SoftballFans.com Site - $200

[Coach]

(Admin code added by 2Square - P35690ST)


Company name: SoftballFans.com
Company profile: Cutting edge, professional softball site.
Domain name: www.softballfans.com
What is the scope of this project?: Redesign - Home page and content template at a minimum.
Who is the intended audience?: Primarily male, 18-65
Mood or tone?: Looking for professional yet something with some pizazz (sp)
Color psychology?: Open, like things to be very crisp and clean but colors are not predetermined.
Any dynamic elements?: I have vBulletin for our forums and I also have some inhouse PHP/MySQL applications that generate dynamic content I would "plug in" to the template.
Who are your main competitors?: Anacondasports.com is one that has a professional look though they are purely an ecommerce site.
What resources can you provide?: We have a logo now (see site and I have a large, high quality version) but I am open (I.e. prefer) to a new one.
Deadline: Soft deadline, rather make sure it is done right. 12/25? Christmas enough time?

As far a sites I like or ideas for this ... I really like the curved look of a homepage and header/footer of the templates. Not to take anything from a competing site, but I like the idea of a lot of the templates here:

<img src='http://www.mytemplatestorage.com/screenshots/1500/1557-m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<img src='http://www.mytemplatestorage.com/screenshots/400/422-m.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Also some of the ideas in this thread:

http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2153

My first time using this service so if I forgot something feel free to contact me.

[V + E + R + T]

I have vBulletin for our forums

You're not looking for a vBulletin style too, right?

[Coach]

Correct. With vBulletin just turning to Gamma the "official" style is not complete but the community is a big part of our site so I'd like something that I can perhaps be implemented down the road once we see what the final version of vBulletin 3.0 looks like. That is slated for the end of the year so for now I'd say concentrate on the home page and content pages but perhaps keep the door open for something that can also be used as a style or theme in vBulletin.

[JeremeDavid]

Coach: I had a look at your existing site. Does your site run on something like PHP Nuke? How much control do you have over the positioning of those content blocks?

Are you looking for something that pushes the e-commerce nature of your site more, or a balance between the selling and the content aspects?

Will you provide the larger version of your logo? If you e-mail it to Palmer, he will attach it to your post.

[Coach]

Jereme,

I'm thinking about perhaps a new logo and I spoke to a mod here and he recommended I post a separate contest in the logo forum. I'm not sure what the easiest way to do this is? Get the templates ready and have a logo designer work around that or vice versa? Based on the level of quality of the logos I've seen here I believe they are much nicer than I have so I may as well get a fresh logo ready that pertains to our site. The current logo I have was something done up quick by a friend for free. Just in case you feel you can work with our existing logo I'll load it and place the URL here for you to go and get.

As for the focus of the site that is a good question. Right now we have three main focal points:

1. Community (vBulletin - talk with all the softballaholics)
2. Reviews (Fans review the top equipment - bats only right now)
3. eCommerce (Buy all the latest and greatest softball equipment)

I'd say in order of importance they should be promoted as follows:

1. eCommerce
2. Reviews
3. Community

One catch is that we are getting ready to add a major section to the site and that is team hosting. This will allow people to host a team site with us for their team where they will have their own homepage so to speak. Some competitors we have not for this are here:

www.eteams.com
www.leaguelineup.com
www.serioussoftball.com

Our's is not complete yet and it will be a while so is there a way for the design to be open so that once it is ready it can be easily incorporated?

Logo:

http://www.softballfans.com/images/Softbal...ogo_highres.jpg (http://www.softballfans.com/images/SoftballFans_logo_highres.jpg)

PSD File:

http://www.softballfans.com/images/SoftballFans.psd

Disregard the current color schemes. The baby blue does not need to be kept at all and the .jpg logo above is just from me playing with the color scheme a bit :)

[JeremeDavid]

It depends on the designer, really. My personal preference is to design around the logo. It would be quite unsettling to work out a design with a complete color scheme then have a logo that upsets it.

