Three Good Examples & Three Bad Examples of Design

Physical

            Good IPAD: 

Apple has developed tremendous products over the years, and one product that I think has great design is the IPAD.  The product is sleek, light, and thin.  It comes with a built in camera to take photos or video, but the image quality could be better.  The user interface is outstanding.  It is user friendly for all ages and easy to navigate between screens of apps by sliding left or right.  The apps on the screen are spaced out evenly giving it a well-balanced layout. 

             Bad Coffee Maker:   

I have had this coffee maker for many year now and I like almost everything about it because it is easy to use and clean.  The biggest downside of this product is the design of the On and Off switch.  By looking at it, a user would not be able to tell whether to press the switch to the right or left to turn it On or Off.  There have been times when our coffee maker has been on for hours which can be a fire hazard.

Local

            Good Assembly Hall/State Farm Center:  

 I really like the way this basketball arena was built.  Its design and construction attracts my attention all the time.  Looking at the concrete dome shape from the ground up at night or day reminds me of a space ship that just landed.  I like the way the light shines at night from the dome and reflects onto the shapes of the ceiling exterior.  Also, the dome shape is the focal point of the structure, but within that it has interesting lines of symmetry.

Bad Doodles Restaurant:   

This restaurant recently closed in Champaign, Illinois.  I wonder why?  When I look at the interior design it screams bad layout.  The seating area looks like picnic style seating.  The layout of the menu is placed right above where customers sit and eat, and the placement of the garbage bin is in wrong place.  Why would someone want to eat next to bad odor?  Not me. 

Digital

            Good Web Design:   

I like how the site is well-balanced from the typography to the images.  Right away this site leads the consumer to its product and focal point (ice cream).  Visually it looks simple and not too cluttered making it easy to read.  The logo has this smooth organic feel just like their ice cream images.  The page has established good unity between the color, shapes, typography, links, and logo. 

Bad Pepsi Ad:   

My first instinct when I saw this ad was “What?” Who ever designed the marketing ad did not do a very good job with the use of proper font (Typography).  By looking at it, I quickly thought that it  said “Pepsi & Rape” instead of Pepsi &  Aape  (Japanese clothing company A Bathing Ape's line AAPE.)  The ad ran in Hong Kong just over a year ago, during which it caused quite a bit of controversy.