Website Research: Josef Koudelka & Richard Avedon

This website research will assist me in understanding how to create my own website so I will consider the overall design, colours, and typography, navigation, usability/user-friendliness, links and mobile view.

I chose the website of Josef Koudelka Foundation because on this website I can find all the information I need to relevant information about Josef Koudelka.

This is what the home page of this website looks like. I think that the first page is not done well, when I go to it I see only a partial photo of the photographer and I have to move the slider down to see the whole photo.

 I have three different languages in the website navigation bar: English, Czech and Francais. I have to in the website navigation bar Contact site. There is an internal navigation bar for each language. In individual languages ​​there is an internal navigation bar in which we have: Josef Kudelka, Foundation, Chronology, Bibliography, Exhibitions, Collections, Copyright, News. 

All this information on the website is needed in the analysis of the photographer and his idea of ​​​​the foundation, everything is described in detail and there is a smooth possibility of going to other helpful websites to museums and galleries where his works are exhibited, I also have a detailed biography of the photographer and all his albums.

 The only thing missing on the website is the photographer's portfolio, there are photos of Koudelka, but they are scattered on all sides and it is not coherent for me.

In the website I see icons Social Media: Facebook, Instagram. 

Social media, Instagram and Facebook, the sites have a lot of views from subscribers, they are updated on a regular basis, quite well done.

Below are screenshots of individual pages in the navigation bar.

Chronology. The website is designed correctly and contains all important dates related to Koudelka's life.

Bibliography. A page with the photographer's bibliography, unfortunately only the first pages of photo albums, his biographies, exhibition catalogues, are included, I can't find them online, it would be great if it were possible.

 Exhibitions. The website with chronological descriptions of the photographer's exhibitions is carefully prepared.

 Collections. A website with the names of galleries and museums where you can see the photographer's work, by clicking on each one you can go to their home pages.

Copyright. The addresses of the Magnum Photos Agency responsible for the photographer's copyright are provided, the website is made legibly.

News. News, a website with information about the foundation's work to promote Koudelka's ideas, probably not updated for a long time.

And finally, the contact page, on the website we have a correspondence address and the possibility of contact by e-mail, no photos.

Contact. Part one.

Part two.

Next I chose website The Richard Avedon Foundation , and I really like it, it's transparent from the very beginning. On  the first page I have some history of the photographer and his photo, the website Home page is perfect. 

 In the navigation bar I have: The Work, Publications, Exhibitions, About, Social Media. I can see everything that is most important in the navigation bar. 

The Work. A website with the photographer's works, or what I missed on the Josef Koudelka Foundation website. The website is graphically well-made, uniform, and looks like a coherent exhibition. It presents Avedon's works, perfectly signed, with the name, place of execution and exact full date.

Publications, are divided into three sections: Monographs and Catalogs, Magazines, Featured in. The rich output of the photographer's published works requires a good systematisation of them, and I see it here.

Monographs and Catalogs. A rich and well-prepared monograph and catalog, well described, titles, authors, publication dates - I can see it all and it is very helpful when looking for specific publications regarding Avedon.

Magazines. On this page there is a short description in which magazines Avedon's works appeared, on the page there are several covers with his photos, the covers are also very well described, the title of the magazine, with the full release date.

Featured In. This website is also described in detail, with publications and detailed descriptions.

Exhibitions. Then in the navigation bar we have Exhibitions. This website is really well prepared, we have exhibitions arranged in chronological order, describing exactly what was the subject of the exhibition, and we can also go to see more and see a lot of photos from each exhibition related to it.

Next on the navigation bar is About, and here it is divided into two sections, History and Copyright.

History. On this page we have exactly the same as on the Home Page, a short biography of Richard Avedon, and his photos.

Copyright. A page with a brief description of copyright and an email address for contact.

The last one on the navigation bar is Social Media, and here, after entering, I only see Instagram, and on the page there are photos, there are no Social Media icons on the entire page and this is its minus if someone wanted to become a subscriber to this page. There isn't even an Instagram icon, which is a pity because it would help with quickly switching to Instagram and liking and following the foundation's page.

 

Of the two selected websites, I liked the Richard Avedon Foundation website the most, because it is well prepared in terms of graphics, has a good, readable page layout, is rich in descriptions of publications, has an interesting website with exhibitions, has detailed descriptions of photos, the only drawback is that I mentioned above, there are no icons for social media. I will definitely use this website when looking for information about Avedon in the future.