Bad Design

I am not the most talented or most creative designer in the world. But I can recognize good ones and bad ones.

Recently I was assigned to collaborate on a design project for the Terry College of Business for their section on the University of Georgia iTunes U.

I received instructions that Terry College was aspiring to stand out from the other segments of the university with an exceptionally good-looking iTunes U page.

So I designed it.

Then I presented it.

Then they showed me the university-wide template to which we must adhere. Which wouldn't be too bad except that 1) it was not mentioned in the beginning, and 2) it sucks. It's an atrocious design. Look for yourself: http://itunes.uga.edu.

The landing page on the web is decent enough, but it lacks rollover button effects and the pictures are not very interesting or personal. Just your generic research & lecture photos. BORING.

Once you open up iTunes U in iTunes, however, it just goes south. While the UGA home page on iTunes is also relatively acceptable, try browsing the categories in the right column (e.g. Business or Arts & Sciences). These templates are not what I had in mind.

Now I am taking it upon myself to make my iTunes U design irresistable and present it again as a "this is what it could be" design.

If UGA is trying to market itself in trendy environments to a young, trendy audience, they need a modern, trendy design to communicate itself effectively. The template they currently have is not trendy. It is outdated. Which is ironic because it's brand new.