its a website for a small community. where it has everything.
the community already has their own newspapers and cute magazines. I felt a website would be a great hit.
I'm not a designer but I like the design, though on the articles page having a background and border like that on each article seems a bit too much to me... but like I said, I'm not a designer :P
I really like the large icons as these will be great calls to action on touch devices - where the input method is far less precise than a mouse cursor. I also dig the graphic used to label the search input for purely visual reason. The gradients could be a little more chilled out though.
If I were to offer some general advice, I'd say that perhaps the reason this is a little tough to critique is that there isn't that much true content and it's just a static image so we can't really asses how well any interactions might behave. Any chance of a web-ready mockup?
I think that's better (a little simpler) and I reckon you should stick with dark specifically for the gradients, rather than the sandy option. It works well as a complementary contrasting colour though (as in the sidebar).
I'm not seeing any consistency with the colors. I feel like you're changing them because of the suggestions above. That's just my opinion, as a designer.
so i should get rid of the sandy looking article? keep it black?
That's still kinda my gut advice. Take that with a pinch of salt though as I am by no means anything of a visual designer so @chrisburton could be right.
well i just stuck that sandy color in there... just to see a different take. but i always had in mind that it would remain black...
the sandy color is for special links and tags like in the sidebar
in the end i think im going to contain the articles in a black box set with transparency slightly on -no gradient
is it really? what makes it for a small community? why would i want to "be heard"? why would I want to advertise or search you directory? what do I get out of it?
See where I'm getting at...?
All of these things are not clearly apparent from your design.
Sites goal is very broad and confusing. We already have Google, Bing, etc.!
I suggest you pick a niche market and cater to them. Get to know who is your target market? See what kind of problems needs solving?
IMO at this stage of the game, design of your site is irrelevant, as the sites goals are not clearly defined.
because thee is no other website for this community... this is a real place... not like an online community!
Okay. So do you know who these people are? Do you know what their daily needs are? Are you certain they don't already use Facebook, Google, etc., to 'discover people places and things'?
I'm not trying to put your idea down or discourage you from pursuing it. I'm making sure you are asking the right people, the right questions. Your users. Target audience.
i understand. I know somewhat. I guess I could learn more.
The website might not take off, and thats ok. It is a project im pursuing in my free time... it helps me learn new things and experiment with new plugins...
But I think it will be good because I know a lot of people in the area who are looking for jobs and craigslist does not have this community, or area. My initial idea was a classifieds site for this growing community.
I think it's great what you are doing. Even if the idea doesn't get rolling you'll learn a lot.
Don't be afraid to fail. Many who are successful, failed many times.
Creating something useful, in the most abstract form is: identifying a problem and developing a solution. Just make sure you are actually solving the problem for your users.
what do you think? http://baseshamai.deviantart.com/art/Screen-Shot-2013-02-24-at-8-12-54-PM-356295123 and http://baseshamai.deviantart.com/art/Screen-Shot-2013-02-24-at-8-13-23-PM-356295737
its a website for a small community. where it has everything. the community already has their own newspapers and cute magazines. I felt a website would be a great hit.
are they that bad that we are running away from this thread?!
With all due respect, I'm not sure what to critique. You have some text and 4 icons.
the design direction. do the colors work well? the second link has the main blog page... or at least most of it
I'm not a fan of the color choices here. The green reminds me of the green slime from Nickelodeon.
Why not try a color palette resource like http://kuler.adobe.com?
I'm not a designer but I like the design, though on the articles page having a background and border like that on each article seems a bit too much to me... but like I said, I'm not a designer :P
I really like the large icons as these will be great calls to action on touch devices - where the input method is far less precise than a mouse cursor. I also dig the graphic used to label the search input for purely visual reason. The gradients could be a little more chilled out though.
If I were to offer some general advice, I'd say that perhaps the reason this is a little tough to critique is that there isn't that much true content and it's just a static image so we can't really asses how well any interactions might behave. Any chance of a web-ready mockup?
not yet. I like to design it as much as possible b4 i dive in because otherwise I never return to photoshop and I css it as I go along....
@chrisburton oh my gosh I remember that show! yeah i was afraid my green was too mucusy... maybe I will change the shade of color
I like the green.
Sorry! :)
someone mentioned too much gradients. so I tried to change it a bit. which article do you like better? top or bottom?
http://baseshamai.deviantart.com/art/Screen-Shot-2013-02-25-at-12-05-15-PM-356392219
or maybe even both? i can alternate. in fact i believe wordpress places a class on every other just for that.
I think that's better (a little simpler) and I reckon you should stick with dark specifically for the gradients, rather than the sandy option. It works well as a complementary contrasting colour though (as in the sidebar).
so i should get rid of the sandy looking article? keep it black?
I'm not seeing any consistency with the colors. I feel like you're changing them because of the suggestions above. That's just my opinion, as a designer.
That's still kinda my gut advice. Take that with a pinch of salt though as I am by no means anything of a visual designer so @chrisburton could be right.
Just my gut reaction when I opened the page.
Doesn't necessarily mean I'm correct. It's just what I see when looking at the screenshots.
well i just stuck that sandy color in there... just to see a different take. but i always had in mind that it would remain black... the sandy color is for special links and tags like in the sidebar in the end i think im going to contain the articles in a black box set with transparency slightly on -no gradient
a final look at the articles: http://baseshamai.deviantart.com/art/Screen-Shot-2013-02-25-at-2-54-34-PM-356416280?ga_submit_new=10%3A1361822142
by the way... where should i upload these stupid images... deviantart is for finished work i feel....
I use Photobucket
is it really? what makes it for a small community? why would i want to "be heard"? why would I want to advertise or search you directory? what do I get out of it?
See where I'm getting at...?
All of these things are not clearly apparent from your design.
Sites goal is very broad and confusing. We already have Google, Bing, etc.!
I suggest you pick a niche market and cater to them. Get to know who is your target market? See what kind of problems needs solving?
IMO at this stage of the game, design of your site is irrelevant, as the sites goals are not clearly defined.
-Alen
because thee is no other website for this community... this is a real place... not like an online community! this place exists on a map!
and they used yahoo groups to communicate and email and stuff and they need a website badly... its a large neighborhood thats very er... connected.
Okay. So do you know who these people are? Do you know what their daily needs are? Are you certain they don't already use Facebook, Google, etc., to 'discover people places and things'?
I'm not trying to put your idea down or discourage you from pursuing it. I'm making sure you are asking the right people, the right questions. Your users. Target audience.
i understand. I know somewhat. I guess I could learn more. The website might not take off, and thats ok. It is a project im pursuing in my free time... it helps me learn new things and experiment with new plugins...
But I think it will be good because I know a lot of people in the area who are looking for jobs and craigslist does not have this community, or area. My initial idea was a classifieds site for this growing community.
I think it's great what you are doing. Even if the idea doesn't get rolling you'll learn a lot.
Don't be afraid to fail. Many who are successful, failed many times.
Creating something useful, in the most abstract form is: identifying a problem and developing a solution. Just make sure you are actually solving the problem for your users.
Best of luck, -Alen