Site Critique: CGHub

http://www.cghub.com/

I am addicted to CGHub, a brand new social networking site for computer graphics. The people who designed it are both artists and still religious users. Many of my personal idols - from digital painters to concept artists to 3d modelers - use it to house their work. While a personal portfolio is a necessity in this industry, CGHub provides amazing opportunities to interact with and learn from others.

Compared to the other sites I have reviewed, CGHub is the deepest, yet somehow it manages to keep its size manageable. The front page has an immediate call to action: a gorgeous art wall that displays thumbnails of popular work which one clicks to see the actual piece. Below, there are featured and recent entries from each section: Art, Blog, Scripts, Forum Posts, and Members. The bottom div boasts a detailed site map which is thorough, if in some places, a bit redundant.


The navigation rolls along the top and includes a site feed. Feeds can easily become extraneous, but in this case, it is a good tool for locating interesting artists. This is because feed information is based on activity, not a random-user generator. The easily comprehended menu uses darker color to separate itself from the content. Rollovers are another shade of grey, and selected state is a prominent but inoffensive blue. On any level, the menu stays consistent. Instead, a left sidebar appears with links relevant to the section. Users has a “Search Users” bar while Gallery has “Add Image.” The right side sometimes has a rotating, skyscraper, banner which feature work from the site’s “Master Artists.” While good publicity, they take a large amount of screen real estate, and clicking them does not take you to the artist’s page. Advertising one’s site on one’s \site seems pointless.

User information is career-focused, and you can link to yourself on other networking sites. Because there is no limit on gallery or contact list size, information on an individual’s page is further organized by tabs. Picture browsing is done using thumbnails, pagination, and breadcrumb. This way, the user can quickly find the artist if linked directly to the picture. However, picture information, which gets hidden below the fold, even on large monitors.

Because the site has to accommodate so many art styles, the site uses a white and cool grey palette with unifying, light blue, accents. Gradients are subtle and unobtrusive but reek of “Web 2.0.” At certain points, the site suffers from a “too many boxes” syndrome so bad that even rounded corners cannot cure it. Typography is sans-serif and modern with larger, blue headers. The site has an awfully cute mascot robot logo, but he sees little use outside the main banner and the “Master Artist” graphic.


Everything is searchable, from images to users. Tagging and categories encourage browsing. These aspects are key to managing a site this large, where every click gets the user more information. The forum, a function which most social networking sites lack, lets users communicate in groups, not just directly with each other. However, on the menu, “Blog” does not link to personal, user blogs. It is actually a feed where administrators post industry news. This keeps the site professional, and the more professional, the more legitimate companies will use the job offers section.

CGHub is a site created by professionals to network with other professionals. Therefore, it was created with many design aspects already in mind, but the designers still ask users for direct feedback on the forums, which few web sites do. Site visuals do not intrude on the art browsing experience, and navigation is intuitive and organized. The content is always changing, and the site keeps up with it. Overall, I think I will be addicted for awhile yet.