The Denver Post- Critique

"Captured Photo Collection"- Media Center

The opening page of the Denver Post's Media Center immediately grabs your attention with their flash graphic of current photos and news flashing interchangeably. At the bottom, there is a clear set of links giving the viewer an option of where they want to go next. They have photo galleries, video, audio slide shows, special graphics and interactive graphics.

Of course, I clicked on the photo galleries first.
There is an array of options/links at the top- entertainment, news, etc. They have their photos well organized. PLUS. The rest of their content is arranged this way as well. Very user friendly and I easily navigated around the site without any complications.

The color scheme keeps pretty neutral (with black, grey and white with splashes of red for flare). Very neatly and professionally done.

It's extremely easy to see the current photo stories they have up. Each story has it's own thumbnail with a sample picture and short blip about the series.

The ONLY issue I had with their site would be the layout of the photo blogs (which can probably be explained by the fact that it's a blog)

One of my pet peeves is scrolling. If I could go to a website and not have to scroll too much- that would be ideal. It keeps me framed and focused on one page and keeps me from feeling like I'm missing something if I don't scroll all the way left and all the way right, up , down, etc. But, that depends on the type of site.

However, when it comes to displaying photos- it is my undying preference that they be put into a slide show sort of format. That way, I don't accidentally speedily pass a photo, or have to use hand eye coordination to center the photo on my screen if there is a tiny scroll tab and lots of pictures. The main site had this layout- which I loved.

The only problem I had with the NAVIGATION aspect on their blog is that since the photos are one after another and rather large, the links to archives and blog entries (galleries) are shoved all the way at the bottom. It would be cleaner and more succinct to have them aligned right or left alongside the photos for easier access to them.

There is also a place at the bottom to leave comments- which I like and dislike. It is my belief that when it comes to a photographer's photos, they should be put up and left to the viewer's interpretation/appreciation... or maybe not so much. Having a string of comments tagging along after the pictures gives it an amateur feel (in my opinion). I'd rather is be, "Here they are. This is my work." But, since it is a news organization, I'm sure they want reader feedback and perhaps that counts as the interactivity of the site.

That being said, it would be a complete failure on my part not to mention that these pictures are all stunning, journalistic and telling. Definitely done by professionals and worthy of being put on a good website.

The content has both aesthetically pleasing photos and current newsworthy ones. I think this mixture is pretty critical for a news organization to have. Some viewers are more news oriented and others look for more humanizing stories.


Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoy this site and it kind of makes me want to live in Colorado.

[LR]
for Electronic Photojournalism at Mizzou