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Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

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Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#31

Post by thorin_2 »

MichaelTieso wrote: post #23

There's actually some truth to this that is missing in the article. I had lived in China for awhile and it was so incredibly difficult to navigate Chinese websites. I'm using China as an example because the web designs are similar. There was some study done awhile ago within China that I can't find the link to that compared the designs of a complicated site like sina.com.cn with text and images all over the place and…

I had not heard of the East Meets West art by Yang Liu. Looked it up and found it very interest...if not spot on. Some made me quite sad about Western culture, such as grandpa walking the dog instead of his grandchild. Or the one on "self".

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#32

Post by mchaver »

mistercow wrote: post #24
mchaver wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Katakana can be used for emphasis much like italics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#Usage

That's true, but it would feel very weird to use katakana as a way of denoting hierarchy. You can bold, color, and shadow Japanese text just fine though, so I don't really see the author's point.

The bigger issue I think is limited font choices.

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#33

Post by na85 »

MichaelTieso wrote: post #23

There's actually some truth to this that is missing in the article. I had lived in China for awhile and it was so incredibly difficult to navigate Chinese websites. I'm using China as an example because the web designs are similar. There was some study done awhile ago within China that I can't find the link to that compared the designs of a complicated site like sina.com.cn with text and images all over the place and…

Would you mind linking to that graphic?

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#34

Post by joyeuse6701 »

Bakemonogatari, watch an episode of that and you'll see how creative Japanese text and design can be. Unfortunately the websites don't follow that trend, and anime is certainly a creative outlet with significant freedoms. Would be nice to see a renaissance over there.

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#36

Post by OMBUG »

iambateman wrote: post #19

Ok, there's some truth to this article, I'm not going to say the author is all wrong, but look at Amazon.com's home page and imagine you couldn't read English. http://cl.ly/image/2i0r0G091U0P It would look really jumbled, incoherent, and poorly architected. Given that you can speak English, it's relatively easy to digest the nav, suggested books, ads, etc. My guess is that there are cultural expectations driving thei…

You don't need to imagine: http://www.amazon.cn/

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#37

Post by pyre »

DanI-S wrote: post #26

> "Walking around Tokyo, I often get the feeling of being stuck in a 1980′s vision of the future" I'm British, living in the US, and I've always felt this way about America. I recently heard from an American friend that he felt exactly the same when visiting Britain. Not sure what to make of it, but it's interesting!

If you average all of those feelings out, then does it mean that we really are living in a 1980's version of the future?

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#39

Post by adamb_ »

melvinmt wrote: post #38

So I don't know what to make of http://apple.com/jp Is it just cultural ignorance on Apple's behalf or do Japanese people secretly appreciate this design style (given the popularity of Apple products in Japan)?

I don't think there's much of a correlation between the rise in popularity of Apple products in Japan and Apple's Japanese website.

Re: Why Japanese Web Design Is So Different

#40

Post by redthrowaway »

pyre wrote: post #37
DanI-S wrote: post #26

> "Walking around Tokyo, I often get the feeling of being stuck in a 1980′s vision of the future" I'm British, living in the US, and I've always felt this way about America. I recently heard from an American friend that he felt exactly the same when visiting Britain. Not sure what to make of it, but it's interesting!

If you average all of those feelings out, then does it mean that we really are living in a 1980's version of the future?

Only tangentially related if that, but I re-read Neuromancer recently and realized with some sadness that its very evocative opening line [1] will quite quickly cease to have meaning for generations who grew up without analog TVs. We tend to think of literature as timeless, but there's a very real, if small, slice of it washed out by the tide of shifting metaphors.

[1] "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel"

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