Projetc #1 - Preliminary Critique

[japanese_panda]

You did good job!!! I think you can work either you want!

one thing I can say is body copy has small type. you can make it bigger.

[moserary]

My preference is the second one. The color scheme is eye-catching and all the elements are easily visible and readable.

You might go forward with the envelope background and have each new page be exactly that, a page of the letter inside the envelope, handwritten, of course. (Or, was that your original intention..?)

[Instructor]

Hah! Time for the first one of these (though I doubt the last) in this semester.

Congratulations Alexis, I'd say you have three equally strong designs here. So let's go over them one by one.

Your first design makes great use of color, geometry, and layout to move the eye around the composition. Your slab serif font is well chosen and echoes the skyscrapers in your background image. The hard edges of your rhomboid geometric shapes reinforce the hard cityscape ethic you have going on here. The blend of type alignments help guide the eye to a point slightly between your bodycopy and your navigation so that the eye can flick from one to another. Even the large gaps in your type serve to accentuate the geometry of the layout. The only issue I can see is that your small type and logo is a little spread out. I think it would be a nice compliment to your navigation if the distance between each line of small type and the logo was the same as the distance between each of your navigation buttons. Otherwise, an excellent design.

Your second design switches gears and immediately begins projecting a sens of modern warmth at me. Such a fantastic use of subtle textures to take what would be a cool, New Wave design and make it warm and welcoming. The tight brush script font for the name works very well with the design and the slab serif font continues to look good no matter where it's used. This is a very nice split complimentary colorscheme that also serves to warm up the cool design and plays well with the textures. Good use of proximity to make two easily readable columns as well. I'm not sure you need the brown outline boxes though. I think enlarging those two pieces of type will give you the necessary "shape"; you don't need to call it out so directly. Also, tighten the drop shadow in the footer. Otherwise this one looks great, too.

Your third design is an extensive modification of your first. You've removed a lot of your geometry and are letting the cityscape image in the background do all the talking. You've also darkened the green to give the design a mysterious, horror movie poster quality. Neat! That slab serif font continues to serve you well. I like the use of the brownish orange accents in between the text blocks as well. You've also scrapped the multiple text blocks and sorted them into one, easy to read, column. It works, even if it is a little less visually interesting then your first two. I think each of your text blocks could use to have a little less space on the top and bottom to tighten them all together. This one's a good design, but it's not quite as good as your first two, in my opinion.

But, they all look good to me. Pick the one that appeals to YOU.

If you're not sure then ...

... eeny, meeny, miny, moe ...

... go with your .... second design.

Awesome! Awesome work and I look forward to seeing it as a completed website.

[Computer Lover]

Hello! I'm very fond of the second design. I feel like the color pallet, it contrasts well and looks professional. The texture background also adds a nice touch.

I feel the text is a little difficult to read, however.

[daveryjones]

I love all of these. Personally, I really enjoy the aesthetics of the middle design. I feel like your colors are great together. The large signature style of your name is big enough to catch your attention but it doesn't take over the whole site. Maybe play around with placement or typefaces? I really enjoy these. AWESOME WORK

[seancl123]

I do like the colors of the first and third, but I really like the layout of the second one. I love the city back ground it gives depth in your project. I don't like the space in the white box on the first project because it looks like there should be so thing there. I don't really like the layout of the third one. But over all your designs are very clean and I can't wait to see more of your work.

[anna_lyse]

The middle design out of all your roughs catches my eye more then the other two. I like the font and the spot placement of your name, it really stands out. I also really like the way you made your buttons in the middle design, they are easy to find where in the other two designs it took me a little longer to find your navigation.

[sierra_style]

I really like the color schemes on all three pieces. I think I like the third the best. It seems like if you got a little more contrast into the headline nav and body it would work very well.

[Game of Potters]

These all look very professional, and your choice of color and layout are all fantastic! I feel like I'm looking at three finished designs. Kudos to you.

Now, as for the one I like best, I prefer the lighter green design. The sandy beige and navy blue doesn't look as unique as this design, and the light green feels more energetic. The imagery doesn't overwhelm the layout or the text, making everything appear clear and legible. Be careful not to make the body type too small! You can always add a hidden scroll bar if you don't want to change the shape.

[papasmurf124]

I like your second one the color choices make it feel calm cool and collected. If you were to put a search bar where would you put it?