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Cobalt Engineering
Current rating: 6.3 (646 votes)
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- Added: 08 May 2005
- Designer: Terry Evans
- Submitter: Terry Evans
Review:
The main thing that compelled me to highlight this site on Stylegala was the nice way Vibe9 has separated all pieces of its content. The header is especially strong with its nice main dropdown navigation (through JavaScript, when disabled, shows the rest of the nav decently) and the vertical alignment of the less "important" navigation like "home" and "site map."
I wanted to show this site to illustrate that there is more than one way to highlight navigation choices, and that perhaps you can use more than one in a site. I also like how the content boxes have muted background images that add some nice texture in a space that could have looked boring otherwise.
What I have the most problem with is the colour scheme; green and grey-black aren't necessarily harmonious colours to work with. I'm personally not fond of it. However, it is a mechanical engineering and consulting firm site and perhaps the palette is justified because of the type of work. Also, sometimes designers have less choice over colour because of brand guidelines to follow. I also wish the designer re-used the Cobalt logo's typeface again in the content area to complete the look and push the brand further. I also wonder if there could have been more done in the internal pages with the middle sidebar.
Reviewed by Lea Alcantara
More Eric Meyer on CSSThere are 10 guest comments so far.
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I dont see this site promoting design with css and webstandards? It has a javascript-menu. The colors are not bad, but the design has no «wow-factor». Thats my opinion.
DOM is a web standard. And the site works fine without JavaScript. Nice site.
I think the reviewer's got it spot-on here - very much agree the centre sidebar seems a bit empty on too many of the pages. I think I'd have gone without the dropdown nav and just left it with the right-hand list to navigate the subsections but maybe that wouldn't have been as clear.
Generally nice site though - like the review says, seems to sit well with the client's field of work.
I believe that design isn't just about the "wow" factor. It's about following the clients needs and making something good with the restrictions given. Like I said, it's the particular navigation elements that drew me to this design; while it doesn't have fancy drop shadows, bevel effects or tabs, each section is isolated well and presented differently from what is the norm. As designers, I encourage pushing this envelope and am impressed that such experimentation was allowed in a corporate site
This is a good site.
i'm totally agree with Lea here, this site is very well done. although nothing fancy and 'wow', the design is rock solid, such as the implementation.
this is a very good corp site, which is not about innovation, but a solid presentation. the client should be pleased with the work of the vibe9 kru.
peace.
This site is really well done - the design is actually visually appealling, and the pale green and grey actually go well together, despite what the reviewer said. Also, the navigation is unique and the middle bar actually has a function, on sub-subpages, such as http://cobaltengineering.com/profile/mamood-venkataya, where it provides navigation. Overall, very well done, the photos are great, the site is really inspiring and in context with the industry!
I agree with Mihai. The design is visually appealling, and the pale green and grey go well together. Ahead of that, the site is very well coded. Clear style, nice colour-scheme.
There is more about the author over on TXP Magazine
(http://txpmagazine.kbbu.de).
I like this vertical menu in yellow color, really looks amazing, and grey backgrounds make sence.
Hey! Great site with great content! If you've never heard of VoIP, get ready to change the way you think about long-distance phone calls.