Architecture in the digital landscape doesn’t age quite as gracefully as that in the real world. And after ten years of the same site, the team at NZ Herald decided it was time for some renovations.
Back in 2013, Attitude Group, which has been telling the inspiring stories of New Zealanders living with disabilities, recovering from injuries and dealing with health problems since 1992 and broadcasting on TVNZ since 2005, moved into the online realm with Attitude Live. The site runs versions of its broadcast content, offered live streaming of the Sochi Winter Olympics and has been steadily growing its audience. And for its troubles, it beat competition from 86 countries to win the “inclusion and empowerment” category at the United Nations-based World Summit Awards and was also named by the Grand Jury as “best and most innovative digital innovation with high impact on society 2015”.
For sometime now the general consensus behind website design (and many other kinds of design) is that less is more. Web designers aim to make sites as easy to navigate as possible, rather than assaulting visitors with flashing green neon and trillions of different icons like early websites did in the late 90s. But like many things in life with a cyclical nature (fashion, music and food trends to name a few), perhaps websites are no different. And while we’re not sure if we can call it a trend, we have noticed a few more web designers and developers cramming more into their website designs, creating a retinal overload which is surprisingly pleasing. Digital agency Resn is one of them, making a name for itself by thinking a bit differently and capturing our attention through its creative, animated website designs.
In the ultimate show of first world problems, one in ten New Zealanders say their offline relationships suffer because of the amount of time they fritter away online, according to a survey by Canstar Blue.
Adding to the list of websites that distract you from your daily work, comes the announcement of dailydo.co.nz, a site offering one day only bargains.
Here at StopPress we get our fair share of disgruntled murmurings about, well, lots of things really. Just recently someone approached us about some alleged dodgy online advertising practices and our ears pricked up. The source wished to remain anonymous but claims online media agencies are placing ads on websites that are not necessarily being viewed and accessed by the target demographic for those ads, yet clients are still paying for these ‘foreign eyeballs’.
The 30th anniversary of the AXIS awards next year is sure to be a nostalgic shindig. But it will also be referencing the future.