Topic: print site

Hi all, just wondering if anyone has any opinions on this idea for a site layout. I guess its nothing really *new* that hasnt been done before, im just trying to keep it clean and simple.

Any input & criticism is most welcome.

Its not a working site at the moment, its just a design idea.

thanks all, appreciate it.

here is the link:

One Idea
Slightly Different

i personally enjoy the first design more. the second one looks too power point like to me.
generally its a nice design, but i am asking myself where you are going to put the content on this page? all in this little box over there? nice job so far

PORTFOLIO0

Hey thanks,

Well the content will be placed in boxes similar to that one, im doing it with css i can add/size them as required, im just trying to get a suitable design at the moment.

Powerpoint hehe, which part of it made you think of powerpoint, the images in circles? I think i need to think of something better there, the squares are a little too plain for my liking, but the other is too "messy", i think someone else has referred to it as making them think of "hippies" hehe.

Thanks for the input

It looks good, but it is hard to say for sure until I've seen it as a web page

Of the two examples the fisrt is the better imo. The 'biggest problem' with the second one is the background behind the images as you've said. Personally I think it looks good with a simple square behind them, fits in with the square you use for the content etc. Have you tried it without having any background behind the images? That might work...

The header of the page looks good, but I would decrease the size of 'Australia' and make the company name bigger. Right now 'Austalia' catches the eye first since it is almost the same size as the title, and the black creates a stronger contrast to the background.

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The first one's better, I think.

Personally, I don't like those colorful swirly things. They just look out of place.


And try to get us a live example ASAP, okay?

Thanks guys, i have another few options here which are possibilities, and as soon as ive decided on one based on input ill be sure to post you all a working version.

CLick Here

I think if you got rid of both the squares and twirl things it would look better.

I dont like the usage of Times New Roman esque fonts over those purple squares (the navbar i guess).

I think it could be smaller as well. It looks a bit too wide over a 1024x768 res, and i think thats standard res over the net.

EDIT: I am digging the last one =) My opionons of it still stand. get rid of twirl and wide
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Alevice's Media Library

Thanks ale, by last one you mean Micro4.jpg?

Have to agree with you on the navbar it definately needs work, and could definately be smaller.
You might be right on just putting the pictures in with no borders etc, most ppl seem to think thats the case, thanks for that

Yer welcome =)

And yeah, i meant Micro4

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Alevice's Media Library

Mmm i think micro3 is probably not suitable for a printing company, just doesnt suit. I think ill try one more design, hopefully either micro1 or micro4 is suitable tho.

Ok ive added one more :P
http://jt-design.net/microprint.html

micro5 is the new one, i think it would be quite simple to code compared to some of the others.



[This message has been edited by H][RO (edited 08-19-2003).]

I like #1 the best.

I would also recommend removing both the square box and the blue swilry thing...just let them hang on the page. Perhaps for definition you could give them a slight outline, if needed.

Thanks DL, i have to agree with you there, its pretty much what ive done with design #5 that i have added, looks much less "tacky" i think.

After talking to the client, seems they like #3 the best so far, i think they just like purple ;P

I really dont like #3. Its not bad, but its kinda too flashy for a print business site.

Still, final decission is up to the customer, isnt it?

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Alevice's Media Library

sure is... its hard tho, there are kinda 3 people deciding on the design, and so far they each like a different one =/ maybe ive given them too many options?

There is never too many otpions...

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Alevice's Media Library

Yeh youre right there, just too many people making the decision hehe...

Actually, in the case of offering design to a client, you can definately have too many options.

Personally, I would try limiting it to 2-3. People generally don't know what they want anyway.

Well i guess 2 - 3 is probably a good idea, then if they really dont like any of them you can take it from there

For starters, stop using that grey background, it's a print site and it's really not doing the blue/orange-brown combo any favours -- of which I'll assume are the company colours so you can't change them. If you can change the blue/orange-brown then please do, their awfully cheap and well, rather washed out -- defiantly a bad idea for a printing company IMHO.

