SmithCreate - 2/33 - Jonathan Smith is a web designer, graphic designer, and photographer in Harrisburg, PA.SmithCreate

PennLive.com Clutter

How NOT to design a website.

Let this be an example of how NOT to design a website. I know, PennLive.com is a news website and they need to make money through advertising. But placing a repeating logo as a background with your text articles on top is NOT user friendly and makes your NEWS articles extremely difficult to read.

The expanding banner also places all of your articles “below the fold”. As a newspaper company, The Patriot News should know something about “below the fold”. Readers want to find their info and move on with their day without the need to hunt for what they are looking for.

PennLive, you are becoming the MySpace of the news industry. Please find a better way to place and show your advertising! Besides, what is the point of having a repeating logo as the background. This tells me NOTHING about the company. It looks to be some type of “Bath & Kitchen Studio”. What is a “Bath & Kitchen Studio”? Is this a photo studio that is actually in a kitchen and a bathroom? Why do I want to click on this logo? What will I get?

Ok, I clicked your repeating logo background. Now the company says if I came to their site from PennLive I can get a discount voucher. Oh wait, now their website is asking for my name, email, and other information so they can email me a voucher. Still no explanation for what exactly this voucher is.

It seems that you are selling the ad space for it’s exposure. Any clicks going to the advertisers website are probably by mistake or curiosity. I would bet that PennLive is not converting those clicks into sales in this manner. One way to fix this would be to simply run a normal banner that explains what the company is and what the deal is. That would drive more quality click-throughs and hopefully generate more leads for the advertiser.

Sorry for the rant, but this is all very poorly designed all around. Poor site design and poor advertising. I pointed out the reasons why and even gave an example how to fix the situation. Type for some Tylenol, that site is giving me a headache.

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2011: 11/01
CATEGORY: Advertising & Design
Harrisburg
Technology
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Maclay Street Bridge Decay

Every day I cross the Maclay Street bridge on my way to work and on my way home. I’ve noticed how overgrown the weeds have gotten and how they seemed to have taken over the sidewalks. Finally, I found myself sitting on the bridge in traffic and looked over to my left. I was looking through the side of the bridge to the railroad tracks below.

How do things get this bad? I mean, if your house had a hole this big in the wall, and you found yourself looking outside, wouldn’t you fix it?

Following are a series of photos I took as I walked across the bridge. Hopefully this gains some awareness to the fact that this area is in dire need of attention. I hope to schedule a public/community cleanup day in the near future. If the city isn’t going to do it, then let the concerned citizens of Harrisburg spearhead the initiative and accomplish things.

This is the back of a large TV sitting in the weeds along the sidewalk of the bridge.

More trash sitting on the sidewalk.

The concrete of the bridge has worn away exposing the rebar of the structure of the bridge.

Not sure what kind of repair job this is. I wouldn’t be proud of this workmanship.

A battery and cigarette butt.

Steel plate placed over something with macadam holding it in place. Hope they don’t need easy access.

Missing some rails in this section.

A man pushing his bike through the weeds of the sidewalk. Doesn’t seem like a pleasant place to ride/walk.

A vine growing through the side of the bridge breaking the concrete apart.

An orange barrier sits along the intersection of Maclay and 7th Streets so that the bridge can be blocked off when the street floods.

A fire hydrant sits among the weeds of Maclay Street.

Weeds growing out of the concrete traffic island at Maclay and 7th Street making it difficult to see traffic coming from different directions.

Trash along the sidewalk.

Trash along the bridge near the Pennsylvania Farm Show.

The sidewalk disappears below the weeds along the Maclay Street bridge near the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Makes for a difficult and unpleasant walk.

Weeds and trash along the Maclay Street bridge.

View the entire Maclay Street Bridge photo set on Flickr.

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2011: 10/01
CATEGORY: Architecture
Environment
Harrisburg
Photography
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Great Salt Lake from Above

Having recently flew into and out of Salt Lake City, Utah, I thought I would share this beautiful landscape. About 10 years ago I had the opportunity to drive across the country and found Utah one of the most beautiful states to drive through. The scenery is such a contrast from what we have on the east coast of the United States.

The Great Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in the northern hemisphere. This lake is very unique as it has no outlet besides evaporation. The lake is fed by the Jordan, Weber, and Bear rivers which deposit minerals into the lake making it far saltier than sea water.

For more info on the Great salt Lake, check out the Wikipedia article. Now enjoy the photos.