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Apple.com Site Redesign?
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I'm not too worried about the site becoming difficult to navigate or anything. This is Apple, afterall, and whatever they do to their main website, it's going to be stunning. They need to have a professional, eloquent site in order to stand out and show what makes Apple who they are. I know they'll make sure no matter what the design will be, it will be a winner.
Isnt that a little...sugary?
Apple is company that is excellent at innovation and design...but not evertything it does or creates like the new website is analogous to the shining gardens of babylon. Come on, they are just a company
Victory for Web Standards
As a recent convert to web standards, I think Apple is very savy to hire these two gurus of web design. If you do web design you should read Zeldman's book Designing with web standards
This book will completely change the way you approach web design. Apple always seems to be on the cutting edge and knows how to do things right. It's kinda funny, but after reading Zeldman's book I decided to see if ASP.Net server controls HTML output would validate....they don't. MS just doesn't get it. Every day there seems to be a reminder that being a "switcher" was the right decision for me to make. Now where is that PHP book?...
As a recent convert to web standards, I think Apple is very savy to hire these two gurus of web design. If you do web design you should read Zeldman's book Designing with web standards
This book will completely change the way you approach web design. Apple always seems to be on the cutting edge and knows how to do things right. It's kinda funny, but after reading Zeldman's book I decided to see if ASP.Net server controls HTML output would validate....they don't. MS just doesn't get it. Every day there seems to be a reminder that being a "switcher" was the right decision for me to make. Now where is that PHP book?...
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I totally, 100% agree that this is a site/sight that exudes crystal clear communication. Simplicity is very under-rated these days. Despite the beauty of Yale's site, apple.com doesn't lag that far behind.
I also think that this gives us some indication of how far panther may be away.
Zeldman is cool. His book is absolutely without a doubt the best computer-nerd book I've ever read (it's laugh-out-loud funny in places), he's consise, informative, etc etc. I don't think whether the site is brushed metal or not is really going to bother him... my guess is that his crew will be making the html sleek and lovely, and the CSS impressive, so that the pages load quickly and are accessible to everyone.
Yay for Zeldman (does anyone want to start a Zeldman fanclub with me? Actually, I'm sure there's already one out there.)
Yay for Zeldman (does anyone want to start a Zeldman fanclub with me? Actually, I'm sure there's already one out there.)
My guess: it will reflect the metallic paradigm of the G5. Notice how Apple.com seems to blend with the industrial design of Apple's hardware and OS. Notice also the changes in the Aqua interface for Panther. We went from colors with the original imacs, to a more clear, white, and grey plastic look with the newer imac, G4 Tower, cinema display, and Aqua; and now to a brushed metal look with the G5, Powerbooks (15" someday), Panther, iSight, iApps, and Xserver. My bet is that the new web site will reflect this subtle shift in Apple's industrial design. Look at the .Mac page. It may not look like that, but I am betting it will be similar; if I were to describe it I would say a "harder edge", whereas the current site has a "softer glow". Just my 2cents.
I know they aren't perfect, but this is their main site, so Apple of all people knows that it has to be as well executed as possible. They aren't going to skimp out on innovation and design on this project. When people go to Apple.com, they are going to judge the company on how they present themselves.
Not a visual redesign
This is a quote from one of the outside consultants about the Apple.com redesign. For those of you unfamiliar, a redesign may or may not have anything to do with the display layer.
"Update: To clear up some confusion and speculation, this does not imply a visual redesign is in the works. Happy Cog and Stopdesign will be consulting with the in-house team, providing guidance and a bit of a jump start as they explore the waters of web standards and forward-thinking design."
If there are any visual changes, I'm expecting something more subtle. It will probably be designed by the in-house team.
Apple's main sections are easy to navigate but I find their knowledge base and developer section to be very difficult to find what your'e looking for. It's almost as if they built tunnels around some of the other subjects, even though they're directly related. Some improvement has been done recently in the knowledge base, but the developer site need major work.
This is a quote from one of the outside consultants about the Apple.com redesign. For those of you unfamiliar, a redesign may or may not have anything to do with the display layer.
"Update: To clear up some confusion and speculation, this does not imply a visual redesign is in the works. Happy Cog and Stopdesign will be consulting with the in-house team, providing guidance and a bit of a jump start as they explore the waters of web standards and forward-thinking design."
If there are any visual changes, I'm expecting something more subtle. It will probably be designed by the in-house team.
