We here at e-consultancy like our logos left centred AND across the rest of the page ;)

Interestingly, I cannot think of any examples of centred logos off the top of my head (retail or otherwise). I too would advocate adherence to web standards (unless there is a good reason otherwise) so left aligned would be the natural choice. I would also say that the logo can, and probably should, funtion as an alternate home link (not the case with e-consultancy I know...) though this must be an *alternate* link i.e. 'home' must be a clear option at the root of the navigational hierarchy.

So that said, can a logo (if uncluttered by banner ads etc. as you say) go centre? In theory it shouldn't be a problem and might, as you say, be quite distinctive. Hard to say without knowing the brand and seeing the actual design but I guess my biggest question would be around whether you propose a fixed versus fluid design for the main body content. I'm usually in favour of fluid (aka 'stretchy') designs where the content (at least in the main body area) stretches to fit the available space, catering for multiple screen resolutions and allowing users to 'size' the site according to their viewing preference.

If you have a centred logo and a stretchy design then a centred logo will move relative to how 'stretched' the design is. It will therefore also move relative to the core navigation and 'home' link. At high resolutions with a lot of white space either side of the centred logo I don't think it would feel like a natural 'home' link any more. I'm not sure this is a good thing from a usability point of view. With a fixed design this would be less of an issue but, as I say, I'm not usually a fan of fixed designs.

So in theory a centred logo is not a problem but in practice I would probably avoid it, though of course it really depends on the actual purpose, objectives, brand, design etc. in question.

Ashley

I can't think of many centre-logo sites... but Yahoo is an obvious contender. Moving away from the home page however the branding reverts to top left.

Centering the logo can leave redundant [valuable] space in top left and top right. If your site can afford the luxury of this green belt, all well and good. However, thinking about how important "space planning" is for driving sales in an offline environment, the same approach needs to drive the design of the online retail environment.

A quick search around top brand UK retailers - those who can "afford" to leave valuable space on their web sites free of clutter - brought up only Harvey Nichols as a "CLS"... Harrods, Bently, Fortnums all go either left (or right). My conclusion is therefore, that you are right, you do not have to follow convention. It's just that most people do.

Barney

On 14:11:08 17 May 2002 fjordaan wrote:
>Firstly, a quick favour: Can anyone come up with any
>examples of sites which have the company logo centered at
>the top of the page? More specifically, within the retail
>sector?
>
>To combine this request with a discussion point, could I
>also get people's thoughts on the pros and cons of doing
>this?
>
>My own view: I'm a strong supporter of de facto standards
>on the web to make sites easier to use. This (and the
>stated recommendation of several experts) is of course a
>loud and clear endorsement for top left placing. However,
>I would argue that this is not a usability-critical issue.
>
>
>The logo functions as a 'home' link, combined with a text
>'Home' link in close proximity. The logo is uncrowded by
>banners or other navigational clutter. I'd say its dual
>function as site branding and home link is undiminished by
>its centered placing. One could even argue that the former
>is strengthened by its relative originality.
>
>Anyone care to agree or disagree?
>
>francois

Actually you know I can't really add anything further than the posts already here, except how did you miss Google!

Google's had a centred logo for years (although looking at it right now, they've kinda messed with this with a Dilbert cartoon)...

but yeah, nothing else to add other than to concur with Paul, however I would not that some do find Joyce a hard read - "you could be James Joyce but you'll never describe a design better than you can show it"! However Richard Hamilton did a fantastic job of showing Ullysses...

>The issue for me is not location, but consistency of
>location.

Certainly something which I have adhered, however there is a very interesting point in the Testing Web Sites with Eye-Tracking article:

"On the other hand, all users immediately detected a change that narrowed the left column about 30 pixels (1/3 inch) and used a heavier font. Most users scanned this changed area as soon as it appeared and read the content. "

and later

"This argues against the design strategy of using a consistent grid on all pages—it may cause users to miss content of interest. "

Personally, I'd argue with their conclusion here - I would have thought that the only reason that the testers noticed the change was that they were already used to the layout. If the layout of every page was different, it would detract from the effect, and I believe be somewhat tiresome. Also they fail to state whether this was the only change to the layout. I suspect it was....

Still, I do think it raises a good point, that by subtly changing an area of the page on rare occasions, you can make people rescan the page and thus direct people along whatever path you choose.

k