Project 2

[Benjamin_Nance]

Hello,

the first two images are my home page drafts. i want the claw to rip down the page and send you to another link upon clicking. the next two pages are my link pages. The web sight that I'm trying to reconstruct is Galenahigh.com . The construction of it is so crammed I'm not sure where i would put all the links with out making it look more crammed. Any suggestions?

[lornrocks]

Wow, you're not kidding about their website being crammed. I think if you imitate their layout but make it your own, make it look more professional, it would look better. I like your claw idea. Maybe use that as a "splash" page, like a page that introduces the website before you click into it and see the actual home page. I like both layouts, but I feel like they would be stronger if you managed to combine them somehow. Perhaps Michael will have better feedback on how to integrate so much information?

[rmiyashiro]

Phew, I barely got out of their site. I felt like I was trapped in the phonebook's yellow pages and couldn't hardly excape. The design with the big paw would look best, especially if it's gonna claw at the page every time you click.

[dzynecin88]

Wow - the Galena High website is pretty horrendous! I can understand why you'd find it hard to organize all that info. First of all, I love your bear claw tearing through the page idea. I think that would be fabulous, but would have no idea how to pull it off. Secondly, I like your inner page with the bear claw parts as links. I only see two ways to clean up what they currently have and that is to unify all the blobs of info on the homepage with color and typography and/or use your bear claw and links to other pages to simplify the homepage. I think you have some very unique, creative ideas and it would be great to see an educational institution's website reflecting that.

[Instructor]

I like where you're going here.

That bear paw over the photo would make a great splash page, especially the one where the claw is ripping holes in the page. I like the use of the school's colors and the background image immediately helps set a mood.

Unfortunately, I think you've overreacted to the original website's massive over cluttering (seriously, it's so busy, it's hard to look at), by going too far in the opposite direction. I think your inner pages are a little too minimalist. I think a clean one to three column layout on the inside with a top bar and navigation (similar to your first one, but without the white boxes behind the buttons) would server you nicely

You're on the right track here, Benjamin. With a little work, you'll have yourself a nice website here.

[kaycee_weddell]

I really like your idea with the bear claw, I think that would be really awesome. I think that since this is a website for Galena maybe incorporate more photos of the school and students. I agree that your design is a little minimalistic but I think its a great start! I think that if you work in some more photos with the school colors your design will come together nicely:)

[ravens.way]

I like where you are going with your second design. One way to deal with the overcrowding would be to see if there are primary and secondary links. The secondary ones could be moved to another location on the page.

[gr8ful1]

Wow, that site is crazy overcrowded!! I like the claw idea, maybe for a semi transparent background image? I would just try to organize those links on their page, maybe look at http://www.washoeschools.net/site/default.aspx?PageID=1 for organization ideas. They have navigation buttons for parents/students, info, etc. Then you can put the links that apply to parent info onto a "parent" page. Good luck, that's a tough one!

[raoki]

I like the claw idea more, it's very unique, but it'd be cooler if the claw mark stays on every page.
First of all, you should organize which links should be shown/more important. Then you'll see the number of links you need to create.

[ariaaearnest]

Hi Ben,

The old website is definitely too cluttered but I gotta agree with Michael, it's too minimalist. I would do more research on web layouts so you can make it look more unified. Maybe look at other school websites. The paw idea is interesting though, it would be cool if you can incorporate it in your final design.

Aria