The ease of incorporation of your team hosting module will depend on how the design develops. It can certainly progress with the idea of future expansion in mind.

You didn't mention in your initial requirements what deliverables you require. Are you looking for a single design that can be adapted to every page? Or, a main template and a content page sample? The content page is usually a much simpler version of the main template.

I think you skipped over my first question. ;-) We need to know if you're limited in some way by your content management system. If you're restricted to certain layouts or configurations of those modules, the design options will change as well.

[Coach]

Yes, I think I did skip over that question:) I use my own code and no content management system so you do not have to worry about any phpnuke or anything. I just plug in some code here and there to pull from a database and display results wherever. I should be able to work around your design pretty well there.

As for the deliverables I was assuming a catchy homepage design and then a content template I would use for interior sections like the reviews. For ecommerce we use X-Cart and they have a template system so I'm unsure how exactly to get that incorporated. Perhaps that would be a separate project in itself? Are you familiar with X-Cart at all from previous projects?

Regarding the logo, I am happy doing whatever works best for the people doing it. Do you think you can use the exisiting logo we have and spice it up at all or do you see it as a lost cause and a new one would be needed for the design to be real first class?

[Coach]

There has been little activity on this so perhaps that stems from uncertainty involving the use of the current logo? I'd say run with the current logo and design around it (feel free to change colors). Hopefully that will spark some interset so we can get this done.

If anyone finds that the current logo is just not going to cut it then I am open to have one done if need be.

[motiveX]

<!--QuoteBegin-Coach+Dec 16 2003, 05:31 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Coach @ Dec 16 2003, 05:31 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> There has been little activity on this so perhaps that stems from uncertainty involving the use of the current logo?&nbsp; I'd say run with the current logo and design around it (feel free to change colors).&nbsp; Hopefully that will spark some interset so we can get this done.

If anyone finds that the current logo is just not going to cut it then I am open to have one done if need be. [/b][/quote]
Is there any chance of posting the logo without that rounded edge rectangle that has the 'softballfans.com' in it in the huge writing? Also could be have a non-flattened version of the logo?

I find it to be pretty repetitive and would take away from idea's I have running inside my cranium.


The idea I have would have the softball dude kind of coming off the page, so it would be easier to work with layers instead of the flattened PSD.


Thanks!
Sean

:tup:

[Brent]

Coach,

I do not want to take away from your design contest, but how do like the X-Cart shopping cart system? I was thinking about trying it out and wanted to know how it is working for you?

Thanks,
Brent

[Coach]

Sean,

I double checked and the flattened image is what was sent to me so I apologize but I do not have the layered version. Depending on specifics, your idea sounds good but I'm not sure if it is doable without the layers. Let me know.

Brent,

I have a very large store using OSCommerce for a client and liked the looks of X-Cart so I decided to try it for this softball site. I am still getting used to it but like it better than OSCommerce as far as administration. The only downfall thus far is that you get very little support with it. When you purchase it, only 30 days of support comes from the developers which are in Russia so when you submit a ticket it takes a good 24 hours or so for a response so the 30 days go quickly. You also get access to a member's only forum but traffic there is light and answers are not always found quickly. OSCommerce has a large but I've found that despite that there doesn't seem to be a lot of help there.

I guess bottom line if I were starting from scratch I'd pick X-Cart as it wasn't real difficult to figure out. It is pretty intuitive.

[marengo]

Hello,
have you any photos which we can use for template ?
Thanks,
Nat

[Coach]

There are some here of various quality:

http://www.softballfans.com/forums/showthr...read.php?t=3664 (http://www.softballfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3664)

Here are some zipped up:

http://www.softballfans.com/images/players.zip

[marengo]

Ok, thanks. I'll post my entry in 2 days.
Regards,
Nat

[OryngeMedia]

I will be posting something as well.

patty

[OryngeMedia]

Okay I came up with 2 designs for you. I did 2 cause I really wasn't sure I was on the right track. So please take a look and let me know what you think. Sorry if I am totally off.

