[Project Complete] Due Mar 7th - 3 Page Web Site Refresh (PSD only) - $1000

[theSideline]

Admin code added by Abby - 2JD226247F2206401 , 98033827G3935904V

Company Details

1a) Name of Company

theSideline.com

1b)Company Tag Line or slogan:

1c) Do you have a company logo?

Yes. At http://www.thesideline.com/images/tt/thesideline_tiny.gif But this site is more of a Product related site at http://www.turbotourney.com and logos for that are:

http://www.turbotourney.com/images/tt/ttgridball.gif
http://www.turbotourney.com/images/tt/ttgridpro.gif
http://www.turbotourney.com/images/tt/ttcontestserver.gif

Also, will be adding the following new product as well and the logo for that:
http://www.bracketpickem.com/

I have PSD’s of all the above if needed.

1d) Do you have a corporate visual identity (a customized (non stock) logo and color scheme carried out throughout your office, stationery, business cards, etc.)?

Yes. We have the company logo above and we’ve been using the logo and color schemes of the existing product line logos above. We’d like just a refresh of our site including the new product mentioned above.

1e) What is the nature of your business?: Briefly describe your products or services:

We provide tools for managing bracket contests around popular sporting events. This ranges anywhere from a small internal office pool to a large corporate sponsored marketing contest.

1f) Who is your target market? Who are you hoping to reach with your site?

Primarily individuals, the individual pool managers looking for software to help them manage and administer their pools. Generally, these are sports fans and generally males between 25-40 but it’s definitely not just limited to them. Sometimes office secretaries get stuck running these things. Individual products are Turbo Tourney, Turbo Tourney and Bracket Pick’Em.

But we also market to businesses of all sizes that are looking to create promotional opportunities by sponsoring contests for employees, clients, potential customers, etc. For companies, we offer the Contest Server product.

Website Details

1b) Do you have an existing website? If so, what is the URL?

http://www.turbotourney.com/

2b) IMPORTANT: Please list at least 3 URLs (web addresses) of high quality sites that you like the look of (these do not have to be sites who’s business is similar to yours. It aids us in determining what your design style is.) Please consider layout, colors, navigation, graphics, and typography.

http://www.nascar.com/
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/15577.html
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/15463.html (but not really liking the orangish/yellow)
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/14669.html
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/14482.html
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/12534.html
http://www.templatemonster.com/website-templates/6333.html


3b) What colors or color schemes would you like?

We’ve done the standard white background long enough. I think I’d like to have that kind of metallic/pewter/grey background look as in above examples or at least something with some background color.. But just needs to look good with product logos and be kind of sporty. Like, pink, purple, and yellow would be bad. Blacks, reds, blues, etc. good.


4b) List the Navigation links for your Site:

All the same navigation links as existing site but we want the menu to be totally different. Could be across the top with popout menus for example.


5b) What type of look are you trying to achieve? (e.g. clean, high-tech, conservative, warm, flashy, etc.)

Clean, sporty, catchy.

6b) Please provide the addresses of competitors' sites, if possible:

7b) Do you have any images for use in the design of your site? If not, do you have images, can you offer suggestions of what you type of imagery you feel would be most suitable for your website:

Yes, see above. Would like to integrate a pool bracket into the imagery or visual of the site if possible. An example: http://www.turbotourney.com/images/banners/banner_box60.gif has a bracket in the background.


Deadlines and Deliverables

1c) What is the deadline for your template design?

February 22nd.

2c) Will you require HTML coding? (Yes/No)

No

3c) If so, will you require it to be ONLY CSS layout? (Yes/No --- {fees})
Preferred but definitely not required. But all styling elements must be contained in a CSS file and not embedded in the HTML so can be changed globally by editing only CSS file.

4c) How many pages coded will you require delivered? ({fees})

3 pages:

1 Redesigned Home Page with all new look, header, menu, etc.

1 Redesigned Product page that we can replicate for the other products. An existing product page is at http://www.turbotourney.com/tt.html

1 Redesigned Sub-page of content that we can replicate for other content pages. You can view all the other pages on our site for existing content pages.

