the incessant use of the word 'lust' is quite a departure.
am i to understand that you felt 'lust' was an important element in getting the job to do conceptual design for senior assisted-living?

i have a strange desire for an aperitif now....

here are just a few random comments: i think the navigation is a bit too abstract. the use of flash is a bit over the top. transitions take too long. the red boot walking looks a bit rough. i want to see your work not your proficiency in flash. i agree will el jeffe on the use of the word lust. you speak of world wide operations which suggest a large well founded firm yet i can't find any built work. the music loop get a bit tired after the first couple of times.

i think you should think about who your potential clients are and build a site around that if you want to use the site as a vehicle to get more work.

Thanks for the honest responses... Our clients have come to expect this type of interaction, so the site is quite fitting to the way we do things. In response to the lack of built work, its getting there and the images will be updated as we photograph more of the buildings that are currently being completed. Keep the responses coming, good or bad, any thoughts will be appreciated.

some nifty things, but once i've seen it all i'd like a way to opt out and just find what i want more quickly > see some projects, find a contact address, whatever.

Thats what the orb at the bottom right corner is for.... When you mouse over it allows access to any page directly.

first off, I'll say that I wrote a list of things I'd note, but in an effort to keep things brief and not hurt feelings, I didn't post it. If interested, post again and I'll post 'em.

My thoughts are in line with el's and e's.

Delete all superfluous flash. That's everything but the actual content. Your clients will want to see your work, not a '90's flash experiment. Portoflio section, sans boots, is fine (although I personally don't like the exhausted nav that moves with my mouse).

Anytime you do something 'different', you run the risk of the tail wagging the dog, so to speak.

tedious. sorry can't offer more, but i just couldn't take all that build up only to see senior assisted living facilities...

I agrree with the above comment...

I find the music loop to not be annoying except for for the repetition of "Who/What is Jonathan Bailey" I think this could be said or twice, just flashed on the screen, and it would be more powerful.

Also would like to have an easy way to find built work.

Especially for a firm with so many locations with different native languages to take so long to find work.

Trace...please send your list. If you took the time to note it, I'd like to see it. In response to betadinesurtures there is one senior assisted living facility to my knowledge. Thanks again to everyone for the responses.

too far to navigate, too much red, too much loading of elements, and far too 1998 in it's aesthetic. simplify and focus.

it was very lusty in a mae west meets salvador dolly kinda way...

I keep on asking myself, 'What is Jonathan Bailey?' 'What does Jonathan Bailey do?'
I guess my question is, where is the departure? It's a website of fancy graphics and the basic information all architects present on their website: contact, projects, statement.
The work doesn't seem to be on the same page as the graphics. I can't help but think I'm on a bondage or gothic website. The projects seem to be downplayed and I actually think some are quite interesting and they aren't getting the attention they deserve.
I don't mind the music although I think there should be a music on/off option.

Here ya go...

1. Took me about 2 minutes to get to the portfolio, and I surf sites all day, am designing a few architect's and developer's sites now, too.

2. The beginning stuff (gradient's, ball thing, etc.,) look about 6 years old.

3. I expected to see something to do with weird glossy red things (although I can't see a relationship between an exposed heart, which to me means cut open and grotesque, then latex boots mean sex or something sexual), but the architecture looks rather ordinary. I see no relationship between the site and the actual work.

4. e is dead on about the Flash. It's rough, confusing, and slow (tweens generally are, I’d advise against using many tweens).

5. There is a reason for 'typical' sites, although most do not go beyond the basics and most stumble when they do, at least you can get to the work fairly quickly.

6. Websites are a marketing tool. As e notes, you need to be aware of who you are targeting. The work looks mostly commercial or at least very large. People paying for 50 story buildings want to see polished performance, something that looks reliable and established. Your portfolio, for the most part, can speak for itself. There are large projects there that no doubt will bring attention/clients to you. Show them off, and if you are aiming to do more progressive work, then highlight those projects.

