American / European Site Design?

[innoselly]

Do you think there is a difference between what is looked at as good web design in the states and in europe? Are there any different visual standards, preferences of viewing, reading, communicating? Is “european” synonymous to “old-fashioned, traditional, cultivated” - is “american” a metaphor for “modern, progressive, top-edged”? Or is it all merged in global customs? Spread out your prejudices if you like, best with examples.

innoselly
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[spice]

As far as "cutting-edge" web design goes, I think there is a difference, and it's the opposite of what you've suggested. A large number of German/Belgian/Finnish sites I look at are very avante-garde, building off solid colors, tiny grids, and that same damn block-reveal link everywhere I go. Everytime I see a site like this, I check the contact info, and at least half the time it's European. Of course, I'm talking about design portfolios and agencies, and not general. I wish I had time to dig up some links.

[deltatrend]

Spice, interesting thought, but I would be hard-pressed to define a "European" style. At one level, the possibility to view and emulate website styles globally and quickly means that geographic distance is not as important in this area as in other domains, like clothing, for example.
At another level, designers are products of their culture, which is often quite local. I see some of this influence in websites I visit:
- Nordics tend toward clean design with subtle colors http://www.finlandrelocation.com/
- Italians more often use softer lines and creative use of colors. http://www.bicocca.org/
And so on without beating too hard on national stereotypes, as culture is not just nationality.
Where I see a European-US split is more often in the text. US copy tends to be less formal, hard selling, and sometimes in-your-face. This is also changing, however, as people visit sites globally one day and put the ideas to work the next day in their own work.

[TrafficProducer]

Homogenised, hope not!-- Let's hope that their will always be different ways to display information.

Standards slow the growth of technology and if all sites where the same what would be the point of having any more than just a few sites?

[spice]

It is hard to say since websites are so boundary-breaking, and don't necessarily disclose their origin. But there's definitely such a thing as "regional pedigree" in design. The easiest way to see it is to pick up a copy of Print magazine, which breaks down their entries by geographical area. You'll start to notice patterns.

[carju1]

The first problem here is that Europe isn't a whole and designs differ greatly throughout Europe. I managed a large pan-Europe corporate site with sub sites for 28 different European countries and each country had its own ideas of what works best for them and that of course ignores the language differences and the fact that a site with Greek text is massivly differnt in appearence to a site in French.

The way language is used tends to be the main difference between a British site and an American site but developers in Europe tend to be more sensitive to download speeds - some countries in Europe hardly have any broadband penetration whereas in Scandinavian countries it appears that even the most remote log cabin is on a high-speed connection

The other big difference I have noticed is personalisation. The US sites tend to be far more customisable for the individual than most Europe only sites.

Julian

[TrafficProducer]

Sorry tis is a different subject..

Europe tend to be more sensitive to download speeds

Yes... No wonder the price of Broadband in the UK is to expensive, even when you are able to get it..

UK=Third, technology, world.

Finding prices in United Kingdom Pounds can be difficult sometimes because of the dominance of sites in US dollars.

Just do a search and see how many USA sites compared with UK sites you find...