We also need all common HTML elements be styled in the CSS with the look and feel of the pages even if they are not on those pages. For example, Radio Buttons, Select list, TextArea, etc. so that if we have those on other content pages they maintain the style of the site.

Are there any other comments/specific ideas we should keep in mind while designing your project?

Would prefer if pages were fluid so fills entire page side-to-side like 100% width and not just like 800px fixed width unless the background helps fill that gap nicely.

Can't think of anything else. Thanks

[theSideline]

Wanted to update this with a few other details as well:

1) On the new home page layout you can leave out the Cnet pick graphic. If you can find a good way to integrate the ZDNet graphic that's great but not required.

2) Do not include a Latest Headlines section in the new layout, we don't need it anymore but we would like a small section to put some of our existing customer logos. Like a "some of our clients" section that would include some of logos found at:

http://www.thesideline.com/customershowcase.html

[will]

Hi, would it be possible for you to upload a bigger logo, probably vector .ai, .eps and if not .psd might do it :D

Thanks,

[theSideline]

Let me know if these don't work. Also, on the Pro eps we don't use that black line at the bottom but for some reason I can't find the .eps that has that removed.

Thanks

[Elena]

Hello,

Here's my draft for you.

Elena.

[will]

Thanks, I will be posting a cool idea soon :D

[will]

Here is my concept :D

[djaka]

:)

[Anne]

Here is my entry

Anne

[theSideline]

thanks everyone for the submissions! i will post some feedback tonight after having a better look.

[abby]

Project Update: The project deadline has been extended to Feb 29th

[abby]

Project Update: The project deposit has been raised to $1000 and the deadline extended to March 7th. PSD files only now!

[theSideline]

Hi everyone,

I apologize for the delay in providing feedback. I got the flu, then strep and now trying to catch up. So, I wanted to extend the deadline to give enough time for everyone. I also raised the amount to $1000 and removed the HTML encoding requirement so that the encoding part doesn’t deter the creative aspect. Hope everyone is ok with that. For the designers who have posted drafts, thank you for your time and for your patience with me!

Some overall general feedback would be:

1) In general, I think I like the designs have more of the black/metallic kind of background and look similar to those in the samples sites I linked to than the colorful background color. Not looking for a lot of color necessarily.
2) I’d like designs that have the horizontal menu with the major items on top with what I assume will be dropdown for the detail menu items. This helps give more area for other things than menus.
3) For the headers, what we do is sports related but it’s not really a sport so would like to see something a little different in the header than players, sports balls, etc. Mainly, some kind of incorporation of the pool bracket imagery I referred to in my post. It could even be a subtle background of the header too. Something that is more indicative that this is software for managing pool brackets. Having some sports imagery to go along with that is fine, just don’t want it to appear all sports. And since we support a variety of sports, it also can’t be just football or just basketball. Like, Elena was able to incorporate several sports into the header.
4) I will try and focus more on the look/feel now and specific elements as it narrows down.

Elena, thank you for your proposal. I like the layout of the menu and the look you gave to it. Aside from the header, my feeling is that it has too close of look to our current web site. Really looking for something that explodes right off the bat as a whole different site from before. Much of the colors and layout resembles the current site a little too much. I do also like how you’ve incorporated the ZDNet review into the site though.

Will, thanks for the submission. You’re heading down the right path with the overall look. I like the bordering that you’ve done around the content and the footer area. I also like that you’ve tried to bring on a totally different layout than we have today. I would like to see more contrast though between the background grey and the content area as it seems to be bleed together a little. I think having the menu in the header like that will make navigation for some people a little confusing though. I like the welcome line you have underneath the header. I’m not a fan of the font though or maybe it’s just the while font color, not sure. I like the how the look is clean though in terms of the product boxes, etc. Maybe look at some different font colors than the yellow and light blue as they seem out of place a little to me.

Djaka, thank you as well! Again, heading down the right path here with some of the background coloring and I like how you’ve got the menu at the top. I would prefer to have the menu under the header though I think. I like the orange color text on the dark background, not so much the yellow. For the product boxes, I wonder if there would be a different way to separate them more cleanly or some different arrangement.