Suggestion: I would keep the portfolio part. While not superb, it's not bad (the part that shows up when you click on a project name). I'd eliminate all the superfluous Flash work. Flash can be great, but you still need fast, intuitive navigation for success. Go look around at the sites winning awards. Pay close attention to the difference between their target audiences (MTV crowd or corporate america - there are superb sites in any category, but the approach/solution is quite different).

Sorry that all sounds harsh, but trying to help, if you want the advice.

A few of you have mentioned lack of built work on the site, just FYI, we are 9 years old and many of the projects that were started when the office opened are just now being completed. 3 of the projects on the site are currently being photographed and two are having video shoots done this weekend which will be a great addition to the built content. Keep em' coming...

Thanks Trace, I really appreciate your comments and reasoning behind them. Very constructive and thoughtful.

You guys are crazy with the mae west images....

i liked the work more than the website.

the boots - very difficult to make them walk naturally- i think you want them to be sexy but they end up being too clunky. add up the 'lust' and the music and it just goes over the top- pamela anderson comes to mind. tacky, and also what a teenager would like... either go full on and be ironic, or be sexy by being subtle. this is in between and it doesn't work [at least for me]. and very few people have enough patience to wait around so much.

I've found it slow to navigate. Too much time to dowload every page.

The quotes are too big respect of the actual info.

I find music in sites to be annoying, infact I usually turn the music off while surfing and i wasn't able to turn it off in your site.

At the beginning I didn't understand where to look for your portofolio, then the list appeared just only when i moved the mouse cursor on the right (her right) boot (which i've found pretty kinky).

I've liked the info you wrote about your projects, but scrolling thru that list is not easy, but images take too much to load..

Who is your target of your site with those gothic heart, red latex boots, rose petals, quotes, lust in capital letters everywhere and a big red button?

One things for sure, definetly didnt get me thinking about architecture. I thought I was going to see some fashion show or something.

I think you should sell this design to the International Spy Museum instead. www.spymuseum.org

i think the seductive imagery is a bit trite considering the work you are doing, and i think the way the information is displayed is quite linear, meaning it is the same format for all the projects, then you have to go through loading all the intermediate animations to boot (no pun). I think your page can be enhanced if you were not forced to sit through all the animations, but maybe have it as background while being able to navigate freely from link to link. from a user perspective, the reason i switched form yahoo to google webmail is because google's interface is seamless while yahoos was clunky with all these unecssary ads. essentially, i prefer function over graphics in websites.

like what was discussed before, it may be a departure, but it is not innovative. it is a departure because it contains a lot of images not associated with an architecture office, however, the interface is nothing new or impressively complex.

Some websites I admire are:

www.morphosis.net
www.asymptote-architecture.com/#

I don't think trace was harsh enough.

I apologize in advance, but I am getting to the point of not being able to stand this stuff anymore. the novelty of flash wore off years and years ago, and I'm begining to think people need to be hit over the head with a brick in order to see past the spell of slidy text and canned transitions.

<picks up brick>

put simply: it's purile, anoying, boring, and utter crap.

it's nothing new and nothing interesting. it's not even useful. trace more or less listed why.

I am left simply wondering, what in god's name made you think this was good?

your time may be better spent turning this into a fun mystery game.

<puts down brick>

manamana, you summarize my thoughts....it somehow looks like someone who just learnt flash went to town.
The website is totally unprofessional, if i were a client and have been referred to you guys, i would decide on not having you work on my project from the first frame itself. Its just too much.

That said, I like the way you are trying to question existing norms of website design, but again, its just way over the top - just cheesy.

and it does not work very well with my firefox

Mae West and Camille Paglia, throbbing anatomically correct hearts, sexy red boots and whispering are way out of line for health care work. The clearest thing this website says to me is that Jonathan Bailey is bored with doing hospitals and is trying to go after a different sector.

I agree with the above - especially the comments about Flash and how damn hard it is to find any actual images of your work, either built or unbuilt.

Honestly, it annoyed the hell out of me. However!: I am not a potential client. I do have at least one client (a hot hip hair salon tenant fit out - the owner keeps saying "We want it to be classy but we also want to really rock it out!")who I think would love your site - As FOGlite said, maybe you are going after a young, hipster, non-institutional, trendy clientele?

