This site is dedicated to a feature story published by BBC News Magazine. The story is a photo essay that explores the impact of social media and the standardization of beauty on the lives of young girls growing up in North West England. Â
The site’s hero header sets the tone for the dark story that’s to come. The hero image spans the width of the page and runs from the top navigation bar down to the fold. The brightness and saturation of the photos have been dialed way down, creating a dark monochromatic effect. Bold, bright white text overlays the photo, and a clever typography scheme allows the user to quickly scan the title of the story. The subhead of the story follows in a much smaller text. Following the subhead, the text shrinks even more and fades to a barely visible gray. Each of these elements works to make sure that the hero image is the star.
Scrolling past the fold, the hero image merges with another full size, monochromatic photo. This is the opening scene for the story’s first character. Choosing to run a second photo propels the user to keep scrolling. As the scroll continues, an abrupt, contrasting white background overlays the photo. Bold black text overlays the white background, revealing a powerful quote from the girl in the photo. There are no longer any navigation bars or buttons on the page, removing all distraction and clutter from the page.
In order to reveal the quote in its entirety, the user must keep scrolling, only to be met with another full size, monochromatic photo. Here the site adds some unexpected drama: as the user continues scrolling, the page remains stationary, while a slow animation fades in four new images of the girl.
These images complete her story, while the slow fades add to the overall darkness and dramatization of the piece. The same elements—monochromatic photos, slow fades, and strong typography—are repeated for the duration of the story, showcasing how minimalism can be one of the best ways to hammer home a powerful message.
As soon as the story finishes, the entire tone of the webpage shifts. Colors are instantaneously brighter and lighter. Placed directly opposite of the closing credits is a hamburger navigation menu, providing users an easy share option.
Just a bit further down, a 3-column grid appears. Livelier, saturated photos, accompanied by red text boxes are placed inside each column. These clever thumbnails carry users to some of the magazine’s other feature-related content. Ah the power of placement, images, and marketing!
BBC Growing Up Young is a great website design in the Entertainment industry.
