GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Hi everyone

I am redesigning my current employers website, I am going for a clean but interesting website. Right now the website seems a little outdated and unorganized. I am a barista at Walden's coffeehouse and although it is not the fanciest cafe, every time I am working the espresso machine I just picture myself working at a french cafe to escape my reality. With the redesign of their website I want to make it clean, easy to navigate, and simple by using a single color to attract the eye.

For the second design I want to focus on the cafe aspect of it and use images of an espresso machine, the latte art, the front of a French cafe, and the French country side. I used yellow to give the images a vintage look but I am unsure if this will work or if I should do black and white.

https://www.waldenscoffeehouse.com/

Hi Sal,
I'm liking your second design, especially how you are playing with the name of the coffee shop. The first design is not working for me right now, and I think it's because of the green color you choose. Green doesn't really make me think about coffee. Maybe if you were to switch it out with a brown? But I'm liking the simple and clean web layout of your second design. I would just work with the locations list on the mobile version because I do like how it's displayed on the web version.

Oh neat I like your green ones with those cool image backgrounds. I'm hearing a distant French accordion playing just looking at them.

Having cool background images like your green ones do really does a lot of the design and layout heavy lifting for you. You selected your images well and they add a nice Old World continental feel to the whole thing. Really classes up Walden's and Walden's ain't exactly a dive bar as it is. Really good use of margins throughout your design. Everything has good room to breathe and nothing feels too crowded. Nothing feels too far apart either. A good blend of typefaces in your logo, too. I like the interaction of the sans-serif and serif typefaces in your logo. Really gives the whole thing a feel of a business with one leg in the past and one looking forward to the future. Generally, you use contrast well in the whole design. Your navigation is easy to see and use with nicely sized buttons.

Make your body copy not all caps. Right now it's shouting at me. I'm wondering how the bodycopy might look in your serif typeface. Widen it so the left edge of your bodyopy aligns with the left edge of "Home" on your navigation button. I'd also recommend making that bodycopy white help it stand out against those cool image backgrounds. Move your drop shadows closer to your menu buttons on your mobile versions. It looks a little jittery right now. Enlarge your menus on both your computer and your mobile layout to make them easier to read. I'd recommend making them screen width on your mobile version and stacking them. On your computer version, just enlarge 'em side by side.

Good effort!

Hi Sal,
I like your second website the best because of the simplicity and color scheme. However I think that the black is a little too dark, and maybe choosing a grey would look better. Good job!

Hi Sal,
I like your second design the best. The green one is fun also. I like the use of contrast and dark colors in the second layout and it is easier for me to read. I like how you added the menu on the menu page also. It is simple but not so simple that it is boring to look at. It has a classy feel. Nice job.

Hi Sal, I'm liking the green one the best, I think it give you more of a feel for the place than the mostly black one. Your body type is kind of hard to read though, I think it needs a little more contrast and all caps are hard to read when you have to read a lot. Nice work!

Hi Sal,
I like your second design because it keeps the original colors that Walden's is already using as their branding. I do think you could have grabbed their logo and used that on your design as well. Your red 'Coffeehouse' is very bright but the script font is making things hard to read. I do like that you kept things minimal with only each location, the name, and navigation on the home page. Though, for a design like this, I personally, would love to see a big image in the background and then have a dark filter over it so that all the text is still legible, like what you did on your green themed design.

Hi Sal,
I really like the second design you have. It gives me Beauty and the Beast vibes. I like the contrast between the red and black, and I like the fonts you chose. I would add more images and fix the alignment of the menu section in your mobile version. I would just move the Walden's Coffee House over to the right, so it aligns with the navigation buttons. Great job!

Hi Sal,

I'm really liking your second redesign the best. I like that red black contrast and I love what you did with the overlapping of the name. Looks really nice. The only thing that I might experiment with would be your navigation bar typography. The navigation type is a little too hard to read and I think it's just a font type problem. I think that if you find a type with that similar type style but more legible, it will be perfect. Great job! I'm excited to see what you do for the final.

Hello Sal,

Both concepts look great, I do really give off a vintage feel you are going for. I think either of will work, me personally I like the se one the most but I do very much also like the first for the imagery. Its probably just me, but the yellow color looks a bit green, I think brown would probably work better.