GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

I did alot of looking at modern websites to try to get a sense of the current trends and my designs are an attempt to reflect these observations.
the first one was based on alot of sites I saw that used one large photo as a background. I started with a picture I took of a building in london that I liked because of the interesting shapes it made against the sky. then I cut and pasted and scaled several instances of one of the buildings floors in order to make the tower that goes into the sky, it is supposed to symbolize the infinite nature of creating. then I used some more instances of the building floor to look like birds. I was going for a semi surreal effect.
the second design is based on all the sites I saw that used colored squares and photos to make a clean simple interface. I didnt start out to design a travel site but most of my photos are of that nature.
as far as inspirational sites I ran across several ones that used the scroll wheel as an interactive device and I enjoyed the parallax nature of them.

http://eastafricanbakery.com/

http://whiterabbitbeer.com.au/

Hi Mark,
Really cool designs! I'm leading more towards the first layout. I really like how you used the image in many different ways especially the look of the birds. Also, the site is easy to navigate through and its clean and well organized. Great job

Wow!- I am having a hard time deciding which one I like the best, they are both terrific! The uses of color in both roughs are so strong and inviting for the viewer…very professional like…Great work! The top one I must say makes me want to go back and look at it. It kind of gives you that real feeling when you look up at a skyscraper…Yeah, I’m starting to lean towards the first one with the skyscraper.
jen

I do love the dynamics on the first layout, looks very clean and fresh, nice balance with negative and positive space.
Second one seems to me a little bit "heavy" but I still like colorsheme and the way you put images.

Mark,

The dynamics of the architecture site are more interesting to me than the color blocks of the second site.
Great job!

Jeremy Winkler

Heya Mark.

On the first one, you definitely captured a surrealistic air, haha. I really like the building you chose to make the background because it's so interesting to look at. And the white text against that blue background was a great choice, as it's easy on the eyes. I'm not sure how I feel about your "birds" though. My eyes keep getting caught on them and I'm more interested in trying to figure out exactly what they are than in reading your content. Also, I'm not sure how you're planning to put any real content on there unless it's just going to be a box in the blue space, and I'm curious where your links are going to go.

One the second one, I think your color scheme works awesomely, especially how you've got the pink at the bottom and use that same color in your link boxes. But instead of putting text in the colored boxes, maybe you could have a header with that information. It probably wouldn't be necessary to have it be an image of anything, but just a clear, bold header to make it obvious that this is your website. Also, the way you've emphasized "TMCC" in your copy originally made me think that it was kind of like your name and email and had just been smushed down in that corner, so maybe think about changing that up a bit.

Personally, I like the second better! And I think the way White Rabbit has it set up to react to the mouse is awesome too.

Hi Mark,
Your first design is such a stunner that I'm immediately drawn to it. It shows a fantastic use of line, and I love abstract geometric art.

As for making it even better, I don't think you need the random little triangles floating around, and I don't really need the type to change color on the words red and green. The only thing I don't see that'd like to, is the navigation.

The first design has such great contrast and balance. It provide really great areas and grids to place information into. The type is a bit light against the blue sky so maybe you could find something darker.Great start.

Impressive! Your first design is really neat and clean. Those skyscrapers lead my eye right to where your text is. That's a really great idea to drive people's attention right where you want to.

Hi Mark,
I think both of your roughs are visually interesting and the second one is the better layout for your home page. The second one has a lot more variety and dimension, nice work.