Topic: is simple cruddy? review

Okay, I'm doing a site for a local hiking society. They want something simple, quick to load, no photos on the front page, because they are a fairly low-tech group. Most members are in their 40s. I am going insane, trying to make a nice design without photos, or "hip" elements. In fact, I'm realizing how much I used these in the past now that they are taken from me.

Please look at these designs, and let me know any suggestions. I'd also appreciate inspiration, such as links to simple but good web sites.

And oh yes, I know that these are just great big JPEGs sitting on a page; this is because they are only designs at this point, NOT web sites.

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that actually looks pretty good. maybe its because everything is antialiased. (it wouldnt be antialiased if it was actual text, would it?)

What happens when there's more text than you put in these demos? Also, for filler text that fills and wraps at about the same frequency as English, try Lorem Ipsum.

Cell 1250 :: alanmacdougall.com :: Illustrator tips

A bit boring.... even when simple and fast , a bit more atractive would be nice.

Example one: Use Tabs
http://www.kalsey.com/tools/csstabs/index.php

Example two: Use Color
http://www.alistapart.com/index.html

Example three: Use Other Color:
http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/tutorials/index.php



__________________________________________
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Piet Mondriaan



[This message has been edited by Rinswind 2th (edited 07-26-2003).]

It doesn't look too bad, actually.

I think there should be a bit more color, too.

Try to give us a live example if you can

colour could make it look crappy though. if you've got a website and you're trying to keep it simple (eg. hardly any images) then adding colour could make it look overdesigned. (and for the greater good of the world, don't make your website like this.

"color could make it look crappy"? Wherever did you get such a notion?

Color is a tool. It can't make your page look crappy unless you use it very crapilly, er.. crappyly...

The reason I think the site needs a bit more color is because the colors already there are very flat and not that, um, colorful. Just some more to balance it out, you know?

quote:

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adding colour could make it look overdesigned.

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To basically reiterate ozphactor's point - only if you uh.....overdesign it (whatever that means).

It's a tool. Any tool, if used by someone who knows how to use it (or gets lucky), can acheive excellent results.

The best tool, wielded by the most inept user, will still yield poor results.

Thanks for the responses. Boring, yes, these designs are very boring. That's why I hate them. A lot of the simple designs that I find out there are very clean and beautiful, but they are also very hip and elite looking.

This is a site for hikers in their 40s. They don't want hip and elite. If I made something simple but ugly and amateur for them, they'd probably love it more than something that looks like a site for selling champagne and expensive furniture.

Of course, I don't want to make something ugly.

Rinswind, love the suggestions. The tabs are a great idea; unfortunately, many of these people may have browsers older than IE 5.0 and Netscape 6.2. I might do a simple tabs layout using GIF images, though, as they are attractive and simple.

Color; DL-44, I agree. Color can be overused, as can Flash animation, rollover buttons, JPG photos, tables, hyperlinks, bold and italics, and any other design element. You can "overdesign" anything, by using it poorly and without purpose. Let's hope that I'm wise enough to know the difference between good and bad color usage.

I'll work on some more ideas and submit them really really soon. Any good examples are welcome. Sorry I haven't been in on this conversation so much (what with it being my design and all).

Not a bad design but a bit dull. It needs a lot more color. It does load quickly via 56K, That I like. However, Like I said, It is extremely boring.

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-Cowboy Bebop

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