The Grid

The site does not demonstrate a good use of Grid Theory. The header does take up about a third of the page’s vertical space, but it ends there. Although there are three columns in most pages, they are not of equal width - they also take up too little space on the page as a whole - and the vertical alignment of elements changes from page to page. This could easily be improved upon by organizing the elements into a consistent three-column layout. 

Color Palette

There is not really a thought-out color scheme in place for this website. It has two green swathes on either side of its column layout, but other than that its main content area is white, with a splash of grey to distinguish the individual columns. So technically it’s a monochromatic scheme, but most of the color is provided by the photos used on the pages. The aesthetic of the site could be vastly improved if a more developed color scheme was implemented from page to page.

Navigation

This is one of the few things the site does correctly. Other than having too many pages overall (no need for an individual gift shop page, in my opinion), and having an awkward “Corporate meetings” dropdown button beneath the “Private functions” button, the navigation of the site is easy enough from the bar along the top  

Design Principles

There is really no discernible adherence to any design principles that I could notice. It seems more like an effort to simply spit the information out on to the page and leave it at that. 

Typography

Absolutely standard typography. The font used for the identity is interesting enough, but then it reverts to Arial for the main content, which is about as dull as fonts can get. They do use a serif font for the headings, though, which was the right thing to do. All in all, a more exciting font, bringing to mind the theme of British “classiness,” could be much more effective here.

All in all, I felt like this site would be a good target for a redesign since it currently looks very old-fashioned and otherwise lacking in a strong visual identity. The target demographic is Americans looking for British food and gifts, so a lot more could be done to play up the British stereotype of refinement that many Americans have (whether it’s true or not, I’ll reserve commentary :))

1. “Grid Theory” is the study of dividing a composition into separate areas in order to enhance its visual appeal. It is important for web design because by making use of it (placing important items at certain intersections in a grid, for example), a web designer can draw attention to certain element of the website he/she is designing, as well as give the website itself a basic structure (e.g. In a two-column layout, one column will take up 2/3 of the screen, the other 1/3, according to the Rule of Thirds). 

2. Other design principles than “Balance” that are important to website include

Unity, which important to pay attention to to ensure the parts of your website act “as a whole.”

Emphasis, which is important when you wish to draw attention to a particular element of your site.

3. “Bread and Butter” layouts are the standard layouts one encounters in web design, and these include right-column, left-column and three-column layouts.