Anne, thanks! Very clean looking site, nice job laying it out and I like the Upcoming Tournaments area. The screen shot is awesome! Could maybe clean up the product headers a little bit and maybe try and separate them a little better. It’s also a lot of blue it seems and in some areas some text gets lost like in the Contest Server logo on the bottom right. The bolded font under “Automate Your Office Pool” looks a little blurry or something and that section doesn’t have quite the nice clean look as the rest. Can’t quite put my finger on it. See some of my general comments above regarding the header and sport theme.

I hope this helps a little and feel free to ask any questions if any of the above doesn’t make sense.
Thanks all
Doug

[Fabian]

Hi,here is my entry.

[Anne]

Revision :)

[Anne]

With submenu

[will]

Changes :D Let me know if you would prefer a different font for the titles or any other change.

[theSideline]

Thanks for the updates Anne and Will!

Anne – I like about everything you’ve done since the original design and nailed my feedback exactly what I wanted… looks really good! Coloring, header, menu all are good. So, just a few little details really… how would it look ok if the menu item text was a little bit larger? And would we be able to squeeze on more menu item called “Support”? Really about the only thing I’m not sure on is the font type being used for the body text. I know you’re limited because of the text instead of images but could you try a different font or maybe try a few different fonts in different sections to see how they might look? And could you add the additional product I mentioned originally (BracketPickem) to the products on the page? One of the product images and the company logo aren’t the right ones but as long as we can just replace them with the correct ones it’s not a problem.

Will – Just saw your revision so let me think a little on the font for the titles. But thanks for moving the menu, looks good!!

[Anne]

Thank you for the feedback :)

Here is the revision:

Added support to the menu and made font larger.
Changed the headings to Century Gothic (Looks good in browsers when using large text, so it's more suited to use for headings)
Tried different fonts for the content, On top I've used Tahoma, for the subcategories I've used Georgia, Tahoma, Verdana and Arial so you can see the different options. Personally I think Tahoma or Arial is best. They also look better "live"
Added the Bracket logo
One of the product images and the company logo aren’t the right Looks right to me (the same as on your current homepage) ??

Anne

[djaka]

:)

[djaka]

alternative layout
thank you
:)

[crimsondesigner]

If you're still open to new concepts, I'd like to toss my hat into the ring. :)

[Anne]

Changes to the menu :)

[theSideline]

If you're still open to new concepts, I'd like to toss my hat into the ring. :)

Sure, absolutely open to about anything.

I'll post some feedback very soon on the latest revisions, thanks!

[theSideline]

Oh, Anne, forgot to mention about the logos. The product logo for Turbo Tourney Pro has that black line leading up to the word Pro but we don't have that line on the image in our home page. I think you got that from the psd I uploaded. The original concept had that but we removed it. Then the company logo you've got says "my"sideline and the one on our site is "the"sideline. I'm not sure where that one came from. Probably the psd's I posted. Not a big deal though as long as we can just replace them with the ones we are using. Conceptually it doesn't change anything. And also thanks for all your time on this!

[Kogar]

Is the deadline still open, if so... I'll submit my design today?

[theSideline]

Yes, today is the last day and not sure if they'll let me extend any more.

[Kogar]

Here's my entry :)

[will]

Hi, sorry for the delay but got trapped between worlds of work :P Here is the same concept but with a twist on the fonts and the arrangement of the information.

[theSideline]

Thanks everyone who submitted designs... we've decided to go with Anne's concept.

Thanks!

[will]

Congrats Anne, nice competition :D

[Anne]

Thank you for choosing my design, and thanks Will :)

Any revisions you want me to make before I start on the two other pages?

