written and posted Nov 6 by Mallory Mariano
Review: raddsgames.com by Radu Orlandea
raddsgames.com, by Radu Orlandea, combines a cyberpunk, arcade-esque aesthetic with sensibilities that feel reminiscent of a video-game pause menu. At least, upon visiting the site for the first time, those were predominantly my first impressions.
Radu’s passion for design and video games are perhaps what come across as the most striking with his site. Basu describes this idea of a digital garden; “creative re-imaginings of blogs [which] have quietly taken the corners of the internet by storm” (Basu, 2020). Specifically, she points out these niche areas of the internet as “more collage-like and artsy, in the vein of Myspace and Tumblr – and less predictable and formatted than Facebook and Twitter” (Basu, 2020). Indeed, raddsgames.com feels like an embodiment of much of these statements, given the insular, “nerdy”, nature of the content on which the site hones focus on.
Upon entering the site, you are immediately met with a centred title-card (and sub-header), as well as a beautifully rendered, animated (ie. moving) graphic overlay that lends an almost ‘sci-fi’ sensibility to the entire home page; I can only describe the graphic as ascertaining the perspective of a spaceship, flying through some obscure (or absurd) landscape, some hundreds of years in the future, just as one would in an video game. It is quite a loud, well-assured greeting.
The overall design aesthetic of raddsgames.com’s homepage, beyond the title card, much more closely resembles a conventional blog, with a ‘tri-tile’ vertical orientation, where posts are presented in rows of threes, featuring all recently posted work. It is a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to presenting content that I can ostensibly appreciate as a visitor to the site, thus making the job of navigation simplified and uncomplicated. The choice to feature most, if not all typography, in either purple, black, or white, is highly effective in congregating an overarching aesthetic, as well as building a cohesive brand. It is a choice that I can also infinitely appreciate, despite how seemingly minimal. As Kissane denotes, content creation with regards to the page, such as blogging, borrows heavily (and understandably so) from preceding mediums such as print and publishing (Kissane, 2012). Kissane makes the argument that content creation regarding blogging has moved away, incrementally, from “webpages” to more longer-form, text-based “streams” where consumers can easily scan and ascertain any pertinent details as they deem fit; the whole design prerogative behind raddsgames.com’s homepage feels entirely reminiscent of this disposition, with all posted blogs (shown as tiles) readily available for viewing.
In terms of site organization, raddsgames.com features a header that is presented to contain all the site’s main areas:
The inclusion of a search bar is well-thought out, minute detail that could be useful should Radu continue to cultivate and grow his content beyond the confines of this course. The same is true for the inclusion of a “Contact” page; as his audience grows, having an option for visitors to contact him comes across as both professional and utilitarian . I must point out that while the “About” section of raddsgames.com includes a picture of the site creator himself, it appears incomplete – with the presence of generically rendered paragraph. I suggest that Radu consider writing a short, and concise biography for visitors of the site.
Upon entering the “Blog” section of the site, visitors are greeted with an aggregation of all publicly-available blog posts, organized linearly from most-recent to oldest. While I do appreciate the ease-of-access having all posts aggregated in a single area, I might also suggest a refinement in Radu’s approach to organization by further bisecting all genres/topics into smaller ‘sub-categories’. A separate section for “Mini Assignments”, “Process Posts”, “Blog/Public Posts”, “Peer Reviews”, and “Short Essay” would go a long way in ensuring a seamless experience with respect to site-navigation and content organization. This could be manifested in “sub-menus” for main header, or a “link-tree” styled page with links to all aforementioned categories clearly outlined.
Other than my minor suggestions, the foundation presented with raddsgames.com in its current iteration is one that is both solid and boasts a bevy of potential.
References:
Basu, T. (2020, September 3). Digital Gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007716/digital-gardens-let-you-cultivate-your-own-little-bit-of-the-internet/ (accessed 6 Nov 2023)
Kissane, E. (2012). Issue № 4. Contents may have shifted. Contents Magazine. http://contentsmagazine.com/articles/contents-may-have-shifted/ (accessed 6 Nov 2023)