Form

Web design must balance what the user expects and what the user is actually given.  This axis of interaction amounts to site designers adhering to well-worn GUI tropes while still being new and innovative enough to visually differentiate the site amongst the clutter. 

In this sense Pitchfork is successful.  Everything works as expected. All links worked as tested.  Backgrounds should be neutral:  Pitchfork’s is a pale robin’s-egg-blue-to-white gradient making text readable and contrastable with its environment. The logo is always visible.  The sidebar is located prominently, always visible, linking to all relevant channels.  The search function works on a visible-transparent level, as it is also on the sidebar, and available on every page—a convenience for the user.   Also of note, it has a flip down menu for more specific searches.

Pitchfork uses both mimetic and diegetic cues for hypertext:

            Mimetic Cues:  uses actual representation for hyperlinking.  The Pitchfork logo re-directs to the homepage.  Pictures link to their respective articles, and advertisements open product pages in a new window.

            Diegetic Cues:  uses verbal or narrative cues for hyperlinking.  Bold texts link to appropriately “marked” pages.  Floating text boxes labeled “section” link to associated sections.

Pitchfork uses the “newspaper column” as metaphor in its presentation of articles on the homepage, showing stories in 3 columns.  P4K also takes a temporally hierarchal approach to how it displays its content, pushing up content that is most recent.  At the top are things that are updated daily: News, Forkcast, and Reviews —everyday there will be 5 new reviews while new songs and news are updated at irregular intervals over the course of a day.  In anathema, “below-the-line” are things updated over the course of the week including its “Best New Music” and “Features” categories.  Dates are also easy to read in its contrasting red type-face.

The design of Pitchfork’s homepage reveals two important elements of the website.  First, its emphasis on the sequential displays the site’s emphasis on “New” music (Pitchfork reviews reissues and boxsets but very infrequently).  Putting primacy on the date of articles also makes it easy for frequent visitors to navigate the relevant information on the site.  Secondly, on the web, when engaged with non-linear interaction, the user will automatically look not to left (like with old media) but to the uppermost-center of the screen; putting its review section in the middle, most-visible area of the homepage displays how important music reviews are in Pitchfork’s schematization of cultural criticism.

Above the fold, Pitchfork displays 4 categorical journalistic schema:  News, Reviews, Forkast, and Features.

1. News.  Sequentially, the news section covers the latest gossip, releases, event photos, promotional releases, event listings, and reports on Independent music’s most relevant musicians.
2. Recent Reviews.  Daily, this middle column features 2 lead reviews and then 3 lower profile releases “beneath the fold.”
3. New Media Releases.  This section labeled, “Forkcast” is also updated several times over the course of the day.  Whenever an artist releases a notable new song or video, or whenever Pitchfork.tv adds new content to its site, it is posted here.
4. Features.  Includes interviews and specialized columns.  Typically, one new feature is added every day.

Below the fold, Pitchfork shows a 5^th Category, “Best New Music”

1. Best New Music.  Of all the reviews that Pitchfork does, occasionally they will add a new album to the esteemed “Best New Music” listing.  Albums here normally receive an 8.0 or higher.  Getting a high score, however, does not ensure a ranking on the list.  The 2 most recently added albums are always displayed here.
2. Older Reviews.  This section is unnamed but includes the 5 reviews each from the past 3 days.