Website: 56 Leonard

November 18, 20080 Comments Tagged: apartment, review, type, typography, Website

The main reason behind  Design+Build is to feature reviews/critiques of design work related to the built environment and look at how they effect the presentation of the brand//building/environment.

56 Leonard was brought to my attention by the Ministry of Type, who noted it for its wonderful use of type to give the illusion of the building's shape.

From the outset I must say I am not a fan of the fact the site is built entirely in flash. Although flash gives you more flexibility in layout, and more options in terms of interactivity, its limitations i think outweigh the advantages (in most cases). But I'm a forgiving chap, so we will not speak of it again (this post).

On loading the site you are met with an animation where the notable points of the building cascade onto the screen, building together into the shape of a building, and squishing a kind of blobby shape at the bottom. It all happens too quickly to read the text, but the overall effect is fantastic. As it finishes you see the full length of the image (at a smaller scale) as the main image loads itself.
The type treatment is a fantastic idea - communicating information and style simultaneously. It turns out that the blob being squished is an indication of the planned sculpture from Anish Kapoor to sit at the entry to the building. The type set in different sizes, jutting in and out at strange points is a beautiful representation of the planned silhouette of the building itself.

The design of the site itself is nicely minimal. A clear, clean menu runs down the right hand side, allowing ample room for nice big supporting images on content on the left hand side. A comibination of a clean sans serif (probably Helvetica) and a nice italicised serif (Caslon) lend a sophisticated air to the site, as does the abundance of white space. You are left in no doubt as to the luxury, and level of class to be presented in the apartments, and the building as a whole. In this sense, I think the site does a fantastic job of communicating a feel and a vibe, as well as the essential information.

A site well done.