Andrew Zimmern travels to the WWW.
Andrew Zimmern is popularly known for, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, on the Travel Channel. He is a world traveler devoted to discovering new territories and eating popular regional delicacies. Andrew’s motto is, “If it looks good, eat it,” and he takes the motto seriously. He’s been seen eating insets, placentas, and even a “milkshake.”
Now that you know a little about Andrew Zimmern and his unique taste in food, I will direct you to his cyber hangout. I would categorize this is as an Andrew Zimmern fan page and an educational source for people who want learn about the foodie lifestyle through recipes, articles, and podcasts.
The color scheme is subtle, easy on the eyes, and the map background is clever as it relates to Anthony’s passion to travel. However, it might take some time to digest the full plate of content varieties… recipes, videos, Instagram photos, podcasts, and editorials. Oddly, the menu bar features the same content items, and that leaves me asking why it is necessary to post all these images in the never-ending feed? Is it meant for eye catching purposes, or for letting first time visitors know what the site features without having to dig through the menu bar?
I first viewed the website on an iPad and my experience felt less bombarded than my laptop experience. The iPad gives you the option to view a page horizontally or vertically, and I prefer the vertical orientation because I am exposed to less content at once. I found the website’s menu to be easily navigable, as seen in the first screenshot.
iPad Menu
The iPad homepage layout is still similar to a Facebook Newsfeed, however with the drag of your finger on the screen the layout feels controlled and tighter.
iPad Content Feed
Since I made a connection between the layout of andrewzimmern.com and Facebook’s Newsfeed layout I became curious to who designed the page. GoKart Labs, located in Minneapolis, MN (home to Andrew Zimmern), is a digital marking and innovations agency who builds digital solutions for their clients, Andrew Zimmern being one. According to GoKart Labs’ client work section, “Taste for adventure: We created a digital experience that perfectly fit Andrew Zimmern’s persona, letting people choose their own journey through a unique online experience.” I had a unique experience navigating through Andrew’s website going from the iPad to a laptop. I think GoKart Labs should have paid more attention to the homepage’s content limit and push the visitor to utilize the menu bar instead.
I did some further digging into the site to try to figure out what Zimmern’s goal is for his page. He provides links to organizations, businesses, and publications he is involved with. I was pleased to see his involvement with Foodie Crowd Funding, an organization similar to Kickstarter.com, where people can help fund small businesses and entrepreneurs. Andrew Zimmern is a board member and offers business direction to their business platforms.
Overall, andrewzimmern.com is a social place for Andrew’s fans to learn about the Foodie lifestyle through his wine and dining recommendations, family recipes, conversations with Foodie friends, and fun videos and Instagrams.