Mallory Mariano “After Dark with Mallory” website is an attractive platform that showcases the author’s creativity through various forms of art. From her photography work to her writing prowess, the website is visually stimulating and engaging, all while conveying personality. After going through the website, I have added my constructive review below about the website.
The Design:
Upon loading the website and the first impressions of The Home Page and overall design of the website is very artistic and minimalistic at the same time. The color choice in the overall website is going with the minimalistic theme, suiting the look and feel of the website with the focus very clearly on the text and the images. For the Home Page the posts can do with realigning the text with the pictures. The menu bar at the top is well laid out as well, with clearly indicated drop down menu’s to make it easier for the user to jump into a particular post. There is also her instagram and email to reach out to her and get to know Mallory more. The critic for the menu bar is when I click on any of the 1st drop down menu under POSIEL i.e. *Process Post – Mini Assignments* the page have broken links that needs to be fixed. The title of the website shows up on the left side on all pages allowing the user to go back to the home page by clicking on it. Mallory mentions that she is thinking of probably cycling out the images on the home page, I think those images compliment the home page and the overall design very well adding to the artsy/a drawing-like look of the whole website.
The Content:
The Home Page did not clearly indicate or explain what the website is about hence the first page I went to was the About page to understand what to expect from this website which clearly explained it well and helped me understand the whole website. A suggestion would be to think of a different menu name instead of “Reviewed” because at the first glance, it did not make sense to me until I hovered over that menu button and saw book titles. The Book Reviews are well written and have much focus on fantasy and romance genres which are popular and provide enjoyable reading experiences. The reviews go in depth about the books, with a good summary on each and Mallory even gives a brief explanation on why one should reach the particular book. Mallory’s process posts are related to each week’s readings, giving a small explanation and her thoughts on the topics discussed in class and the course readings which are quite informative as well.
Mallory’s Online-self:
Mallory’s website matches a very good vibe of who she would be in-person: an artistic, avid book reader whose content matches the description she has about herself on her About Page, who has made this site to share the countless floating thoughts and opinions that are perusing her mind. Her book reviews are very in-depth, with the choice of books being unique as well.