[Designer Chosen] Essays That Impress template ASAP or July 28 $450

[lbanim]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 5R819081289868008)

1a) Name of Company: Essays that Impress

1b) Company Tag Line: We'll Help You Say it Best!

1c) Company logo--Please see attached. But I'm open to not using it for the website

1d) Corporate Visual Identity-Using attached logo on biz cards and stationery. Prefer shades of blue with black

1e) Nature of business: Online editing service for high school, college, and grad school essays (usually admissions), website content, cover letters, resumes, etc.

1F) Target market: College students, high school students, grad students, young businesspersons (international, particularly Asia and India)

Website Details:

1b: No existing website (domain name is essaysthatimpress.com)

2b) Websites I like:

www.abbysiegel.com
www.williams.edu
www.adamsliterary.com

Websites I don't like: Anything too cluttered or overly slick/commerical (say, Go Daddy)

3b) Colors: Shades of blue with black, that will appeal to both men and women

4b) Navigation Links:

Home
About Us
Services
FAQ
Links
Contact Us

5b) Type of look: Clean, simple, bold, welcoming (i.e. not stressful), appeals to students as well as young professionals. Sense of humor okay

6b) www.essayedge.com

7b) I have been told that the typewriter in my logo may not be appropriate for a website and my target audience, so perhaps a (photo?) laptop might better be featured with the company name. The font was supposed to be a typewriter font. I really liked some of the photos of college kids and young businessmen on istockphoto.com --in particular a young woman in front of her laptop, with her arms in a victory sign, as well as a couple with young guys slumped over their laptops, with a pile of books or a paper...there are a few with struggling business people. I think I did a search for "laptop," as well as "stressed student," among others. I like the possible idea of a "before and after" deal.

1c) Deadline: July 28

2c) Require HTML coding--yes

3c) Only CSS? No

4c) 2 coded pages, front page and one interior

Thanks!

[Zoe]

Here is an idea that came to mind to get the ball rolling. :)

I look forward to your feedback.

Zoe

[lbanim]

Zoe, This is off to a terrific start, thanks! I love the overall "clean-ness" and the user-friendly feel. (Maybe we need to go with a tiny bit less on the humor, though!) I can see that my logo doesn't work well in a web design; it's not bold enough and doesn't match the rest. Could you subsitute a block with the company name in a font (maybe the same type, but bolder?) that might work? Don't feel stuck with that particular blue, either--whatever works well with your choice. Maybe even a darker color with white letters? Thanks again, and I look forward to your response.

[Zoe]

Thanks for the feedback. :)

I know you said, less humour but when I cam across this image, I really thought it would grab attention. :)

[Zoe]

and here is a more serious image. :)

[lbanim]

Hi Zoe, Thanks so much--I think we're really making progress! :) Here are a few notes:

1. I like the heading much better than my logo, thanks--Is it possible at all to space the letters in "Essays" and "Impress" out a tiny bit so as to improve readability? (If you were using the old logo, is it still possible to do this?)

2. The dog version is adorable, and funny to boot--the only problem is, the dog looks pretty worn out and definitely not impressed. :D I probably should stick with the more "professional" version, to be on the safe side (also, foreign clients might not get the dog-ate-my-homework idea!).

3. Re: Version Two: Love the layout! Would it be possible to switch the girl photo to a different one? I did a search on istockphoto again and found a picture I really liked...She could either be a client or an editor. Anyway, it's number 2285748. It's more vertical, but could it work if it were cropped?

4. I'm wondering whether we could also change the graduation girl to an African American girl (again, if it helps, I found a cap and gown pic: #3424449)

5. And lastly, I love the "testimonial box" and don't want to get rid of it...but is there a way to somehow add one more photo--the one you used in your first version with the biz man throwing the documents into the air? What I'm trying to get across is the idea of help (the editor), plus college success and biz success. Those 2 side/bottom pix might need to be pretty small to leave room for a box; do you think it could be done somehow?

