Do you like the Font style of Lenovo main webpage

I have been looking at Lenovo main webpage, there are something that bothers me about the font style they use on it. The new font style they use looks really strange (somewhat cheesy and cheap?), and doesn't communicate the sort of message that fits Lenovo branding strategy or positioning or corporate identity.

So i want your opinions on Lenovo webpage's font choices, all the good and the bad parts of it.

----------------------------------------------------------

Finally, what is the general opinion on Lenovo's webpage near 'all black' coloured theme? Personally i think it looks strange and somewhat irritating on the eye.

While, i dislike Acer laptops, their webpage design is rather good and spot on ( www.acer.com.au), it is simple in design but communicates a powerful message about their 'ideal' corporate identity and branding strategy. Apple website also have the perfect mix of information and design.

There seems to be a lot of unnecessary duplicate or unnecessary shortcuts on the bottom of the Lenovo webpage, which could be included in the drop down menu bar on the top of the webpage (Products-Shop-Warranty&Services-Support).

P.S. This is not a rant, but rather a topic of interest that i want other's input on.

 

Maybe post a screen shot so we know what font's you're talking about, the whole page, or just the popup menus.

 

The whole front page of Lenovo.com.

 

I like the Lenovos Outlet site as it's simple and easy to use. I get "lost" on the their main site and I don't think you should have to go ~5 pages to get to a certain laptop model.

 

i concur with your opinion. Purchasing a laptop shouldn't be a chore.

(one thing about the outlet website, is the no. of spelling mistakes and configuration mistakes that exists on it).

I like the way you can access to most of the outlet website by simply using the drop down menus, rather than having to go through a labyrinth of other webpages to finally get to the sales webpage on the main Lenovo site.

Also the white background and the way the outlet page is set out are easy on the eye.

 

I like the all black with red accents. It reflects ThinkPad image.

The main font used is Arial, a close imitation of Helvetica. IBM uses Helvetica as a corporate font. Lenovo seems to adopt it.

Anyway, I did not know I was so conditioned by the ThinkPad design after many years, until an old friend said, "Your laptop looks like Dracula." That's right: black and red. So, I guess Lenovo's website can't be primarily white like Acer's and Apple's.

 

I don't know why the new website is drawing so much criticism, in all honesty. I like the color scheme, and the whole looks is so much more polished than it was before. Yes, there are small bugs and quirks, especially in Opera, and the popup "we would like your feedback" screen is annoying, but overall, I think the website is pretty good.

Black with red accents fits the general Thinkpad look and style, as Kaso mentioned. The menus make sense and allow the general consumer who doesn't know exactly what he wants to find something appropriate. Nice, high-quality images show off what the laptops look like, to give customers a good idea - the images aren't hidden in some obscure place.

So overall, I like it (particularly since the creepy whisper is now removed).

 

Now they've got rid of that stupid sound, the site isn't that bad.

 

Despite the fact it goes against the black and red Thinkpad styling, I really like the Outlet site. It's bright, cheerful, and very simply laid out, and I can get to a particular line (e.g. R-series) in one click. The old site was also decent IMO, with the blue, white, and green scheme. Again, it was relatively easy to access a particular model or line.

As for the font on the Lenovo main page, I can't out my finger to it, but it reminds me of Optima for some reason, and I don't like it. I personally would've preferred it if they stuck with a consistent Helvetica/Arial scheme. Most of their ads use Helvetica.

 

It just feels like a rip off of the HP page style to me, which I don't care for either. Too much flash and glitter. I like basic, to the point, no need for page stealing flash ads and navigation, I hate that. I don't have a screenshot, but for a little while Lenovo even copied HP's "the computer is personal again" font.

 

Font style? That's what's bothering you???

 

I think the site reflects Lenovo's current strategy perfectly: it's flashy, derivative, cheap-looking, and not geared towards providing business users with what they need.

Compare and contrast IBM's systems ordering pages to Lenovo, and it's pretty clear which is focused on selling to business users and which cares about the latest shiny gimmicks...

[/rant]

 

@ThinkRob, i think the recent webpage update reflects the fact that Lenovo wants to engage the consumer markets more than they had. Most of the IBM customers are medium to large businesses or enterprises.

But it seems lot of recent changes and various consumer drives (i.e. increased twitter activities) are done in haste and not properly thought through or examined in detail. The end result can be spot on or less than ideal.

 

I "dont care or dont want to say" because I just dont use it that much, page structure is what bothers me the most.

 

I had a look at Lenovo Chinese website and it surprised me on how good it looks.

What is your people's view on layout and colour coordination?

 

are you serious? This subjective opinion on font style is worth a thread?

 

If you took the time to read the post you would understand that i want other people's opinions on the matter of font choice, and colour scheme used on Lenovo's main webpage.

Individual opinion by nature is subjective, but with lots of different opinions they can become more objective in nature. Whether or not it is worthy of a thread, depends on how you view the subject matter and consumer brand involvement.

 

I don't know what you mean by main font, but the site's CSS specifies the following font-family hierarchy: Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif. If the first thing you're seeing is Arial, you're missing several typefaces.

The Lucida Sans family of typefaces fall under the humanist sans-serif classification, which means they have a more organic and calligraphic feel to them among the typefaces that lack serifs. I've used humanist sans-serifs for an online magazine, but while it can be made to work, I don't really like that look for a corporate website. Lenovo is not a company for whom I'd use a humanist typeface.

The real problem is that Lenovo can't seem to decide on Helvetica or Lucida Sans Unicode in their banners. It's like they're trying to be corporate and fun at the same time, so they wear a suit jacket and tie with a pair of swim trunks and flip-flops. The use of bold italics for the quotations is tragic, especially since I think Lucida Sans Bold Italic looks terrible in general.

 

On purpose.

Shanghai fashion?

 

I can't blame you there. I'd delete Comic Sans from all of my computers if it wasn't a necessary evil in identifying bad websites.

Then again, if a website really is that bad, Comic Sans isn't going to make it much worse...

 

^^^ Goes well with the flip-flops! (I'm sure you're aware that Windows 7 contains an "improved" version of Comic Sans. Geez...)

 

I think the font is OK. What bothers me more is that they seem to be slowly converging to some more consumer oriented company like (urgh) Dell. This is what I feel too:

 

opinions of opinions is still opinions, it does not make anything true or objective in nature, people who believe otherwise is manifesting herd behaviour.

 

The font is fine. Sure it looks a bit unprofessional but hey it works and is readable. That's what matters to me in the end. Hell it's the only decent change on their new site.

 

I am not asking opinions of opinions but rather user's own opinions and perceptions. FYI opinions do matter, this is why Opinion Polls are conducted in Market researches.

Herd Behaviour? hum that sounds awfully familiar, something that Warakawa love to use in various formats...

Anyway, i think it is pointless for you to post flaming messages for no reasons other than to discredit someone else's posts.

 

100% agree with your view of the font.

I do like the black though. Maybe a little more grey would be better.

Verdana would look better.




Lenovo

 

I agree with you. How do you like the Chinese Lenovo website (i posted a picture of it on the previous post)?

 

Way too plain. Too much white.