Regards
Anne

[theSideline]

Hi Anne,

Just a few small ones I think:

1) Can you make the header menu a little shorter? I think it might be just a little bit too tall.
2) I think I like the Tahoma font, maybe one size bigger though for the main text?
3) Can you capitalize the “N” on Order Now.
4) In an earlier design the copyright text was not bolded, can you go back to that.
5) Did you see my post on the images? Make sense?
6) On the drop down menu text, can you make it a little bit “orangier”? (Is that a word?)
7) The only major thing I’m still not sure on is the product boxes… it’s not as clean as I would like in terms of grouping them together. Like, if you look at djaka’s design, they are kind of boxed in. I don’t like that specific look but wondering if there is any way to more cleanly tie them together with the heading, text and image. Then also on the “More Details” button, can you do something to make those stand out just a little bit more so they don’t get lost with the text.

All in all though, very nice work on this! Since I think you submitted before we removed the encoding, would you also be able to do that when it’s done and, if so, what that would cost?

Thanks
Doug

[Anne]

Revision


1) Made it 10 pixels chorter
2) Changed
3) Done
4) Changed back
5) Do you mean the header image?
6) Made the text more orange
7) Added a small border so it's more "boxed in" and changed the color of the buttons

Hi Anne,

Just a few small ones I think:

1) Can you make the header menu a little shorter? I think it might be just a little bit too tall.
2) I think I like the Tahoma font, maybe one size bigger though for the main text?
3) Can you capitalize the “N” on Order Now.
4) In an earlier design the copyright text was not bolded, can you go back to that.
5) Did you see my post on the images? Make sense?
6) On the drop down menu text, can you make it a little bit “orangier”? (Is that a word?)
7) The only major thing I’m still not sure on is the product boxes… it’s not as clean as I would like in terms of grouping them together. Like, if you look at djaka’s design, they are kind of boxed in. I don’t like that specific look but wondering if there is any way to more cleanly tie them together with the heading, text and image. Then also on the “More Details” button, can you do something to make those stand out just a little bit more so they don’t get lost with the text.

All in all though, very nice work on this! Since I think you submitted before we removed the encoding, would you also be able to do that when it’s done and, if so, what that would cost?

Thanks
Doug

[theSideline]

Hey Anne,

Changes look good. On #5, I was referring to the company logo and product logos but looks like you got them correct now.

Only thing, on the footer, I wanted to keep the menu items bold and change only the copyright text to be regular.

Otherwise, all set I think!!!!!!

[Anne]

Great, I'll go ahead and make a designproposal for the product page then.

Anne

[theSideline]

:)

[Anne]

:)

[theSideline]

Sorry Anne, have been on vacation for a while... should be able to you some comments tomorrow.

[theSideline]

Hi Anne,

Looks really good for the most part. A few changes:

Remove the ZDNet section but leave the order now somehow (see right side below)

Remove the upcoming tournaments and client section (home page only for those) so everything will shift to the left

Then maybe create some kind of right side column skeleton that would be about 20%-25% of page width and will have things like
- Order now
- “What customers are saying section”
- Special offers
- Help Me Choose

Can you add like an announcement area under menu and above product info that we could put “hot news” kind of information or product announcements. Something that stands out like as an alert. It would normally not be shown but at times we may want to make special announcements.

[Anne]

Do you want the ZDNet section removed from both pages?

[Anne]

How is this?

Anne

[Anne]

or

[theSideline]

Wow, you are good! Let me process this a little bit... but the ZDnet thing just from this page, its still ok on the home page if that's what you mean.

:)

[Anne]

Yes, That was what I meant. Thank you

Here is anothe option for the internal page

Anne

[theSideline]

Perfect! How would the text look in the hot news section?

[Anne]

Something like this

[theSideline]

Looks great!

[Anne]

Great :D, I'll send you the files later today

Anne

[Anne]

Hi

Files sent, please check your personal messages for a link to download the files, http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/private.php.

Regards
Anne

[theSideline]

Great! :) Thanks for all your work on this... I'm very happy with the results. I will download and check out the files later today and let you know if any issues.

Would you have any interest in also doing the coding? If so, could you send me a quote? Thanks Anne!

[Anne]

I've sent you a personal message with a quote for the coding.

Anne

[BlueCherryGraphics]

PROJECT UPDATE: moved to Template Archives.