GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Hello everyone,
For project two, I have chosen to work on the website: http://www.nnig.org. This website belongs to the Northern Nevada Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous. I chose it because it is not responsive, it lacks organization and a clean design.
I am looking forward to hearing your opinion on these roughs as I struggled with the design. I spent hours working on them, changing colors and placements and I am not satisfied with them.
Thank you!

Hi Stephanie:

I first visited the actual site, before looking at yours. It is sterile and a little bit boring, but I don't hate it. I was then really curious on what you would do to help it out...

I really like both of your designs! Your designs have a really calming & soothing feel. Something that I think is soooo appropriate for this site's primary visitor. I am leaning toward design 2. I like the nice image you have above the calendar. Design 1's calendar feels too immediately 'in your face' to me. Yeah, design 2 is great!! Nice job!

Hello Stephanie,

Both designs look good, they are both simplistic yet appealing designs, although I prefer the second design.
The calendar image for the first design seems to simplistic, while the second design really draws the eyes towards the image.
I would say to change the font of the paragraph text, because it is too legible and doesn't have enough readability.

I think you've got some strong ideas here. I really like the serious color scheme for both, being that Alcoholism is a pretty serious subject. I like the second option a lil' more. I think your calendar should work better on that second option as you can scroll down to it and its not so up front.

The greyscale ripples on the first idea are cool but almost make the page look crumpled.

Clicks link, then thought I just ended up on a random DMV website, what are they thinking?

These are very nice simple designs Stephanie. I think simple is exactly what the people visiting this site really need after everything they have gone through. Black for the logo was a great choice, I actually thought it was a whole new logo till I compared them. Your menus are simple and sleek, and the inclusion of the calendar is novel (though done better on the second design as others have said). Overall I like the second design better. To create more unity you may apply the styling from the text box above the calendar to the text box on the next page.

My one critique—more of an observation from a different perspective—while the backgrounds are nice, calm and soothing, my first reaction was: design one, water ... drowning; design two, textured white wall ... prison. This is not to say these are bad choice, may people would associate these images with the sea or snow for instance. However I thought this might be useful information as any recovering addict is sensitive to things that may trigger drastic reactions. Hope this helps or at least makes sense.

Great work!

Hi Stephanie,

I'm gonna go ahead and jump on the #2 boat here. I think it's the addition of the extra color from the photo and the logo in the center that make it stronger. I do like the blurry meeting picture from the other design, it gives a feeling of anonymity, which you want for the subject matter. One thing I would rethink about the second design is the background image. I'm a big fan of texture, however, this feels like waves on the beach and we're landlocked here. Maybe something that reads more like something from the local environment would be better.

Great job!

I really like the design of the second rough, mainly because the navigation is along the side of this one. It allows more space for the body copy and that larger logo at the top of the page- which I think works really well. I like the use of the textured backgrounds in both designs, and that they're both calming neutral colors- which I think goes along with the whole alcohol anonymous recovery type idea.

The only thing is that the text inside the logo gets a little lost against the background, so maybe consider filling the the inside with a solid color.

I really like your second design with the image which gives it appeal and goes with the minimalist approach. I do not like the current website, not a good mix. Professional looking on the one hand and something that looks like a pre-school website. Given the nature of the site I think professional is the way to go. They used a nice image for their "Eleventh Step Retreat" and feel that type of imagery works and should have been consistent throughout their website. I think you are on the right track with your design, stick with a clean look. My suggestion would be to find a background image that is warmer, more soothing. The marble looks cold and hard.

Good job!

Now these are some good minimalist designs.

I think I slightly prefer design two, partly because of the left side navigational bar and partly because of the background image. The nav bar establishes a great common element/focal point from page to page and the background image is a nice aerial photograph that implies taking a thousand foot view of your life and reevaluating your priorities. The little splash of color helps draw the eye in to the navigation, making it much easier to use. Typographically it works well too. It's easy to read, but the type is still a little bit visually interesting. The semi-transparency is nice as well. It helps inject the background image into places it would otherwise not go.

My big issue with it is that it feels a little bleak for a site that's about recovery and turning your life around. I think a color background image or some color photos in the layout would go a long way to fixing this. That big color photo in the calendar page noticeably brightens things.

Nice work!

Hi Stephanie,

These are very nice simple designs. I think I like the second design better it is simple and is what people like. I think the design looks more professional and easy to navigate. Black for the logo was a great idea, it looks better. The calendar is a great idea too, always it is nice to see what is coming next. I just think you should work a little more with the background color but I think is a great work