Website
V&A
Jonathan Knott hails an elegant revamp
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has relaunched its website, and it has a clear and welcoming design. Evidently (and encouragingly) the institution has thought about what people are likely to want from the site, using technology to service the needs of visitors, rather than vice versa.
The new format has not yet been implemented throughout the website, but is used for key pages, including the homepage, which gets straight to the point. It describes the museum succinctly, and displays opening times, pricing information and location clearly. The page also works well aesthetically: a large image from its current main exhibition (Botticelli Reimagined) is used as the background, which is appealing without obscuring.
The exhibition pages are similarly well-judged and use a sensible organisational hierarchy. At the top are prices, opening times and a brief summary; lower down are images of exhibition highlights, followed by related events. Below this are articles and videos looking deeper into the exhibition content. While interesting, these have been recognised – wisely – as less essential than the nuts and bolts. Because it is not forced on the visitor, who has other priorities, this extra content may paradoxically attract greater interest.
Elsewhere there are pages giving a flavour of the collections and straightforward visitor information. The accessibility pages are comprehensive, organised to address different kinds of impairment and providing contact details for further help.
The best thing about the site (and appropriate, given the museum’s remit) is its sense of proportion: it is pleasing to the eye, engaging and informative without overloading. Everything has a purpose, and needless gimmicks have been eschewed. So despite the quantity of content, it does not feel crowded.
This is an intuitive site that simply sets out what the museum does and piques curiosity. It deserves to succeed in its aim of encouraging more visits.
Website
The Guggenheim
Minimal appeal
The relaunched website of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum contains all the right information and a lot of interesting material. But navigation can be hard work.
It pulls off the intriguing feat of being both minimalist and cluttered, with jumbled layouts and an odd mixture of font sizes. There’s a slightly austere feel. The copy is wordy and sometimes pompous, with the “engage” menu item coming across as more of an order than an invitation.
But while viewing images of the art itself, one is reminded of the quality of the museum’s collection. There is a user-friendly searchable database of works from across the Guggenheim’s locations. And the “from the collection” feature, where you can click through a (presumably randomly generated) selection of works, is illuminating and fun.
Alongside blogs and videos, one of the site’s notable features is its wealth of audio content, including lectures and public radio broadcasts from the archives.
There is surely much here, as elsewhere on the site, worth exploring – but it is let down a little by the presentation. It’s one thing to believe in what the museum’s director calls “unimpeachable intellectual integrity”, but there’s a fine line between this and reinforcing the impression that modern art is an elitist pursuit. JK
Digital tool
ShakespeareMe
The emoji’s the thing, Jonathan Knott discovers
As part of this year’s Shakespeare celebrations, the BBC has launched a project designed to engage the “smartphone generation” – people aged 16-35 – with the bard’s work.
ShakespeareMe generates quotations (selected with the help of the lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust) to express emotions, based on a selection of up to three emojis. Choosing the symbols for “happiness” “optimism” and “triumph” gives the line “Live a little, comfort a little, cheer thyself a little” from As You Like It, for example. There are links to share quotes on social media and find out more about their source.
While it’s a nice idea, it may have more appeal as a novelty to those already comfortable with the great playwright’s work than to those unfamiliar with it. But who couldn’t do with a little more Shakespeare in their life? As the BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James says: “Genuinely, I think he would have actually quite liked an emoji.”
V&A
Jonathan Knott hails an elegant revamp
The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has relaunched its website, and it has a clear and welcoming design. Evidently (and encouragingly) the institution has thought about what people are likely to want from the site, using technology to service the needs of visitors, rather than vice versa.
The new format has not yet been implemented throughout the website, but is used for key pages, including the homepage, which gets straight to the point. It describes the museum succinctly, and displays opening times, pricing information and location clearly. The page also works well aesthetically: a large image from its current main exhibition (Botticelli Reimagined) is used as the background, which is appealing without obscuring.
The exhibition pages are similarly well-judged and use a sensible organisational hierarchy. At the top are prices, opening times and a brief summary; lower down are images of exhibition highlights, followed by related events. Below this are articles and videos looking deeper into the exhibition content. While interesting, these have been recognised – wisely – as less essential than the nuts and bolts. Because it is not forced on the visitor, who has other priorities, this extra content may paradoxically attract greater interest.
Elsewhere there are pages giving a flavour of the collections and straightforward visitor information. The accessibility pages are comprehensive, organised to address different kinds of impairment and providing contact details for further help.
The best thing about the site (and appropriate, given the museum’s remit) is its sense of proportion: it is pleasing to the eye, engaging and informative without overloading. Everything has a purpose, and needless gimmicks have been eschewed. So despite the quantity of content, it does not feel crowded.
This is an intuitive site that simply sets out what the museum does and piques curiosity. It deserves to succeed in its aim of encouraging more visits.
Website
The Guggenheim
Minimal appeal
The relaunched website of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum contains all the right information and a lot of interesting material. But navigation can be hard work.
It pulls off the intriguing feat of being both minimalist and cluttered, with jumbled layouts and an odd mixture of font sizes. There’s a slightly austere feel. The copy is wordy and sometimes pompous, with the “engage” menu item coming across as more of an order than an invitation.
But while viewing images of the art itself, one is reminded of the quality of the museum’s collection. There is a user-friendly searchable database of works from across the Guggenheim’s locations. And the “from the collection” feature, where you can click through a (presumably randomly generated) selection of works, is illuminating and fun.
Alongside blogs and videos, one of the site’s notable features is its wealth of audio content, including lectures and public radio broadcasts from the archives.
There is surely much here, as elsewhere on the site, worth exploring – but it is let down a little by the presentation. It’s one thing to believe in what the museum’s director calls “unimpeachable intellectual integrity”, but there’s a fine line between this and reinforcing the impression that modern art is an elitist pursuit. JK
Digital tool
ShakespeareMe
The emoji’s the thing, Jonathan Knott discovers
As part of this year’s Shakespeare celebrations, the BBC has launched a project designed to engage the “smartphone generation” – people aged 16-35 – with the bard’s work.
ShakespeareMe generates quotations (selected with the help of the lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust) to express emotions, based on a selection of up to three emojis. Choosing the symbols for “happiness” “optimism” and “triumph” gives the line “Live a little, comfort a little, cheer thyself a little” from As You Like It, for example. There are links to share quotes on social media and find out more about their source.
While it’s a nice idea, it may have more appeal as a novelty to those already comfortable with the great playwright’s work than to those unfamiliar with it. But who couldn’t do with a little more Shakespeare in their life? As the BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James says: “Genuinely, I think he would have actually quite liked an emoji.”