Creative Kona

Creative Kona

By: Brady S

The design of Kona Grill’s website is very aesthetically pleasing and can be described as a mixture of vibrant colors with a steel grey and black background. The design of Kona Grill’s website gives the restaurant a luxurious feeling that simultaneously draws you in and captures your attention. The menu is beautifully displayed directly in the center of the screen with a few popular dishes scrolling on top of it with a description of the food alongside it. Kona Grill’s website is magnificently designed with a simplistic appearance, relevant content, usability, its appeal to audience, and functionality that exceed even some of the finest engineered websites.

The most prominent feature of Kona Grill’s website would be its vibrant and simplistic design which eases user anxiety. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the interactive menu that displays the restaurant’s more popular items. The scrolling pictures on the menu offer a glimpse of what some of the food looks like, while providing you with the knowledge that the restaurant has nothing to conceal. There are witty statements next to the images giving the restaurant a lighter mood. Kona Grill uses a color contrast that creates an atmosphere of luxury and class. The use of white lettering on black backgrounds helps to emphasize the names of the dishes. There is a red border near the bottom that displays nutrition, career, and investors’ link. While at the top, there are separate links for the menu, location, gift cards, reservations and a place to sign in for a membership. Kona Grill’s restaurant name is in a crimson red which is used to give the viewer a sensation of hunger.

The fonts used in Kona Grill’s website range from large display size fonts to oblique regular font sizes. Part of the restaurant’s name, Kona, is rendered red, which causes it to stand out among the white and black fonts. The font used for the restaurant’s name is extended and uses a type of san serif style, which makes it easy to read. The font used for the menu varies a little in size and style, but the designer chose to have all the words lowercased, except for ‘Kona Grill’. The designer also chose to insert an oblique font in prentices, next to one of the phrases on the menu. For example, one picture on the menu is of a cocktail and the phrase “masterfully crafted [cocktails]” is overlapping.

The content of a webpage is arguably the most important aspect of an effective website. Kona Grill’s content consists of menus, locations and the site even offers a free membership that will email the user with coupons and upcoming events. Under the menu heading there are seven subheadings; dinner, lunch, sushi, drinks, skinny, lifestyle and group. The organization of these subheadings creates a unique experience, instead of looking over an entire menu. An interesting feature on the menu is the group section, which provides the user with information about group events that Kona Grill can hold for the guest. Another great aspect of Kona Grill’s website that stood out was that it also has a blog where there are articles about the restaurant. After clicking the blog link, the user will be promptly taken to the blog area. Kona Grill’s blog features trending articles at the top, include everything from user submitted pictures of entrees for the year 2011 to articles about fundraisers that Kona Grill is involved in.

After further investigation of the blog, you will come upon an article that examines the process the executive chefs go through when they change items on the menu. The chefs start by looking over their current menu and decide which areas they need to improve. When they have made their decision they make sure all of Kona Grill’s restaurants will be able to have access to the ingredients for the new dish. There are many other articles that give you behind the scenes action like no other restaurant. The fact that Kona Grill places articles like this in their blog signifies their appreciation for the customer.

Kona Grill’s website is filled with relevant content, including an innovative feature that utilizes social networking sites to promote their business. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter allow restaurants or other websites to have links for sharing the website’s information through social networking. This allows you to share the menu to various people, revealing the fact that Kona Grill is in sync with modern times. Kona Grill also offers gift cards, which can be paid for online or you can check the balance left on the card. When the user clicks on the contact link, they are brought to a screen with Kona Grill’s contact information and an area to fill out your contact email if you would like information be sent directly by email.

The usability of Kona Grill’s website is quite simplistic with fast-loading pages and practically no scrolling. The smooth design of the home page captures the user’s attention immediately which is essential for any professional website. One of the greatest aspects of Kona Grill’s website is the ability to have everything interacting on one page without any scrolling whatsoever. This feature is simply genius; the user can find everything located in one area without any hassle. Kona Grill’s decision to utilize minimal scrolling gives a professional impression that is only see from major blue chip companies. When navigating the website, each page loads quite fast due to the use of a consistent manageable layout that Kona Grill decided to use.

Kona Grill decided to implement a simple navigation system at the top of the page which allows the user to move around the website easily with such subcategories as; menu, locate, gift, konavore, and book.  The menu is broken down into seven categories for user convenience. However, after clicking on one of the links the user is brought to a page with close to sixty menu items, which causes the user to have to scroll through the menu. This aspect is one of the only mistakes that the designers made when they created the menu. There are over twenty locations throughout the southwest which makes finding a restaurant near you can be tricky. However, Kona Grill removes the hassle by implementing a store locater device where you simply input your zip code. The konavore feature allows the user to fill you information about them in order to receive the latest Kona Grill news, events and exclusive offers.

Kona Grill understands and effectively targets their proper audience with their use of contemporary design paired with relatively low prices for such an elegant restaurant. The use of dark hues creates a luxurious atmosphere which reaffirms Kona Grill’s class, while the accents of crimson unleash a sense of lust and sex appeal. Kona Grill’s decision to use hints of red reflects their image of an upscale grill with an erupting nightlife. The nightlife is for adults ranging from twenty-one to roughly fifty.

The functionality of Kona Grill’s website is quite amazing, with everything working properly as intended. The menu is easily located as it is in the center of page. Each link is evenly spaced and looks quite organized. Other features of the website, like the search for a location feature goes above and beyond most restaurants by having an interactive map. You can either choose by state or enter your zip code. You can choose which location is closest to you by clicking on one of the restaurants through the interactive map or the user can enter your zip code you will be given a list of locations near you, simply click the locations and you can either reserve a table or click for more details. There is also a place on the home page where you can simply type in your zip code and it will bring you to the closest restaurant location.

Kona Grill effectively conveys their elegant and sophisticated theme with its masterly crafted design and their use of a simplistic layout. Kona Grill’s website is beautifully designed with a simple but elegant design that compliments the restaurant’s theme. The website’s type of color scheme they use represents their upscale atmosphere. Kona Grill’s website displays their full menu and other relevant content such as reservations and locations. An innovative feature that Kona Grill decided to implement is their blog section. This area allows the user to search through previous articles and stories that Kona Grill has been involved in. The simplistic navigation system allows the user to switch through the webpage with ease. Kona Grill’s use of minimal scrolling and fast loading pages enables the user to find exactly what they are looking for without difficulty. The website operates as intended from the restaurant finder to the information request page. However, there are a few errors in the design that can hurt the effectiveness of the menu. An immense amount of time and thought went into designing Kona Grill’s website, which reflects their attitude towards their customers.