Shampoo #4: Aussie and a little Pantene

Ok, this is the last batch of hair-product sites. While this is not the worst industry so far, it's definitely been a bit boring.

The post isn't about Pantene, but I had to include a screenshot ...

Black! That's 4 for 4. I've yet to see an industry that sticks to one color like this one. I've seen designs killed because so-and-so brand owns such-and-such color. But not in Hair. Black owns hair.

Then there's Aussie -

Purple baby. I had a creative director once that hated the color purple online. I'm sure this would've caused some mouth-frothing action. I can forgive the color, but I'm a little worried about the creepy kangaroo and his intentions with the lady. Like a plum Grima Wormtongue.

Saturation aside, the one thing I really like about this site is the navigation on the left. "Tell Us Why You're Here", and a drop down with reasons you may be visiting. I've been wanting to do a nav like that for awhile, but it's hard to break people (cough..clients) out of the standard sectioned menu. Actually, and honestly, I had forgotten about it for years now..and I think it's time to ressurect it.

A nav like this makes sense. Instead of bucketing your content into single words or two, give someone an option more in line with what they may be thinking. Use single words when that's the best option of course.

I'd like to see a video game site that had a menu that used this sort of navigation instead of industry terms like "FPS, Action, Adventure" etc. Aren't all video games Adventure? Maybe the nav could be "I like to break shit.", "I like to put on my wizard hat and talk in a funny accent", or "Mindless jumping and shooting.".

just sayin.

/.chow.\