#03: Website Comparison

I have chosen to compare/contrast the websites of two competing pet food brands, PurinaOne and Eukanuba. Both of these are widely known brands that advertise premium nutritional food for both cats and dogs.

Overall Comparison

First and foremost, the overall appearances of the websites are pretty contrasting. Eukanuba sports a very vibrantly colored scheme. The background is consistently a magenta-and-black color throughout all the pages. The subpages add in a container with a cream textured background, which is an equally bright saturation as the pink and solid black. The block elements on the pages are large in scale, but with enough distance in proximity to not make it feel claustrophobic. Due to the large elements, the text feels small, but readable.

The imagery in the Eukanuba site is bold in color saturation, scale, and content. It focuses on the animals by themselves, bright and healthy looking pets that are strong and independent on their own.

PurinaOne, on the other hand, has much less color by comparison. Its color palette is far less saturated, with a heavy emphasis on plain white as the background in exchange for something bright.  In exchange for textures, there are many gradients to give some feeling of dimension and depth. The site has a more serious feel to it, compared to the fun Eukanuba site. The background on the subpages is mostly white, with a gray sidebar that occasionally includes links to different parts of the site. More attention is given to white space, allowing the page to feel open, but not sparse.

The imagery has a stronger focus on the pet and its owner. There aren’t nearly as many close-up portrait shots of animals as there are on the Eukanuba site. The colors aren’t deliberately saturated either, and in some cases even appear to be a little softened to fit in smoother with the rest of the site scheme.

Both pages utilize motion and Flash elements at some point in their sites. They also hold their subpage content into neat, finite boxes. They both utilize side bars (Eukanuba on the left, PurinaOne on the right). And, in regards to content, they share similar pages, however there are differences that will be addressed below.

Grids

The grid structure between both pages is surprisingly similar and for the most part, consistent throughout their numerous pages.

Eukanuba utilizes a six-column grid structure throughout its pages. The gutter between the columns is very thin. While its easy to see on the homepage, the structure gets a little more creative on the subpage structure and the navigation bar breaks from the column constrain a little bit (see previous section’s image). This is an element that can seem on the very first page too though, with the logo and “special offers” side-tag.

PurinaOne however, is a little difficult to see at first. It is instead a five-columngrid, but it can be a little deceptive due to the placement of items on the homepage. While it’s all very flashy, barely and of the elements are lined up with one another. All the subpages change their format a bit so that it’s more fitted within its constraints.

Both sites are broken horizontally into 4 sections: the header, with its own unique search and special feature; the large-scale central image; the large-block links; and a running footer with small-font text. However, while Eukanuba’s modular elements are broken up in a logical horizontal and vertical manner, the randomness of PurinaOne can only be broken up horizontally.

Homepage

Both the homepages are laid out in similar manners: a largescale image of an animal taking up the central portion of the page, with blocks of info to subpages at the bottom, and a tiny-text strung footer.

PurinaOne’s most major difference is its changing, Flash-based image. It rotates through a few different screens continuously, on its own. The navigation is concentrated to the left, with a pop-out menu for each page. Sub-categories spotlight out at the bottom. The footer is left justified, with only one social network made connectable. A site is wider than the Eukanuba site, with smaller elements though.

Eukanuba only a single stationary image centered in their page. The navigation is also in a thin bar across the top that drops down into multiple related categories. There are less elements on the main page, and they are larger, giving the page an airier feel than the PurinaOne page. There is an element of animation, however it is advertising a special feature at the bottom right of the page. The footer is also centered, as opposed to the left justified PurinaOne.

Product Sales Page

Because these are both focused on selling competing food brands, the product page should take special attention.

Both place their items into a very structured grid, straight up-and-down. Eukanuba (left) places the items in 3 columns, with small images to compliment the large scale of the rest of the site elements. PurinaOne (right) instead has much larger images. Both pages are very similar though, and contain many subpages of content blurbs on their typical food, as well as special new versions.

Special Pages

While the content varies between the two pages, there are similar elements. Both pages include, for instance, information pages on pets themselves, especially how their health is affected by diet. Both pages use interactive clickable elements to do so.

Eukanuba (top) always stays true to its fun, saturated scheme. PurinaOne (bottom) also stays true to its slightly more serious approach.