That still doesn't make me love the flash, but so what? I think in asking other architects for an opinion you are going to find a group of critics who dislike flashy sites (meaning both the program and the adjective) and want solid content that is cleanly presented. But, we other architects are not your clients.

Good luck and I hope it brings you what you want aka what you lust for ;)

nah, i think this is def NOT going for the hip and trendy people. they wouldn't touch it with a ten meter turnip.

this feels like don knotts dressing up in pimp gear cuz the homies look so fine and he thinks it might get him some action... which it won't.

the work don't match the frame, and the flash is so annoying i couldn't stand to look at more than 3 projects before cutting out. ick. you might notice that mvrdv are not flash users and no one would accuse them of doing boring work...

apologies for the harshness but your work is more than good enough to get you the clients. if you want a new kind of client you need to start a new office in the office or something and hire someone young who really gets it and then hang on his tails for awhile. otherwise it just comes off creepy.

the heart symbol.. is a little bit of a http://www.hillmancurtis.com ripoff. I say, "little," but i mean a lot of a ripoff.

just to add to that; Hillman Curtis is a kickass graphic/web/film designer out of New York City.

almost makes me want to start a "Seven deadly sins" type firm, think about it, lust could be pornshops/bars/etc., greed banks and offices, gluttony restaurants, pride civic strutures/etc, wrath defense dept. stuff, sloth homes, envy stores/shops... could be interesting, "SeVeN" just might be might firm name... then again i have had a few beers tonight.

i meant might be my firm name, i should stop making posts while drinking

Chap,

when faced with the third presentation of "LOADING 48%" within fifteen seconds of opening, I quit. Two clicks should get you anywhere, fast.

Also, in the office, client talking to colleague at next desk and my computer is whispering "Lust". Jesus.

When the boots stopped walking toward me I naturally thought I was supposed to click on the invisible crotch, but nothing happens. I think the boots should move when you click there and then images of your work should fall from the top of the screen like the flower petals in that other window. That would tie everything todether and also make the portfolio easier to navigate.

is there any chance that this guy [jon bailey] is mugatu in disguise? the website's use of "lust" is very "derilicte". Can anyone really take themselves that seriously or is this a huge joke?

Mugatu:
"Let me show you Derelicte. It is a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique."

definitely agree with the comments about over flashyness and incongruity problem between imagery, message and architectural content -- in the end it has to be said the building designs seem super gestural (ala 80's/90's Peter Pran/Carlos Zapata) if not utterly heavy-handed formalist one liners.

In any case, the institutional/corporate nature of the most of the programs/building types have litlle to do with Lust, though the towers in Dallas offer a spark it in terms of lifestyle, a hope for something fresher happening in future work...

sorry, as a huge Pran/Zapata fan, I'll have to chime in - they look nothing like anything I have seen of either of them. It looks like corporate architecture to me, some a little more interesting than average, some a little less, but not at all like Pran or Zapata.

I give up. Can't get to the portfolio. Everytime I hit it I get a pair of red boots.

Janosh:
``These boots are made for Walking....´´
nancy sinatra

Janosh:

move the mouse cursor on the right boot (her right.... your left), in the middle of her spread legs will appear the list........

I want my time back.

Ah forget it.

One thing that may not have been said yet: you have to get rid of all the loading screens. Try preloading, either intelligently or just all at once, but a serious wait between _every_single_page_ is too much. The reward is not rich enough to justify the interruption in flow.

Thanks for all the comments over the weekend...Your suggestions about the preloading and difficulty navigating are helpful, we'll definitely look into get those resolved.

one last suggestion:
when you finally get the to the work, it'd be nice to have it sorted somehow (in a more useful manner than alphabetical). or at least pick a few projects that would be highlights and show the direction you're trying to head.

peve of mine i guess: lots of firms do the long project list without hierarchy thing, but i find it is really hard to get a feel for what that firm does just by randomly clicking on projects.

trace,

maybe that was a stretch; Pran/Zapata defintely involve more talent, but there's no denying it is also super-gestual in nature (as is Yazdani, or Hadid for that matter -- just degrees of talent that differentiates it)