Secondly, stop trying to make Photoshop work magic for the design, which usually just ends in bevel hell unless you have a clear idea of the design before you start.

Finally, if you were to remove the text and images of print machines, the last thing I?d pick that design for would be a print site. A print site should be aiming for lots of clean crisp colours, clean lines, and an extremely strong, bright and heavily saturated contrast/highlight colour. Take a squiz at http://www.canon.com.au/ or http://www.lexmark.com/AP/AU/ or http://www.xerox.com.au -- all of those sites are fairly clean with splashes of bright, saturated and contrasting colour and is likely what most people will be expecting when they go to a print related website.

Right now, your sites designs come off rather muted and feel more like an ageing design for a machining factory than a print site.

Thanks for that dracius, good to see some hard critisicm finally =).

I agree with you mostly too, its been a sizable break since i did some web designs, and my direction wasnt really as clear as i would have liked from the start..

About the light grey though, i do like using it in areas where text will be to take the complete brightness out of the page. I know the white can make sites stand out, but i find them way more uneasy on the eyes. Though i guess in alot of cases that can be the point of using it, to draw the attention. Having said that if i decide to keep it, i'm probably better off sticking to putting it wherever text is in boxes or some such thing.

Anyhow only in early stages atm , appreciate the input dracius and ill see what i can do.

Just out of interest, what do you think of this site here --> Handel

I quite like that site, except the menu is way to busy -- too many lines and the pixel font is at odds with me, there's too much white space in that site for it to use pixel fonts in such a busy menu.

I'm also not a fan of the orange, again for a print site it looks too washed out, too dull. I think the site would work beter if the orange was replaced with greys, or maybe very unsaturated grey-blues; except for the part in the logo. Somehting like this maybe.

Yeh, well i do like orange, but even i think its a bit overpowering there, the version you did is much more relaxing. I've actually talked to my client about it, and although many print sites use the white, with splashes of stark colour as you showed with the canon site etc, for some reason they are after a real Technical/futuristic look, so they chose thise one for the base design

Clients Favoured Design

I have a few ideas in mind which will hopeful make it look more like a print site, one of them being trying to go for a white base background with the same style as the purple, but trying to have kind of 3 "beams" of colour instead of purple. Hopefully i can pull it off, i'll place an update here next week for criticism =).

I think overall this client wants their site to look better than that handel site, so i have a long way to go yet, but now at least i have a direction =/

Hey Hiro,
Overall pretty nice although I would change a few things.

1) Im noticing several fonts, wheras you may want to stick with something that would match the layout. It comes across very modern and sophisticated, yet the font you selected is sort of ordinary.

2) I would stick more along the color scheme that you have running throughout the borders. I like lavander and black, but the gray in the body kind of contrasts a bit much. Have you tried experimenting with other tones of the lavander maybe a lighter greyish/lavander.

Came across this a while ago, may be usefull for the color scheming. http://www.webwhirlers.com/colors/wizard.asp

Overall look like it has the potential to be really good. Keep in mind Im not the most complex designer myself in fact Im no where near
the capabilities of some of the others here but I figure another opinion is just that.

My .02 for whatever it's worth.

peace...



wayoutwestenterprises.com

Thanks for the input rob, yeh the font type needs to be sorted out, i kinda just threw it there at the time due to time restrictions, i will sort them out for the next design however to something much more suitable. Unfortunately the client doesnt want the lavendar theme for their company, they have a fixation on orange/yellow type colours so i will change it to that. Its fair enough as it is to fit in with their brochures etc that they have been using for a while.

Hopefully i'll have a revised design up in the next 5 days so ill post it for another review then.

Thanks again for the input

Very interesting site layout... I do like the third one. I think that the leg that attaches the main logo to the information box looks like a suction cup... Maybe more a rigid design? Or maybe just have some small gizmo comming down the side. Or am I wrong and its fine the way it is?

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