Sometimes it can be difficult to choose the right font to present a message. The voice of both the font and the message need to complement one another for the message to be clear and without ambiguity.
White Space and Grid Structure
Burger King (BK) and McDonald's (McD) would both like to sell cheeseburgers and other assorted fast food items. Their respective websites have very different grid layouts.
McD follows a more traditional web page grid: navigation at left, large content area at right (in this case a static image of a cheeseburger), account information at top right, secondary promotions at bottom. There is a defined alley between the navigation and the rest of the content, setting it apart from the rest of the material. Social media and other contact information appear at the bottom of this relatively short web page.
BK has an automatic carousel of images highlight multiple products situated below a two tiered informational links. Below the carousel is a large number of secondary promotions. A very detailed navigation and social media connections appear at the very bottom of this long page.
McD is promoting their best product, while BK is showing they are more than just burgers. While the amount of content on the McD site is less than that of BK, the background texture and harsh color choices make the page feel full and almost too busy. The muted colors and solid textures make BK appear open, clean, light, and modern.
McD follows a more traditional web page grid: navigation at left, large content area at right (in this case a static image of a cheeseburger), account information at top right, secondary promotions at bottom. There is a defined alley between the navigation and the rest of the content, setting it apart from the rest of the material. Social media and other contact information appear at the bottom of this relatively short web page.
BK has an automatic carousel of images highlight multiple products situated below a two tiered informational links. Below the carousel is a large number of secondary promotions. A very detailed navigation and social media connections appear at the very bottom of this long page.
McD is promoting their best product, while BK is showing they are more than just burgers. While the amount of content on the McD site is less than that of BK, the background texture and harsh color choices make the page feel full and almost too busy. The muted colors and solid textures make BK appear open, clean, light, and modern.
Michele, I laughed out loud at many of the words you chose that contradict the look and feel of the font. “Wild Party” and “Year-end report” were my favorite. I enjoyed the irony. I also chose to complete this task and I found it to be very helpful. In a way I always knew when a font wasn’t an appropriate choice but I never took the time to explore different fonts and listen to their “voice”. This task made me aware of many fonts available and forced me think about their potential use.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that the background texture and harsh colors make the McD website feel too busy. I found that the large quarter pounder with cheese and the red/yellow color combination increased my appetite. I find the McD site to be more appealing. I see the BK site as a little boring. I do, however, see elements of the works-every-time layout in the BK site…the large picture at the top to grab attention and the columns under it. I also think the horizontal navigation works for the BK site which makes me realize even more that some rules are meant to be broken.
I am enjoying seeing how my classmates approached the font exercise and I am surprised to see that we agree, that a font's voice is really universal. For some reason, I thought that we would come up with very different interpretations, but we didn't. And it makes me cringe at how much I used comic sans when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking a lot about McDonald's lately, and their use of advertising. They have done their homework and clearly make every effort to make us want to buy what they are selling. Seeing your comparison of their website and Burger King's website, though, made me wonder if I am no longer in McDonald's target demographic. For some reason, I find the current home page to be a bit nauseating. Of course, it is possible that I am not feeling well right now, but the Burger King home page looks more clean, which I am finding to be a bit more inviting. Regardless, it is interesting to think about how we are influenced by all of the design decisions that a brand makes.