Apple's main sections are easy to navigate but I find their knowledge base and developer section to be very difficult to find what your'e looking for. It's almost as if they built tunnels around some of the other subjects, even though they're directly related. Some improvement has been done recently in the knowledge base, but the developer site need major work.
I know some university sites where they purposefully make it nearly impossible to navigate anywhere quickly. Sheesh, users are less likely to stay longer when you frustrate them.
Anyway, as previously mentioned, apple.com has a few areas that could use some fixing.
THIS. WILL. ROCK.
Zeldman does visually stunning, easy to use, lean, standards compliant sites, and has for as long as I've followed the field. I'm looking forward to whatever they come up with. (Even if it doesn't change the look at all the HTML will be worth reading.)
Ok, I'm done being a Zeldman fanboy. People, if you are going to argue about good site design, lets look at some good ones... Arguably the best around is Google, or you could check out Zeldman's own site, or any of the sites he links to.
Zeldman does visually stunning, easy to use, lean, standards compliant sites, and has for as long as I've followed the field. I'm looking forward to whatever they come up with. (Even if it doesn't change the look at all the HTML will be worth reading.)
Ok, I'm done being a Zeldman fanboy. People, if you are going to argue about good site design, lets look at some good ones... Arguably the best around is Google, or you could check out Zeldman's own site, or any of the sites he links to.
Apple hiring Zeldman to redesign their website means only one thing. It's gonna be fast, compatible with any browser, CSS. It's gonna be great!
WayBackmachine...
ah...posts like this call for a visit to the waybackmachine!!!
http://web.archive.org/web/*/apple.com
ENJOY!!!
ah...posts like this call for a visit to the waybackmachine!!!
http://web.archive.org/web/*/apple.com
ENJOY!!!
Does Apple really have a problem with browser standards? I know I haven't tried viewing Apple.com on all browsers, but before I switched, I pulled their page of flawlessly with both IE and Netscape on Windows and it works great with IE, Netscape, and Opera on the Mac, too. If this really is just to tighten up its coding and interface, then maybe they will at least just update the OS X look to the Panther style, such as the tabbed buttons, toned down Aqua, etc. That might be a decent little evolution to the design. Nothing radical--just different.
The biggest problem I see with Apple's site is the lack of consistency.
They clearly aren't using a content management system for the entire site... Many sections and pages still follow their previous design systems (Apple does enjoy changing fonts).
Their support site is also in need of major revamping to get up to par with sites like Dell or HP.
They clearly aren't using a content management system for the entire site... Many sections and pages still follow their previous design systems (Apple does enjoy changing fonts).
Their support site is also in need of major revamping to get up to par with sites like Dell or HP.
did you guys design yale or something????
yale needs work in my humble opinion - first of all the buttons are confusing because on one level "white" represents buttons, "yellow" selected, then on the next level, "yellow" is a button and then white becomes a heading. its all about consistency - zeldman would get very upset with yale
Great Move by Apple
Zeldman and Bowman are two great web designers, this is an outstanding move.
My guess is that Apple is looking to rework their site into XHTML and CSS if for any reason at all, to lessen their bandwith load. By switching to this format, they could reasonably make their pages 30-40% smaller files. This may not matter to Joe Schmoe's cheesy website but to a popular site like Apple.com, that's going to save them millions that would normally be sent to Akamai.
In addition to preaching web standards, both happen to be quite savvy with content management systems.
Accesibility is a bigger deal than most of you seem to understand. The next generation (or current for that matter) of web devices allows people to surf websites from phones, PDA's, and a host of new exciting things to come. In order for this to work correctly, and render nicely styled pages, content must be separate from style. CSS and XHTML allows sites to render for screen, print, and in the future phones, PDA's, you name it. This is the future of web design.
Zeldman and Bowman are on the leading edge of designing in this way.
edit: I think I should clear up that they could redesign and implement these standards while keeping the exact same look and feel for the Apple website. What they have the potential to do for the website internally is what I think is exciting for Apple.
Zeldman and Bowman are two great web designers, this is an outstanding move.
My guess is that Apple is looking to rework their site into XHTML and CSS if for any reason at all, to lessen their bandwith load. By switching to this format, they could reasonably make their pages 30-40% smaller files. This may not matter to Joe Schmoe's cheesy website but to a popular site like Apple.com, that's going to save them millions that would normally be sent to Akamai.
In addition to preaching web standards, both happen to be quite savvy with content management systems.