I hope this helps...and I also hope it's okay to ask about switching those 2 pics. I'm not exactly sure how istockphoto works, whether you can just use samples f.p.o.?

I think that's it! Thanks so much again...Lisa

[Zoe]

Hello Lisa,

Those we really nice photos. Thank you for taking the time to take a look. We can often spend hours looking for images and what we think may look great, just isn't quite right. :)

I was thinking what I could do, is provide about 5 different images for that main header, and when the page is refreshed it would randomly select one of the images. That wasy you can get some of your ideas across as they move throughout the website.

Here is the latest revision.

[BrianDove]

Hi Lisa, :)

Here is some ideas that popped in my mind. Pretty special, unique, and simple. I provided two different version with two different woman, your call. I can change the images as you please, and I look forward to hear your comments and/or modifications. :yes:

Rgds,
Brian

#1

[BrianDove]

#2 :confused:

[lbanim]

Zoe, I love this!!!

Glad you liked the photos, too. Two (hopefully very small) questions:

1. Could we put the header girl to the left side? (I know it's good to have her turned in toward the reader, but I'm wondering whether that will allow the viewer's eye to move more and balance the photo images a bit)?

2. I really like your idea of the moving photo images. Would it be okay to keep the header photo in place (for consistency/brand recognition) and have the other two photos move? Or, maybe have a photo box on page 2 that I'm assuming--I don't know anything about web design!--that the images could move through instead of the header?

Thanks so much again--I'm truly thrilled! :) Lisa

[Zoe]

Hello Lisa,

Here is the woman on the left.

2. Yes we can certainly change any of the photos on the page. :)

Thanks.

Zoe

[LalitB]

Hello,

Here's my entry:

Dark bg (http://www.eyeseedesigns.com/do/essays/)
White bg (http://www.eyeseedesigns.com/do/essays/2)
Looking forward to your feedback. :)

-Lalit

[Luc]

Hi! Just letting you know that i'm working on a concept :)

[Luc]

Hi Lisa,
Here's my entry. The idea is to use a desk or a workspace to hold the contents of your website.

[Luc]

You said that you want to have some blue, so here it is. The page expands vertically for more contents.

[lbanim]

Thanks, Brian! My apologies for the delay in responding. This is a very intriguing idea; I particularly like the touch of the script in the background. The "lighting" of the company name, the brightness of the blue and white, the cloudy background behind the pix and the scripty font for the welcome line seem to lend an almost "heavenly" feel. Is there a way to go for a slightly more literary look? Thanks again.

[lbanim]

Zoe, love it! Thanks, and my apologies for the delay in responding.

[BrianDove]

thanks for the nice comments!

Is there a way to go for a slightly more literary look?

Im not sure to understand what you mean by literary look. Ide be very grateful if you could elaborate it a little bit more.

many thanks! :blush:

Brian

[lbanim]

Hi Lalit, Thank you. This design is quite striking. I really like the way you did the company name and the headings and the boldness of the color scheme is amazing. (I prefer the one with the black background.) I'm not sure about the "About Us," "Contact" etc. areas--is it possible to make them more like tabs, or something a bit smaller? Also, are the "Services" choices for the next page? Thanks!

[lbanim]

Hmm...I guess that wasn't the right word to use. I meant that I'm selling an editorial service, so I'm looking to link to the idea of writing. Does that help? (Let me know if it doesn't!) Thanks.

[lbanim]

Hi again Brian, After I wrote that I realized you had tied into the writing element with the writing in the background, so my reply probably was not helpful! I may have been more focused on the central elements of the page; somehow I wasn't connecting the subtle background writing with the images and the writing process.

[lbanim]

Thanks, Luc, your design is extremely cool! Even though I initially said I liked blue, I think I prefer the brown version here. It works well with the desk idea. I also really like the perspective. Would it be possible to make the company name a bit bolder? Also, I like the pages idea for the testimonial...I'm not sure that the floppy disk/CD images work, though. I'm afraid they might date the design (a lot of students just go the pen drive route, and that probably wouldn't be much of an image).

