Check out this site!! (not an ad..)

crash_D.

Hey all. I am not affiliated with this site or connected to it, so this is not an advertisment of any sort.

I know most of you guys are designers, developers, programmers, and simply good people with experience in Internet and everything related to it. So I have decided to show you this website, which in my opinion is a masterpiece of design, logic, navigation, ergonomics, and simplicity (but not graphics, though). I hope you will like it too, and please do post your comments about that website here.

The original version is in russian, so this might cause problems. The translated version (provided by Google) distorts the design. So the best way is to open both versions and see the russian one for layout and peep into the translated one for the words and meanings. Again, I think that this is a masterpiece. And please add your comments about it.

So here are the links (be sure to read the entire message above):

Origianl version in russian: http://www.rrost.com
Google translated version: http://66.249.93.104/translate_c... (too long)

Ziyphr

Maybe they've changed the design since you posted but all I see is a text only site with no graphics.

Looks like a Word document.

crash_D.

that's what i am talking about.. this is a developer's dream, imo... isnt it? what the site does is work with securities, and the site was made to look as a security.. well, i think it is a masterpiece.. if i am the only one, please let me know,.,. if not, please share your opinion here..

jimw

I think simple designs have their place if used for the right audience. It is a refreshing design in this flash, pop, in-your-face world of ours. As long as it meets his audience's needs, that's great.

ADM

I like text based sites but I hate that font.

Ziyphr

This site could not be more boring if they tried. I think it's a developers dream to make an attractive and usable sites that would appeal to everyone. This goes against all that. They're still using tables and this site is dull and ugly; few users will want text only and an endless list of links. Not to mention the poor layout of text; the alignment is very uneasy on the eyes.

Good layout, photos, icons, illustrations and use of colour is what makes web pages exciting.

bjrn

I like it. Very business-and-nothing-else. The left side of the page isn't totally good though, because the lines are too short, I think it would have looked better with slightly longer paragraphs. The index/menu on the right hand side is great though. Wasn't surprised to see art.lebedev (designers of the Optimus among other things) behind it either.

Edit: Fixed typo.

crash_D.

only it's art.lebedev (not art.lebdev), bjrn.. couse the owner is Artemiy Lebedev.. Yes, he and his studio are crazy.. I think they are the best design studio ever, not only web-design, but design in general..

also,, its very hard to believe,,, but these same people (art.lebedev i mean) made this Azimut site, which is a total opposite of this first rrost. See the contrast? what do you think, Ziyphr? does this one meet your criteria?

btw, bjrn, its only the front page that has such narrow left column.. the content column in inner pages is wider

Max_B

ADM
I like text based sites but I hate that font.

I Agree on both point, here is a link to a French political newspaper with a sober and nevertheless pleasant layout, IMO. (I'm not involved.)
Content is CMS generated, we are talking about look.

Wanderer

I suspect strongly that this site changed completely since crash_D. posted it and praised it so much, it's certainly no "masterpiece of design" from my perspective.
From a purely aesthetic point of view... yawn!

Posted: Monday, 5 February 2007 at 11:10AM (AEDT)

crash_D.

no no,,, its that text-only layout i praised, Wanderer..

waiting for more opinions..

y2kbg

i dont think it looks at all like a wesite these days should, maybe in 1993.....

c-unit

It looks pretty nice I guess, it's hard to judge such a text heavy site in a language I don't know anything about (it almost looks like all caps?), because of lot of it's greatness, could be in the copy. I do think that the content needs more visual separation though (the lists and paragraphs and what have you). I love the â„– 1. â„– 2. â„– 3. set it times, that's neat typography.

Odinium

In my experience, a purely text based website is good for 2 things. Translating it to an audio website for the blind and enlarging the font size without damaging the layout settings. I agree with y2kbg, in todays age of dreamweaver/photoshop/flash it is not a site that I would go out of my way to read (even if I could read russian) because pure black text on white background is too hard on the eyes, and if I wanted to read that much text, I would read a book. My 2 cents :)

y2kbg

"black text on white background"
well vanilla is such. But i see your point.
'
if I wanted to read that much text, I would read a book.

me too

crash_D.

ok.... thanks all... although opinions vary, i still have received a confirmation that i am not the only one who likes this site... as far as i can tell, jimw, ADM, bjrn, Max_B and c-unit like (or do not dislike) the site.,, hail to you guys, who understand what i mean ... as for the others, who do not share our opinion, thank you anyway for expressing yours...

but i would love more comments on this, so don't stop please,,,

Max_B

Конструктивизм жил, Конструктивизм жив, Конструктивизм будет жить !

WallPhone

I think the typography is beautiful, although I think that of nearly every foreign character set. The layout feels a bit off balance, tipping to the left, and gets worse as the window widens. I do like their work. Anxiously awaitng the art.lebedev Optimus keyboard.

giginger

The translated version looks exactly the same to me. Not a great fan of that design myself but I can see why others would think it's awesome.