GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Hi everyone.

The first website I found inspirational is:
http://www.radixweb.com
The reasons I found it inspirational: it uses big, bold images, and serves up a different image each time the page is loaded so that there is variety in look, which helos keep the site fresh for visitors. In addition, I liked the color and typeface choices, they both add to a clean crisp look.

The second website I found inspirational is:
http://www.bigpicturefinefocus.com
The reasons I found it inspirational: it uses oversized and colorful text on the home page which is very striking, and the navigation on the page http://www.bigpicturefinefocus.com/who.html is really cool. I've used this type of navigation in my design #1 below.

**EDIT** 02-17-2013
Hi everyone. So after reviewing the comments from the class so far, it seems a theme emerged about my designs: people thought they looked like a politician/real estate agent's web site and not so much like a graphic designer's page. This is really funny because before I started school at TMCC, I was in fact a real estate agent. I guess old habits die hard. Anyways, based on that feedback, I created a third design which, I hope, doesn't feel like a real estate agent home page. A few notes: 1) the 'contact' button will open a popup that will show my picture and my email address. 2) The 'projects' and the 'links' buttons, when clicked, will expand like an accordion downwards to show links to respective pages. That is why there is space below the 3 buttons. 3) the picture and crosshatch bar will actually be a slideshow: the picture and crosshatch graphic will scroll left replaced by a new photo and crosshatch graphic scrolling in from the right, so the effect will look like the pictures are moving along a kind of 'belt' in a continuous scroll from right to left. There will be 4 images, each of which is a black and white stylized photo of area landmarks taken a t night. The interval will be approx 10 or 15 seconds per picture, although I'll have to test that to fine tune a balance between being able to see the picture for an adequate amount of time, yet scrolling to happen in a quick enough manner so that the page visitor actually sees the scroll. Here the design: #1. I was striving for a clean, simple look and feel with bold graphics and an intuitive interface for assignment and web links. The idea for the links is that the major categories (i.e. links, assignments etc) are colored green and would be all that is displayed on the home page. Then, when you click on one of the green links, a submenu would appear below it showing the actual links for that category. See an example of this type of navigation at http://www.bigpicturefinefocus.com/who.html. #2. Similarly, the second design below also seeks to have a clean, simple look and feel with bold graphics and an intuitive interface for assignment and web links. The design concept of diagonal text would be implemented using clear rectangle images of decreasing width and one line of text plus 1 leading value high, floated to the left and stacked on each other, so that the text element would abut the right side of the boxes. Also, the ekfulton logo would be a background image, so that it would appear through the clear boxes. The site would have image links of some sort to make it more visually appealing.

They have a very clean look to them Eddy-….if you need help with roughing the edges up a little bit, I’d be glad to help!

Heya E.K.

On the first one, I love the simplicity of the design (after my own heart!) and the idea of the submenus. The green accents are also wonderful and overall, it's very pleasing to my eye. It might be going out of your desired color scheme, but one thing I'd think about is maybe having your picture (assuming it's you) in color, versus black and white. It would feel more real to me, if that makes sense. Also, the green stars in the background are subtle enough when looking straight at it, but when I move it down the screen and I'm looking down at it, it creates a huge reflection that is distracting for me. I'm wondering if the stars are even really necessary.

On the second, I really enjoy the diagonal graphic, and the way you're going to achieve the diagonal text sounds very creative. The way you've set up your image links also looks great, I think, and you can probably get some really cool images in there. Maybe to get a little more red in there, you could outline the image links with a very small border of red. And it might be better to center the text in your footer, versus having it left aligned, or put something else on the right side to balance it out.

Personally, I like the first one best! And you're right, how radixweb.com refreshes with a new image every time is very cool.

I like the simplicity. Very essay to navigate, read the information. Nothing overdone here. Good job!
One suggestion - I think you can make less white space, expanding left and right a little bit.

the 2nd ones darker colors make me more intrested in it then the first design but both have a solid concept

Your designs are streamlined. I enjoy your three color choice but I feel that you have too much white. Go with number one!

Good Job!

I'm enjoying the first layout the most, mainly because your image is bigger in that one. Your roughs remind me of campaign websites. I expect to read that you're either a lawyer, or running for public office, but they don't scream "designer." I'm not sure if that's your intent or not, but I thought I'd share my first impressions.

I don't mind the white background at all, and I also like your choice of a monochromatic color scheme. I suppose my only suggestion is to think of a way to use more of the screen. Your website will look so tiny lost in an ocean of white, although it will probably look great on a phone!

I'm liking the first one more because your picture is bigger and easier to see and the colors appeal to me a little more. the stars are a nice touch too

Nice concepts, but I would agree that they give more of a "campaign or public office" feel. My first thought was real estate agent...
The minimalist style is well done, and I like your colors. Maybe layout 1 with layout 2 colors?

I like the clean design of both. They are easy to navigate and should satisfy a visitor in that respect. I agree with some of previous comments regarding color and design. The site should reflect your design skills and tastes. If you can incorporate those into your current layouts I think you will definitely be moving in the right direction.