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Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 4:53 pm
by hummela
Been having software and internet issues so another paper rough :D
I am doing a driving school website, when i saw the page i felt it was very boring and did not draw me into the site and did not say much about driving.. also the navigation bar was hard to find, felt like it was more part of the banner at the top. the site is long and boring needs to be broken up into pages, also needs more of a car theme.

http://donswansonracingschool.com/programs.htm

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 5:09 pm
by aslychsm
Oh man, my OCD is kicking in, why is that one little square on your flag not colored in!? Whhhyyyyy ..!

I'm kidding, I'm kidding!! :)

I think you're off to a great start with this rough! I'm glad you decided to include a little color in your drawing, it really helps me piece things together more. The little speedometers at the bottom are a nice touch, as well as the swooshing flag in the banner. You should consider adding some "swooshes" to the title as well, so as if to make it look like it's moving too! Now that I'm looking at it though, you might have already done that .. Also, I think switching the placement of 'Don Swanson' with 'Racing School' would be a good idea as well, so that it's the first thing viewers read. Overall, very neat and easily navigable layout. I'm excited to see it in full color!

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:26 pm
by ElizabethBrass
Hey Alexa,

This is a great start. The flag in the header and the speed things at the bottom are great! I think the racing flag is interfering with the name of the school. Try putting it over the driving school, or put driving school with the name and put the flags on either side.

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 1:29 pm
by paula_b
Everything looks like it will work well together. I agree that the name gets lost in the flag but once you get it into photoshop, it may not be an issue at all.

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:02 pm
by recordd
Hi Alexa!
I think you are off to a great start. This layout is perfect and way better than the original. The navigation is easy to spot and the layout is more open and organized. I think it is a great idea to use the checkered flag up in the header and the speedometers add character to the page theme. My suggestion would be to stretch the checkered flag all the way across the header leaving a little white space around it, lower the opacity, make the title bigger and more bold letters. Otherwise great job on your drawing and I cannot wait to see your final design! :)

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:45 pm
by Sierragirlnv
Hi Alexa,

I was wondering if your color scheme was red, yellow, and green for a traffic light? I see orange that's why I was wondering. I agree the original website has pretty boring images and I think anything that makes it look like it's moving will add a lot of excitement. Great start can't wait to see the finished product.

Sierragirlnv

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 3:25 am
by rrodriguez
Alexa, your rough is better than the live website now. I didn't even know it was a school for racing cars until I seen your rough website. You'll be doing this website justice. The headline is bold and exciting. The entire layout will be easy to read. Can't wait to see it progress

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:49 pm
by dboudinot
Hi Alexa,

Even with this simple start you are miles ahead of the original site (pun intended). I like the layout and agree the speedometers are a nice touch. I am not sure about the color scheme yet, but when you go digital you will have a much broader range of tints and shades to play with, so I am sure it will come together. I am also a little iffy on the text over the checkered flag; I am not sure it will be legible, so I would play with effects or placement once you get into the Photoshop document. Good start though, your design is so much easier on the eyes.

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:01 pm
by old_man_pat
Miss Hummela, your layout has a nice start in clarity over the current site. Your selection of images of both a race track and a race car in action is a big improvement over the their promotional transport truck! The speedometers and extended racing flag are a nice additions. I also looked up color palettes for racing themes and saw this quite a few with these colors. Kind of gives an Indy 500 look. I'm waiting to see how the name over the flag turns out. Nice start.

Re: Project 2 Preliminary Critique

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:13 pm
by Instructor
Hm. Going to be a little tough to give you as full a feedback, particularly on color and typography.

Also, I only see one design. Image

Looks like you're on the right track (oooh, racing pun) with this one design though. I think the choice to use the checkered flag as a dominant design element in the top left is a good one. It helps draw the eye and set up the viewing experience for the rest of the website.

The navigation seems large and easy to use.

I like the image placement, though I think it could use more. Maybe in the top bar?

I'm also not sold on colors. I'd ditch the blue and use red, orange, yellow and metallic gray. Maybe green, but use it very, very sparingly.

Maybe use the tachometers in the lower left as call to cation buttons as well?

That's about all I can offer at this point. I think you're going in the right direction and can't wait to see the finished product!