GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

My first design is a darker layout with the different phases of the moon being the main links. I've also included a more straight-forward navigation menu at the top. In my research I found that if one can't figure out how a website works right away, most don't bother to stay to figure it out. Therefore I made sure my navigation was eye-catching but also clean and easy to read.

In my second design, I went with a more relaxed, "organic" look. I'm not sure if this is exactly what I will keep as far as the leaves themselves go (I might add more plants), but you get the idea. I also considered adding brown to this color scheme in order to break it up a little.

In both designs, I used sans-serif fonts and contrasting colors to help guide users. While researching, I noticed that the human eyes are attracted to certain color combinations and symmetry; so I tried to keep that in mind as I was designing them.

Here's a couple places where I got some knowledge/inspiration:

http://www.creativebloq.com/tag/web-design

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/06 ... asymmetry/

I like the organic look that you're going for on the second one. I think the navigation bar with the plant graphic is a neat idea, and green is my favorite color, so I automatically enjoy the color scheme.

The moon waxing and waning is a fantastic idea....

I like either of them. They are both eye catching.

One the first rough I would try to lighten up the bottom but not to much.

I like the green on white (haven't seen that till now) but I think the layout of the first one is slicker. Those moon buttons are cool!

The second one! Both are well laid out and easy to navigate and read, except two options for navigation (#1) might make my pea-brain think they led to different areas of your site rather than the same ones.

The moon buttons on the first are super creative, but the color scheme and image are on the dark side...hmmm...maybe that has to do with the Moon theme...?

Anyway, I much prefer your plant buttons. As long as you have the stem to connect them, making them appear to be an entire plant, I don't see why you'd need to vary them? The image and colors are fresh and welcoming.

I like second one, green color scheme is good.

and tree image and type face has nice unity.

you can work with align of body copy.

I actually enjoy the moon layout a great deal more. I think you don't need the link bar on the top and the moons because both of them is too repetitive. I think that you can take the "space" theme farther by maybe demonstrating some photo manipulation or illustrator skills by creating a subtle 'universe' as the background instead of a couple of stars. But overall, I think your roughs are very nice and visually appealing.

I really like the moon phases, the colors work well with the b/w photo. Some of the text is difficult to read, so you may want more contrast in those areas.

Nikki, I think you are in the enviable position of having two strong designs here. You could pick from either and have a strong website.

For your first one you have a fun idea with the night sky and the phases of the moon. It uses contrast well and is easy to follow. The typography works well and is easy to read. The night sky provides a great background for your content. The image is large and dominant without overwhelming your text.

The only changes I'd recommend are losing the black boxes behind the navigation and the top bar and increasing the detail of the night sky.

For your second one, I like the green on white, high contrast color scheme. That's a nice font you have for the headline too, it really reinforces your theme. The green gives it a warm spring feel. The image and body copy are well placed and the body copy is very readable. The vine based navigation is very fun, as well. And yet it's "funness" doesn't hurt it's functionality one bit.

The big change I think it needs is to have the vine navigation moved up and leftward a bit to establish unity with the rest of the design.

Very good work! Have fun choosing between them.