Design, Design Reviews, Politics, Website review

Mar 7, 2007

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Part 4 of my possibly tiresome campaign site review series finds us staring at the grim, unblinking visage of John McCain! The (mostly) black and white maverick of the campaign design world sure has its share of detractors. The monochromatic palette seems to evoke a love it or hate it vote. I happen to think it does not work, but that the site can look very solid with a few edits.

If the idea of the black and white design is a metaphor for strength of purpose or a stance on an issue (or issues), I understand that, but I think that any of those metaphors can be realized (as much as these design decisions can trigger an emotional response) with a much lighter and better-designed approach. My fix would be to add color to every obvious space within the interior real estate of the site. For example:

The logo remains black and white, as does the background of the site including the flag imagery.

The navigation can remain as is until mouse-over. Color could be introduced here in the nav field, not just the text, and the menu should open in that color as well.

The left navigation/latest news fields and icons would all be in full color and the three very heavy bottom video invitations (Involving You | Informing You | Connecting You) could simply be full color versions of the existing photography.

I would also make sure to put as much color as reasonable into the footer, and I would add the infamous DONATE button in its red glory.

My hope when I saw the first version of the site was that the black and white motif would give way to a full-bodied rendering once McCain announced and launched a full site. Dramatic entrance or something. Onward, minus any color remarks.

The structure of the homepage is fine with me and I appreciate the compact design here. The logo is strong and unique for a campaign logo and I assume the attached mark is the Silver Star, which McCain was awarded, and therefore cannot be questioned by a sissy like me. The flag background is pretty muted and therefore doesn’t offend. The universal navigation is easy to locate and use and the Undecided? navigation point is a fairly unique keyhole. Reads better than About John McCain, I guess. One point about the photography that I’ll mention; McCain is a mechanical, unnerving subject to view in some of these shots, and his people should realize that we understand that he’s serious about this. More shots of him smiling and or looking presidential. Less of him appearing as if to ask me my intentions with his daughter.

In conclusion, I think the site is problematic in this rendition because of the black and white template choice, but feel that it could be very strong if edited discreetly.

http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

You didn’t mention the biggest usability problem on the site: the fact that video starts playing unexpectedly when you rollover those bottom buttons. I don’t think you ever want to suprise/annoy users like that. To top it off, the videos really don’t provide real information. Bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles.
http://www.bivingsreport.com Todd Zeigler

You didn’t mention the biggest usability problem on the site: the fact that video starts playing unexpectedly when you rollover those bottom buttons. I don’t think you ever want to suprise/annoy users like that. To top it off, the videos really don’t provide real information. Bells and whistles for the sake of bells and whistles.
http://www.digitalstreetjournal.com Jonathan Trenn

I really think the flag should show its colors. The ol’ Red, White, and Blue. And his first name should be part of the logo. Otherwise, it could be confused with the fish food company. The logo that is.
http://www.digitalstreetjournal.com Jonathan Trenn

I really think the flag should show its colors. The ol’ Red, White, and Blue. And his first name should be part of the logo. Otherwise, it could be confused with the fish food company. The logo that is.
http://www.leftisphere.com/blog Luigi Montanez

I see where the McCain team was going with this, and I’ve always thought a black and white color scheme would be a good one for a statesman candidate for President. However, the design is TOO black and not enough white.

Here’s the blog of the NY Times’ online design lead, Khoi Vinh:

Subtraction

This is an excellent use of black and white, with black being used for outstanding typography rather than background. Also, the use of orange for links is striking.

On a related note, I’ve also done a little review of sorts on McCain’s email strategy:

McCain’s Strange Emails
http://www.leftisphere.com/blog Luigi Montanez

I see where the McCain team was going with this, and I’ve always thought a black and white color scheme would be a good one for a statesman candidate for President. However, the design is TOO black and not enough white.

Here’s the blog of the NY Times’ online design lead, Khoi Vinh:

Subtraction

This is an excellent use of black and white, with black being used for outstanding typography rather than background. Also, the use of orange for links is striking.

On a related note, I’ve also done a little review of sorts on McCain’s email strategy:

McCain’s Strange Emails
Tom

I still think if the interior real estate were dealt with in a much more colorful manner (including some white space)the black would be an effective and striking background.
Tom

I still think if the interior real estate were dealt with in a much more colorful manner (including some white space)the black would be an effective and striking background.
http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/john-edwards-2-the-campaign-site/ John Edwards 2: The Campaign Site » The Bivings Report

[...] Sounds like a stirring movie, but it isn’t, thank God. It’s the title of my design review of John Edwards campaign site update. I was puzzled by the lack of Edward’s face on the last version of this site, and I thought the overall tone was rather grim. Not John McCain grim, but pretty sullen. Since that initial launch, Edwards has gotten a lot of publicity that really have nothing to do with his campaign. The Ann Coulter weirdness and the announcement of his wife’s medical condition took center stage. Upon viewing his site last week, I was pleasantly surprised to see a much more inviting and energetic offering from his camp. [...]
http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/john-mccain-redesigns-website/ John McCain Redesigns Website » The Bivings Report

[...] They abandoned the black and white scheme (which was just a little too forboding) in favor of some color. They got rid of the little video rollover effects that would annoy users unexpectantly. They are giving people the option to read some text instead of going with a ”watch video or go away” approach. [...]
http://www.bivingsreport.com/2007/campaign-site-design-review-john-mccain-version-2/ Campaign Site Design Review: John McCain Version 2 » The Bivings Report

[...] This latest version of the campaign site seems only a bit forced to me. If I had gotten as much criticism for the black and white scheme as the designers originally did, I might have used this opportunity to throw some color in as well. With that being said, let’s take a look and see how we did. [...]

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Campaign Design Review: McCain for President

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