Saturday, September 22, 2007

website structure - 1/3

Etsy.com
"Your place to buy and sell all things handmade."
This is a neat site full of, like the slogan suggests, handmade goods (jewelery, bags, clothing, etc. etc.) that can be purchased or custom ordered from other users. The layout colours are very simple - a white background with black text. The logo is a dull orange, and this colour scheme reocurrs - all bolded titles are the same orange colour. Links are a teal-blue; looking sharp against the white background and complimentary to the orange.


(click to enlarge)

The font page of the site has a box at the top with a search box and the Etsy logo - this box is present on every page to make for easy navigating/searching. There is a box of links on the side titled "ways to shop". Everyday the site's administrators choose various items to 'feature' on the front page, thumbnails of these items are posted on the front page and are linked to their descriptions where they can be purchased.
When you first navigate to them, the descriptive pages of each item has one large picture of the item pre-loaded. You can click the smaller thumbnails to the right of this main picture to change it (naturally, to gain various views of the item before purchasing it)
The seller's main page can be customized, as well. Users can upload a banner as their own, personal 'logo' and provide the user with information (their policies on shipping, for example) that appears above their items for sale.
Finally, a really cool feature of Etsy - one of the 'ways to shop' links - is that you can shop by colour. This page is a java application that allows for the user to click a coloured circle, indicating the colour they are interested in and Etsy generates 3-5 items that have the exact colour in it. A little box with the item in it pops up and the user can click it once more to be taken to the item's description.

Overall, the site's layout is extremely simple. Naturally, it is easy to navigate; emphasis of the site is moreso set on the actualy products being sold, not a complex layout.

♪: The Cure: Why can't I be you?

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