Week Ten | Nelson

Sorry the image looks weird...I made a "collage" of 2 print screens to better show the diverse use of the grid.

1) For the online magazine, Salon, there is clearly a grid system in place. From one end of the screen to the other, there appears to be an 8 grid sysetem in place, utilized differently as one scrolls down the page. On the opening screen right when it first loads, we see the 3D movie taking up 2 columns, with smaller columns for less important stories right next to it, showing the next 2 columns. These two smaller grids also have another 2 column section next to it showing an ad and another little sidebar of news, which creates a symmetry.Scrolling down just a little bit farther, we see all 4 column being utilized for smaller headlines, and under the 2 grids to the right under the ad, some white space is left. Just one little scroll farther, and we see a 4 column wide spread and a 2 colum set up right next to it. On either side of the actual articles, there is one column of just blank space, so the whole site isn't filled with text. Also, it's clear when they decide to do a larger section of columns for their stories, they keep it as an even number width. They use their boundaries well to create for a simple, diverse format that keeps the eye moving.

2) As we discussed in class, it's important to keep the eye moving. This format I feel helps with readability and keeping the viewer engaged. There isn't pictures and text everywhere, but a very organized and clean format. Since it changes as we move further down the page, we can easily separate the different stories and not strain our eyes with an overload of text and pictures, trying to decide what we actually want to read.

3) The site is clearly very structured and organized, and though I don't look at it very often, it seems like they probably change the layout often to make for a more interesting read, manipulating the number of columns used for a story. It engages the reader because in many websites there's texts and pictures everywhere, lots of ads, and not enough white space. This is very clean and interesting, with lots of variation in the grid system to keep the viewer scrolling on to at least glance at the different articles they can choose from.

4) I don't feel there is any tension. Everything transitions well into the next section of articles, and they're all clearly separated and spaced. They make good use of the grid and the divisions they create with white space, pictures and articles.