[Luc]

Thanks for your comment. Here's the revision. Unfortunately, i couldn't find a photo of a pen drive to match the perspective so I just removed it and leave the papers instead. Let me know what you think of it.

[Luc]

or a wooden floor :) I think this makes it more realistic.

[LalitB]

Hi,

Thank you for the quick feedback, here're my revisions.

Revision 1 (http://www.eyeseedesigns.com/do/essays/rev1)
Revision 2 (http://www.eyeseedesigns.com/do/essays/rev2)


-Lalit

[lbanim]

Thanks, Luc, these designs both look great--I agree with you about the lighter background for the desk. Don't worry about the pen drive--I don't think that image would have looked good, anyway (too small)!

[lbanim]

Thanks for the revisions, Lalit, this design is very clean and a definite "grabber." I'm still a bit unclear re: the two options under Services. Does the page continue vertically, or would you need to click on the Services tab to get to it ? (Sorry, I'm not very familiar with website design! :blush: )

[LalitB]

Sorry for not clarifying that earlier, the services options will be clickable buttons for further detailed pages. The page will be cutoff after the buttons unless you wish to add content there.

I hope that answers your question, please feel free to address any other concerns. :)

-Lalit

[lbanim]

Yes,that helps a lot, Lalit. Thanks! :)

[lbanim]

I have some great designs to choose from, and I think I'm ready to make a decision. Just wanted to make sure no one else out there was in progress on anything? Thanks, Lisa

[lbanim]

Thank you all so much for your terrific ideas and hard work. I have chosen Zoe's design. Thanks again, Lisa

[Zoe]

Thank you Lisa. :)

I have moved this thread to the Revisions forum where we can work on any changes you require. Once you receive the files, please post back here to let us know.

I hope you have enjoyed the Design Outpost experience.

Thank you

Zoe

[lbanim]

Hi again, Zoe! I really love your work.

I'm not sure how the "revisions" process works, so I hope you'll bear with me. :) I have one revision request and a couple of questions...

Revision: Could we try to create little tabs or buttons for the "Home," "About Us," etc. headings? I like the way it looks now, actually, but I've been told that clients might prefer the buttons/tabs. Any ideas?

And here are the questions:

1. Because my clients will need to submit their essays through the website (or do I correspond with them through email? ), I guess I also need to have some sort of "Contact" box deal on one page. If I'm understanding correctly, all the website pages are basically the same designwise, right? (with the changing photos?). Do I need to add a new page with the contact box? I'm hoping to use the programming outpost next, so is this the point at which I do the contact set-up, or at the next stage? (Sorry for being so clueless!)

2. Is this the stage at which I will need to provide copy?

3. Do you need/want me to suggest any photos to add, or would you prefer to do this? (By the way, I did like the "before" pic you found of the frustrated businessman...and there are a couple versions of that dog, too...in addition to the "slumping" one, there's one of him writing on a laptop. There's even one of Shakespeare looking confused at his laptop!)

4. Do I need to purchase rights to the photos separately? (Not sure how that works.) How many do you think I will need?

I think that's it, Zoe...Thanks so much for your help! :)

[Zoe]

Hi Lisa,

Sorry for the delay, I had a couple of horrible days at work. :(

Here is the design with tab navigation links. Please note that these links would ned to be hard coded, and it will be harder to add new links across the top. However, you would be able to add "sub-pages" to these main categories.

[lbanim]

Hi Zoe, I'm so sorry I didn't write back to you right away! Somehow, I missed this...I kept checking the Message list at the top and didn't scroll down far enough. :blush:

But anyway, this is great--I love it! Sub-page headings can be seen as drop-downs from the tabs if someone holds them down, right (just for future reference)?

I think we're ready to go!

All best,

Lisa

[Zoe]

Files completed. Awaiting instructions from client.

[BlueCherryGraphics]

PROJECT NOTE: Moved to Template Archives.