Web Page Design - From the Pros, Nothing Short of Excellence

R/GA, inc. (www.rga.com)

I spent some time this weekend exploring the digitized and dynamic world of R/GA on the web. R/GA is a leading agency for digital and computer-assisted film, animation, and still-image studio production with offices in New York City, London, San Francisco, and probably a few other places as well. Given their focus on the integration of digital media into the art and business of entertainment, promotion, and advertising, it came as no surprise to find their website seamless, fluid, interesting, and visually appealing.

The first thing I noticed when checking out their home page was the use of color. The stark black background is a favorite of many modern and artistic organizations (in any media) for a good reason. It does an excellent job of showcasing the photo image which is squared off on the left, and stands out brightly from the grey or sometimes white text on the page. It gives the effect of being a window into the R/GA world, inviting the user to explore further. The squared-off shapes, along with just a touch of red in the photo, serve to accent the red square in the R/GA logo. In addition, the drop-down menus on the top of the screen are bordered by a thin red line - just enough to add visual interest and connect the entire page to the R/GA symbol.

Another property wisely and sparingly used by these web designers is spatial positioning of the elements. Although the layout is asymmetrical, it is balanced well and there are no underlying visual conflicts. Ample empty space is left to let the graphics and introductory paragraph stand out. What I really liked was the hidden menus, that free the screen of clutter and yet provide quick links to other parts of the site. Again, the use of color here could not be any better. Menu titles instantly turn red (the same shade, of course, as the logo) when a mouse is hovered over them, and the subtitles beneath them are likewise highlighted by a red bar when selected.

The rest of the website unfolds quite nicely. Several pages feature flash videos, and these are showcased on a black background, much like the home page. An applet that runs while the videos are being loaded adds interest as well as consistency in color and theme. Most of the pages supplying textual information use a reverse color scheme; that is, black text on a white background. To me, this almost gave the effect of having opened up a book, with the cover and illustrations done on black and the text no less attention-grabbing where it needs to be. The squarish geometric theme is maintained throughout, with the exception of one page. The page that gives the story of the company's founder and CEO is presented as text superimposed upon a fade-out photo of Mr. Greenberg, on a black background. The fusion of styles, of the text-based and video-based pages, does a wonderful job of highlighting the transitional and integrational vision of the company. Their mission here stands out beautifully and needs no explanation (a web layout is worth a thousand words!).