Preliminary critique

[donnalouwho]

hi nicole,

wow! simplicity rocks over here! i think it's brave to do something so different and so obviously dependent and representative of you. nice job! i like the bottom one the best. i feel intrigued by the design immediately. maybe a few larger words somewhere (as in a headline) would be helpful in drawing the person in? but, either way, you did a great job on your roughs!

[Siri]

Nicole,

While I'm loving both of your websites (I'm also a big fan of simplicity and minimalist design), I'm going in favour of your first design. It's simple, but has just enough colour to add that more personal touch and flair for those who aren't in favour of straight-up black and white websites. While I love the idea of your second one, it's a little too simple in that I thought the black background was where your text was going to go at first glance in a small box, and it took a moment for me to realize where it was actually going to go. If you choose to go with this one, I'd recommend moving your paragraph against that black background in a light gray font, it would work well with the rest of your design.

[ekfulton]

Hi there!

Well I like both designs, but I think the first is a stronger design. The navigation feels intuitive, the content layout is nicely proportioned and balanced, and who doesn't like pictures of books stacked neatly on shelves -- those images really appeal to me. And, contrary to your comments that there may be too much white space, I actually think the white space works here. The only suggestion I have for this design is to use two columns for the paragraph text instead of one, using one seems too wide to me and makes it harder to read.

On design two, I think the very narrow layout is effective in that it would make viewing on a mobile device easy. However for standard viewing in a web browser the layout feels too narrow. And while I like the black and white concept very much, I feel like the content on the right gets lost amidst the sea of black on the rest of the page: maybe centering and widening the content a bit would be more effective.

I think you have definitely achieved your goal of minimalist designs and you should be commended on your daring designs -- it is always cool to see someone who can think outside of the box in such a creative manner.

[mel_nunez]

Hi Nicole, personally I like the second version best. It looks like it would be easy to navigate.

[vhg0717]

Great job Nicole,

I really like the second design; very unique and different, but very interesting. I like the way the partial image gives the website an intriguing feeling!

[freem110]

The second one is so awesome! Nice contrast, great use of space to create emphasis. Im not sure what I would change. I really like it!

[Justin Hubert]

Nicole,

How do you pick between these two? They are both so nice. I would say that I like the first one best. I think you could give your navigation a little more room to breath, it is kind of crammed up there. The black space on the second one is really interesting to me...so minimal, but yet it has a strong feeling to it with the imagery. I think you have two very strong designs here. Either one would be a good choice moving forward.

[Dylan]

I like the second one more, but i think you can use just a little bit more of that black space.

[campbell_mckeogh]

Yep simplicity does rock