The Learning Experience:
Although the colors in this screenshot are very welcoming and drew my attention to the fact that it’s kid-friendly, it lacked good usage of adequate spacing in its name. The white space was good on most of the page, but the left margin appeared to be out of balance with the right margin of the page.
The use of the figure-ground principle draws you into the message of their institution: happiness happens here. My eyes were immediately drawn to that phrase because of its size and colorfulness. The graphics were slightly blurry or grainy. Due to the lack of space between the letters and the font size of their name at the top left, it was difficult to read.
The colors of the cartoon characters were more vibrant than the child, which could distract the viewer and even present as a deterrent and cause someone to search for other institutional options, as the playfulness of the font style and characters could convey that the focus is more on play than curriculum, which could be problematic for parents like me whose educational desire is for intellectual development and excellence.
There was good use of similarity, but the page needed more uniformity. There are several different fonts used; the figure-ground fonts were in all lowercase, and the name was in all capitals. At first glance, it was okay, but the more I looked at the page, the more distracting it became because of the poor use of unity and alignment.
I think cutting that empty white space on the left of the site, creating some spacing between its name, and perhaps using solid colors for each word, like in its message, would provide a clearer focus. I would also have the child brought to the front and increase the opacity of the characters so that there is less attention drawn to them. I would also add a classroom element since the highlighted word after preschool is learn. I would also right-align the buttons on the right top of the page to create more of a rhythm.
Parenting Nest:
The Parenting Nest executed similarity and proximity very well. There is a good application of balance and common region, too. When I look at the site, it’s not too cluttered, and the alignment and rhythm of the page flow nicely.
The message in the middle of the page could’ve been better conveyed through the photos; there is a mention of all stages of parenting, including pregnancy, but there are no photos that depict pregnancy. Since the figure-ground photo is of a mother and a child, I would’ve had one of the other photos with a father and child, and I would’ve included a pregnant woman with a wedding ring; the wedding ring is to convey that she isn’t a single parent, because the figure-ground photo and the one I would’ve included with the father and child could appeal to the single-parent households.
On the right side of the screenshot is the continuation of the page as it would appear if you scroll down. I would’ve liked that section to be rearranged a bit: their latest blogs, followed by their content standards, their stats, and then their advisory board and contact forum.
Overall, this was the better design of the two I critiqued. I liked them both for different reasons. However, I think that the first design had more flaws that need correction. Whereas the second, even without any adjustments, would be easy to navigate and would keep me more engaged than the first.