funny. I love the "to do" section. This page is a good ending for this project. Although, I was able to view the images and it was not between 8:08 and 8:10, and it definitely wasn't a Tuesday.

Overall this project is very interesting and well put together. There were only a few things that I did not like, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. Shane and Justin seem to have put a lot of work into this project. Their site was easy and fun to navigate.