Boston agency Modernista! has launched their new website and it certainly lives up the agency’s name…it’s modern as can be. Maybe too modern. AdPulp’s first reaction was to try to figure out if it was good or not.
So was mine.
The website isn’t a traditional website, rather it is rollovers that redirect to other sites like Wikipedia that house information, work, etc of the agency. The Denver Egoist says “the site is so smart it sickens me” and there are serious arguments for that.
The web is moving away from some of the whiz-bang flash and animations and sort of pointless bells and whistles that dominated the early years of “you can do that on the internet” excitement and toward utility. Any website, even agency websites, need to quickly and easily give consumers what they want. And what do you want from an agency website?
Contact information, a look at the work, maybe a client list and a feel for the place.
Modernista! certainly gives the viewer all that, with a healthy dollop of “isn’t this cool and different.” Agencies thrive on that last part.
George Parker was talking about Craiglist, specifically how Craig Newmark said that nobody outside the design community cares about how Craigslist.org looks because it is simple and it works. It has utility. Nice looks are good, but aren’t worth a trade-off for less usability.
Modernista! is certainly going for a very specific look with the site design that, in its untraditional machine-style simplicity, marries a specific image of their agency to a very unique site. Usability took me a second because the site was so unexpected, but it was otherwise easy.
I am starting to really like the site.
the daily (ad) biz 