The use of Communication Design/Graphic Design on Redbubble.com
At first glance it might seem that the RedBubble website suffers from a lack of graphic design & design elements. There doesn't appear to be a lot of thought put into the design of the site - it may even seem unfinished to some. There is a noticeable lack of fancy rounded buttons, gradients and shadows, there is a lot of white space and straightforward styling of navigation and links.
In actual fact, it becomes obvious that the design of the site has been engineered to focus on the artwork of its members. I am reminded of the advice one of my TAFE lecturers gave me for preparing my design portfolio - the folio must not be better (designed) than the work it contains. In other words, the content should be the focus - not the vehicle of delivery. By maintaining a minimalist, restrained design, RedBubble is keeping the focus on the artwork of its members. As I mentioned in my previous post, it is obvious that the site values its members and the contribution they make towards creating a successful community/marketplace.
Expression of Identity
The Redbubble identity is composed of a mix of design elements, graphics, colours and type styles. The standard RedBubble logo is a sans serif modern font, in medium weight, all lowercase and using the colour contrast to highlight the two separate words that make up the website name.
The RedBubble logo also appears in other formats - there is a 3D logo used as the avatar for the site's own account, as well as different logo designs/interpretations used for promotional artwork & t-shirts.
Keeping to it's namesake, the site uses a primarily red & grey based colour palette, with blue and red highlights for links, in a straightforward style and down to earth style. By keeping the navigation as plain text links, the pages have plenty of clear space and help to keep the focus on the artwork or articles on each page.
Searching for a specific type of product is easy with clearly defined categories based on the 'tags' artists apply to their work on upload. The plain text links show clear the hierarchy of sections and allow the user to narrow down the criteria to find exactly what they are looking for - or to simply browse the numerous categories of artwork and see what's out there.
Geek >
Geek > Star Wars
The About Us page makes use of quirky imagery and bold type headings that reference hand-crafted collage/cut & paste graphics. A red text box with bubble watermarks to highlight dynamic/changing text. Small speech bubble icons next to the links are cute symbols indicating the type of article that the links lead to (blog). The quirky & fun graphics & type carry through to articles about the team, with the imagery and text informal and friendly, even 'taking the piss' out of themselves.
The site also uses illustrations as a way of providing information. Realistic style illustrations throughout the site represent types of artwork as well as the different styles of t-shirts and products available. The standardised "models" wearing the t-shirts are also a way to put the focus onto the actual artwork, keeping visual distractions to a minimum.
Communicating with members
The language used throughout the site has been "designed" to portray the personality of the team behind the business. Down to earth, straightforward, and friendly text clearly instructs the user how to go about signing up, uploading artwork and buying products. There are numerous pages and articles detailing the RedBubble objectives, the team behind the site as well as opinion pieces written by staff for the benefit of the community. Every article in the blog has commenting enabled so community members (users) can give feedback. This shows a desire for openness and a respect for members by the RedBubble team. Regular blog articles (such as the Weekly Wrap) and 'Featured' items give frequent praise to the members - fostering a friendly relationship between users and the RedBubble personality, eg:
"With the risk of sounding like a broken record, we’ll say it again. You’re really are an impressive bunch! We love compiling the wrap each week but it often takes longer than planned as we’re easily distracted by the great things we find in your journals."
and:
"We’re a spot for positive encouragement and feedback, somewhere to display work, admire work and talk about work. We’re into discussion, learning and collaboration and getting lots of people smiling."
There is even an inspirational piece of artwork available for purchase that sums up the values and goals of the site:
Design contributing to the user experience
All the design elements, graphics, colours and language have been specifically used to position RedBubble as a no-fuss, straightforward, accessible and functional service. Although it can be argued that visual design is primarily used to make sites look 'pretty' or 'appealing' there is no doubt in my mind that the visual design has a huge impact on the actual experience a user has on the site. By maintaining a clean, easily navigatable layout, the user can quickly find what they are looking for without any hassles - whether it be instructions on how to upload work or to buy a cartoon style t-shirt featuring Super Mario or the Ghostbusters. Plus, the more pleasant the initial experience is, the more likely users are going to return to the site later on!
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