GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

I was drawn toward more non traditional websites. I didn't want to make things messy and wanted to keep it clean while still being unique and interesting. I sort of used the same typography on both so I might play around with that. I was inspired by websites that have full photos take over the entire thing.

resource:
http://minimums.com/
https://www.bigcartel.com/
https://nojumper.com/

Nicely done, Julian. Both of your designs are very atmospheric and convey completely different emotions.

You are in the enviable position of having two excellent designs. I'd say you get to pick between 'em because both are equally good.

Your first one is a crisp cool morning in the cascades with a bit of X-Files/Twin Peaks haunted mystery about it. Only using the image's colors really helps play that up. A very well chosen establishing image. The typography also works very well with it. Your name is an artistic brush script that establishes a note of hopefulness in the composition. The typewriter font plays up the cold existential crisis of the rest of it though. A bit like an X-Files title card. The left navigation is large, easy to use, and well placed.

I'd say to up your image quality on your final version of this one, if you choose it. I see a lot of JPEG artifacting. I'd also move your bodycopy and name up slightly so they don't get clipped by monitors that might not be so tall. You might want to enlarge it a couple of points as well.

As for your second design, I'm getting kind of a fun Streetwear vibe from it. I feel like I'm in a dark club and I can't hear anything over the music and it's only really illuminated by some dude taking a selfie. It's also a horizontal layout which contrasts nicely with the vertical layout of your first one. I like the signature name as well. Make me think this is a website for a clothing line. Reinforcing that Streetwear feel, I guess. The typwriter font works well here too. This one has much stronger contrast, being white type over a dark room and all which makes everything easy to read and follow.

It does have a few alignment issues though. Scoot both your bodycopy and tagline up so that the baseline of your tagline lines up with the bottom of your logo. Scoot your navigation to the right so that the right edge lines up with the right edge of your email at the top and logo at the bottom.

Great work!

Don't forget to put your name in your sig on the forum as well.

Nicely done!!

Dang. I love these.

I like the top one, but I'm a forest person. I like the Portland-Hippie-typewriter font. Totally brings it together.

One thing I would consider doing though is changing the color of the font so it's easier to see on the right-hand side. With the mist it looks cool, but you might loose a little bit of legibility.

Design on.

These are way cool.

Personally I like the first one a bit better than the second. I like the misty vibes
I'm getting from it. I might center your name the in composition. Then adjust
the surrounding elements to compliment it.

Great layouts though.

Hey Julian,

Both designs give me two very different feelings. The first one has a modern outdoorsy feel. Trees are comforting and somehow you captured what it feels like to hover above them in a misty cloud. Neat! The type placement is visually strong, especially with your name large at the bottom.

For the second design, I like how you incorporated your signature onto the page as a design element. The feel I get of the page is clean and simple with a flair of street vibe. The photo ties it altogether into a package. I can see the hip-hop influence more in the second design.

Overall, I do feel like you could play around with different typefaces more and get something out of it. You have some strong design ideas and I have a hard time choosing between the two designs as I think both of them are interesting. The second one is more you though I believe.

Hi,

Really liking the forest theme. The typeface goes really well and the photo is beautiful. Maybe make the paragraph in the lower left hand corner more legible? It is pulled together very nicely.

I think these are both two awesome, and different designs. I love the outdoors, so I think I would have tho go with the first. However, the second is pretty cool, simple, and I love your signature! Great Job!

I like both of these, but I will only add something for the second one before I give my reason for the first. Second one gives a horror style theme to me, I have seen some stuff I swear it. However, the first choice I would prefer. Your use of the background is nice and the simple design used through out give a mystery to it, but the down side is that is a double edge word and could be bad, my suggestion to pull away from that is to figure out if you want to change the font for your links and possibly use shapes to hold previews for work.

Hi Julian,

Despite me being a forest person, I would choose your second design. It has a very professional, almost portfolio feel to it that the first does not hold. I would suggest increasing the size of your body copy and moving it up so that it fits better into your design.

Great job and I can't wait to see your finished design!

Over View
I Like both design but template one I would say is better than the other. One thing i don't like is that in your body copy you are talking about your self in the third person and start each sentence with He. I would rewrite your body copy in some way.

Template 1
The template has a nice background, the white text works well with the background. But your body text is alittle to small making it alittle hard to to read.

Template 2
It has a nice simple look to it, but you could do more with the background instead of it just being completely black.