Last June, Athena Parthenos launched its new website created by the team of Lucia and Andrea of direWeb.
Over the following months we received many awards and much praise for our site.
Here are just a few examples:
- A French mention by Frenchdesignindex
- A source of inspiration by the website MUZ.LI of Liechtenstei
- A shortlist nomination on AWWWARDS
- Feature of the Day on CSS LIGHT
- Featured 30th Dec., on CSS AWDS
- Special Kudos on CSS DESIGN AWARDS
- Website of the Day on CSS WINNER
- Website of the Day on BEST CSS
- Winner of the Day on CSS REEL
In summary, numerous international awards.
I wondered why we'd experienced such success.
I tried to find an answer. I also talked with Andrea del Gobbo, who learned about Athena and its team during the months of collaboration for development of the website.
There are essential technical characteristics that are necessary for a site to even be considered for international awards:
The site is developed in HTML5; this enables the viewing of dynamic and interactive content by a wider audience, because HTML5 is implemented across multiple devices, browsers and screens.
- “Responsive web design”.
The site is "responsive" which means that it was designed to adapt to different sizes of screens used by viewers, whether via mobile phone, tablet or a 30-inch screen. No matter what device you use to visit www.athena-parthenos.com, you are ensured a layout that fits your screen.
Then there are the choices that we made here at Athena that swayed the opinion of the various juries:
- Short on content, yet crystal clear.
Sites crammed with text bore us; we don't have time to read it, and we often just stop at the title. So why, in our opinion, put visitors off Athena's website? Instead, why not establish the basic concepts and facilitate questions from users?
- Our originality vs. the competition's.
Our graphics are entirely based on illustrations and not on photographic images.
One difference that leaps out at you is how we aren't like most sites that contain large format images. Often, and intentionally, companies that offer services "have nothing to show off" in images on the site because they don't sell items or products. They therefore choose photographs that create an emotion in the visitor.
We wanted to stand out, so we chose images with pastel colors that are typically associated with the 1950s.
Why? As everyone, or almost everyone, uses photographs with the aim of stimulating the visitor, we think that users are increasingly familiar with these images, gradually becoming indifferent to them.
- Contrast between the graphics and our features.
The translation industry has a very high computer component; nowadays translation companies, in addition to language skills, need to have a strong knowledge of I.T. systems, without which it is impossible to operate. Choosing images that invoke this aspect would, once again, result in an unexciting and predictable result. Instead, why not show an image at odds with reality, such as the image of a time when the most advanced technology in the hands of a translator was simply a typewriter and a dictionary?
We leave the final judgement to you as visitors to our website:
Share your opinion and your experiences with us!
Sarah Pedol
Sales Manager, Athena Parthenos