The First Twenty - August 2008

Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 · Categories: Site of the Month.-

We have a new section called "Site of The Month", where we will award what we consider the best design of the month. So, here is the first one. And it goes to The First Twenty.

"Oh brave men and women of fire and soot, how thy engines of red blaze stanchly toward certain danger. How thy faces burn before magnificent compositions of peril. How thy bravery glows when instincts of self-preservation are cast aside for the sake of thy neighbors.

How then, oh great men and women of sacrifice, shall we repay thee?"

With a masterpiece of XHTML and CSS, of course.

First off, the guy, girl, team, dalmatian, or whoever it was that designed this site managed to get all the information onto one page. (With the exception of a video to be discussed later.) That’s not bad, considering this is an informational site. Importantly, at no point does the information seem crowded, out of place, difficult to ascertain, ugly, stupid, lame, or stinky. This is accomplished through a comfortable flow of different-sized columns and background changes. There are no tabs to different sections of the site, and I say, nice work. Who needs tabs when we never have to leave the page we’re on? This is one of those great sites that reminds you to always keep your eyes and your mind open to different methods of solving design problems.

Is it later? Okay. Now let’s talk about the video. Boo. This is my only serious criticism. The site is beautiful. The video is obviously professionally shot, produced, edited, and it’s beautiful too. Why oh why did that crazy dalmatian designer decide that the video could sit on a blank white page? Why oh why didn’t he dig his heels in, put off the kibble for just a few hours more, and finish off the site with an appropriate video-viewing page? Perhaps the timeline, the budget, or some other unforeseen culprit is to blame, so judgment is reserved. But needless to state after this rant, it is a loose brick in the firehouse.

But we forgive you. Because we really think you nailed everything else.

The color scheme throughout the site is patriotic, but not “vote for me in November” patriotic. We can see red, white and blue, but we don’t feel like taking a nap on a cracker. Instead, we feel the warmth of natural brown tones, the tangible personality of the paper and distressed textures, and the classic calm of the monotone photography. It is the addition of these elements that calms the overall color scheme, and also encapsulates the personality of a noble firefighter. At least the one I’m picturing in my head, who looks curiously like the one in the main banner.