[Project Complete] - front page + one interior page for circumventor.com - $500

[bennetthaselton]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 8S747186XR926003X)

Looking for a front page + one interior page for a new site, circumventor.com. I deposted $500 for the job.<!--StartFragment -->

I actually have a fairly specific layout in mind already:
http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-com-draft-html.html (http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-com-draft-html.html)
On the other hand, in a previous DesignOutpost.com thread (to design that logo, in fact), I posted a draft for a logo, but the winning entry (the one you see at the page above) was someone who went with a completely different design. So you have a good chance at winning if you follow that draft, but also a good chance even if you don't.

If you DO follow the draft at the link above, however, these were my thoughts on how the layout should look:
- The color scheme of the site generally should use colors taken from the logo in the upper-left corner, for consistency.
- In the left-hand column, I just need to be able to add and remove menu items, and some of the menu items should be able to have sub-entries under them, e.g. "Country-specific instructions" has Iran, China, Turkey under it. These don't have to pop-out dynamically when you hover the mouse over them; just having the sub-entries listed is fine.
- For the graphic at the very top, have the letters in "circumventor.com" spaced out so that they fill the available space of the graphic
- For the four graphics labeled "STOCK PHOTO", I want to have four regions where graphics are displayed showing things like protests in Iran (not too violent!), protests in China, or any graphic generally related to the theme of Internet censorship. This should be animated so that every few seconds, one of the four images dissolves or fades away and is replaced by another image. (So that the total cycle should have eight or ten images, but only four displayed at any one time.) Obviously I would have to obtain the rights to use the photos. You can use sites like istockphoto.com to search for photos I can use; when you find them, just let me know what the fees would be.
- You can use the Slate "Facebook community box" in your design. I'll replace it with my own "Facebook community box" for my site once I get that working.

Thanks and good luck!

[silviu-ivan]

Hello,

Please copy/past and answer the questions from this thread: http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7842

This will give us a better understanding of your requirements.

Thank you,
Silviu

[bennetthaselton]

1a) Name of Company

circumventor.com


1b)Company Tag Line or slogan:

none

1c) Do you have a company logo?

http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-logos/2.png

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.)?

http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-logos/2.png

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

Software and websites to help people get around Internet censorship

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

Our users are all over the world, but we will get a lot of visitors from the U.S., and the website has to convey that this is a "serious" professional operation.


Website Details

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

No

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.eff.org/
http://www.aclu.org/
http://www.slate.com/

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

http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-logos/2.png

4b) List the Navigation links for your Site:



At
http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-com-draft-html.html
I list some sample navigation links down the left-hand column. But the important thing for me is the navigation links should be in text so I can edit them easily myself without having to re-hire a designer to make the changes.





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

conservative

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

n/a

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:

As described in the original post, for the four image areas labeled "STOCK PHOTO", I'd like to have a rotation of images showing peaceful protests or other activities related to Internet censorship in countries like Iran and China.


Deadlines and Deliverables

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

July 15.

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

Yes

3c) If so, will you require it to be ONLY CSS layout? (Yes/No --- {fees (http://www.designoutpost.com/pricelist.htm)})

I'm not sure what this means, but I think the answer is No. (The draft that I created, doesn't use any CSS, just regular HTML tables.)


4c) How many pages coded will you require delivered? ({fees (http://www.designoutpost.com/pricelist.htm)})

The front page, and one sub-page.

The sub-page should still have the logo in the upper-left corner and the left-hand nav menu, but it doesn't need all the stuff that appears at the top of the front page (e.g. the stock photos and the buttons in different languages).

[bennetthaselton]

I forgot to mention one thing about my original "draft" at
http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-com-draft-html.html

-- the button labeled "Arabic" should have the word "Arabic" *in Arabic*, the button labeled "Farsi" should have the word "Farsi" in Farsi, etc. (These will all link to alternative pages translated into those languages -- I will take care of that.)

[vhgdesign]

Here's my idea. Unfortunately, I can't find suitable photo at istock, so I'm using this one as placeholder.

[bennetthaselton]

Thanks, this looks like a pretty good candidate. A couple of things:
- Regardless of whether the stock photo is suitable, this one is definitely too big -- the main content of the page (the first article title) doesn't start until 450 pixels down. (In my draft at http://www.peacefire.org/circumventor-com-draft-html.html , the main content starts about 200 pixels down.)
- I really do like having the Facebook box more up and to the right, since that way it's one of the first things users see
- And with the Facebook box moved, the left-hand column can be narrower. Right now it wastes a lot of space for just a left-hand nav menu.
- I think I do prefer having the language links as buttons instead of transparent images. Also, if they're buttons, perhaps under the word "Farsi" in "Farsi", could you add the word "Farsi" in small writing in English so people know what it is? Similarly for the others. (Also, "Thai" is missing.)

[vhgdesign]

Here's revised version. My idea for languages was to be as text, not images, but I made them like buttons now.

[will]

I m in :D

[will]

Can you extend the contest a few days ?

[will]

Here are is my concept in 2 versions. :D

[will]

Second version :D

[bennetthaselton]

Hi! Sorry -- I didn't receive a notification that the thread had gotten any replies (not sure if D.O. just didn't send it, or maybe a spam filter ate it!). So I didn't respond earlier. I'll be responding properly soon!

[will]

Thanks :D

[bennetthaselton]

OK, sorry for the delay everybody!

vhgdesign's and will's designs were both great so it was not an easy choice, but after consideration I like will's second design best. Will, let's get to work :)

Will, for the design, can you make sure that (apart from the buttons saying "Chinese", "Thai", etc.), all of the text really is editable text, and not just images? Including the "The world's largest network..." line. I hope we can still use the font that you used, even if it's actual text and not images.

Second thing: Where did you find the images you used for the banner across the top? I want to have eight or ten of them altogether that rotate, so that one randomly fades into another one every couple of seconds. I like all of the ones you used so far except I think the "V for Vendetta" one is a bit distracting. It's a great image, but I don't want people to pay too much attention to those images -- it's just meant to convey a simple point quickly, "These are images of people protesting Internet censorship around the world", so they just glance at that and move on.

Generally I think it looks great. Also don't forget one internal-subpage is also part of the deal, which would basically be just the logo and the menu in the left-hand column.

[will]

Great !! thanks a lot for choosing my concept. Apologizes for the delay but I dd not received the thread message... I will work on the changes ASAP. I took the images from dreamstime if I do not recall wrong. I will look for more there :D

[will]

Bennet the final files will be ready by tomorrow :D

[bennetthaselton]

Great, thanks Will!

[will]

Final files sent through PM :D

[bennetthaselton]

Just confirming that the files have been received and the project has been completed!