Accesibility is a bigger deal than most of you seem to understand. The next generation (or current for that matter) of web devices allows people to surf websites from phones, PDA's, and a host of new exciting things to come. In order for this to work correctly, and render nicely styled pages, content must be separate from style. CSS and XHTML allows sites to render for screen, print, and in the future phones, PDA's, you name it. This is the future of web design.
Zeldman and Bowman are on the leading edge of designing in this way.
edit: I think I should clear up that they could redesign and implement these standards while keeping the exact same look and feel for the Apple website. What they have the potential to do for the website internally is what I think is exciting for Apple.
Update: A followup post on StopDesign.com claims that a visual redesign is not necessarily in the works:
If there was a subtle change made, it would probably be moving to the more metal interface, or perhaps adding a panther pattern to the OS X page. Apple.com is nothing too flashy, but it seems to be kept fairly simple and clean, and standard across pretty much any modern web browser. Now take microsoft.com. If you aren't running IE 6 on a PC, they ditch a bunch of the flashy features, either to restrict non-IE users, or because they realize that too much glitz generally is very difficult to make standard across all browsers and platforms.
I'm probably going to be the odd man out here, but I feel that Apple's web site isn't that easily navigable. They do a good job in featuring their top five items of the moment, and a few more important areas (Quicktime, Mac OS X, Store). Perhaps even making the Hardware and Software links more prominent tabs would help. Ultimately, something like drop down menus with nearly all items (or the top 20 items) might be useful, but then that would probably destroy Apple.com's simplicity.
However, I feel that their store is quite well done. Very straight forward and easy to select items. If I ever go to a site like Dell's, I feel somewhat lost, and end up going through pages and pages worth of options. Also, some of these PC companies are suffering from what Apple had a problem with in the mid-90's...just too many different versions without enough differences between the various models. Perhaps the PC companies would be best off just offering three types of consumer/business machines: 1) no-frills business workstation. 2) A middle of the line computer for either home or business. 3) A work horse for super computing and games.
Apple has done a decent job in trying to draw lines in the sand to differentiate who needs what type of computer, whether it be a PowerMac, an iMac, Powerbook, or iBook.
I'm probably going to be the odd man out here, but I feel that Apple's web site isn't that easily navigable. They do a good job in featuring their top five items of the moment, and a few more important areas (Quicktime, Mac OS X, Store). Perhaps even making the Hardware and Software links more prominent tabs would help. Ultimately, something like drop down menus with nearly all items (or the top 20 items) might be useful, but then that would probably destroy Apple.com's simplicity.
However, I feel that their store is quite well done. Very straight forward and easy to select items. If I ever go to a site like Dell's, I feel somewhat lost, and end up going through pages and pages worth of options. Also, some of these PC companies are suffering from what Apple had a problem with in the mid-90's...just too many different versions without enough differences between the various models. Perhaps the PC companies would be best off just offering three types of consumer/business machines: 1) no-frills business workstation. 2) A middle of the line computer for either home or business. 3) A work horse for super computing and games.
Apple has done a decent job in trying to draw lines in the sand to differentiate who needs what type of computer, whether it be a PowerMac, an iMac, Powerbook, or iBook.
There's a difference between usability and design, Apples current site has both. But they can probably update it and make it even better.
The beauty of Apple's brand is how well their design work in various mediums, their print work mirrors their site which mirrors their commericals etc. Always the great use of space, fonts and colors.
I looked at Yale and found it average, the pop up windows are a pain so usability could be better. There's a link to a text version in the top left corner, but you can't see it on my monitor ( I found it by accident ) and my monitor is color calibrated. The design is bland and it could use some life. It can still be conservative and elegant, without being boring.
Is the blue color Yale's school colors ?
Amazon is still the best or at least one of the very best when it comes to site design, though I don't know how it works on all the browsers.
The beauty of Apple's brand is how well their design work in various mediums, their print work mirrors their site which mirrors their commericals etc. Always the great use of space, fonts and colors.
I looked at Yale and found it average, the pop up windows are a pain so usability could be better. There's a link to a text version in the top left corner, but you can't see it on my monitor ( I found it by accident ) and my monitor is color calibrated. The design is bland and it could use some life. It can still be conservative and elegant, without being boring.
Is the blue color Yale's school colors ?
Amazon is still the best or at least one of the very best when it comes to site design, though I don't know how it works on all the browsers.