<img src='http://www.vfs.com/~pabott/baseball/mock1.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Thanks,

patty

[OryngeMedia]

and here is the second

<img src='http://www.vfs.com/~pabott/baseball/mock2.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[motiveX]

Hey Coach (I have flashbacks to varsity basketball and soccer everytime I say that. :o :blink: :unsure: )

I am still working on an entry, just had to make adjustments around my original idea.

It seems Patty and I have the same image in our header (the others were kind of dark and hard to use cause of their sizing).

I might work through the night until I have something to show, or finish it up tomorrow.

THanks
Sean
#15 :tup:

[motiveX]

Aight. 4am ET. Gotta call it quits.

Here ya go.

:wee:

[Luc]

Just thought I'd let you know that I'll be posting here soon.

[Coach]

I think I'm looking for something a little cleaner and perhaps less cluttered so that we can expand as we add features and sections to our site. I looked around and found some templates that look nice and maybe we can base ideas from. Here is one:

http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/s...category&val=10 (http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/step1_1.php?page=2&t_number=2284&by=by_category&val=10)

This header may be a bit to large but the style and shape is nice. Maybe instead of the hockey player we have a guy swinging the bat there? I do not necessarily like all of the background in the photo of the softball player, perhaps him cropped out and placed on a colored backgroud ala this hockey template?

Another example of a professional style:

http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/s...category&val=10 (http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/step1_1.php?page=4&t_number=1557&by=by_category&val=10)

Overall I like the clean look of the header but perhaps smaller as below it we'll have a good amount of text and images. Since we are a fairly new site I'd like it to be designed so that we can highlight new secions of the site as they are introduced. Right now we plan to highlight these categories:

eCommerce Store
Team Pages
Community
Bat Reviews

Another example:

http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/s...category&val=10 (http://www.templatetuning.com/customer_1/step1_1.php?page=6&t_number=1176&by=by_category&val=10)

I like the way they color their columns do that they stick out. This allows us to highlight more than one feature of the site so that each sticks out on the homepage?

I'm sure more will be on the way so if there is an easy way to have it "open ended" for expansion that would be excellent.

[Michael]

Who are you addressing Coach?? both?

:)

[motiveX]

If you were talking about mine being too cluttered.

I took some of the stuff out. made the content area more plain, same with the header.

:)

The idea here being. You mouseover a link and the bat will change, but until you click it the actual content won't change...so people can see what the bat looks like just by mousing over its name....and that way it saves you from having them all listed on one page.

Just an idea.

[Coach]

<!--QuoteBegin-2square+Dec 18 2003, 09:23 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (2square @ Dec 18 2003, 09:23 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Who are you addressing Coach?? both?

:) [/b][/quote]
Yes, sorry :)

I really like some of the example templates I linked to, only with the header a bit smaller so that more content can go below it. Right now these headers seem a bit too vertical and take up a good amount of space. I hope that is more clear, any questions just let me know.

x,

That looks better, not sur eabout the left hand navagation section but it seems to be opening up more area for content though.

This is not really the same type of site but the work Jereme did here looks first class and has a nice, crisp look to it:

http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...indpost&p=35670 (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2219&view=findpost&p=35670)

I guess I like that type of work, only with a less vertical header as we'd have more content and sections on the page then his client does in that example. I hope I am explaining that right :)

[motiveX]

Thanks Coach-

Figured I would give it a shot.

I won't be having any time between now and the 5th of January to work much at all on templates. So I most likely won't be submitting any changes or another entry.

Just wanted to give you a heads up.

All the best!
Sean :tup:

[Coach]

Not a problem, enjoy the holidays.

[OryngeMedia]

Okay here is my revised try.

thanks,

patty

[elements]

Hey Coach,
just wanted to let you know I'ma have something nice posted here shortly.

Thanks :)

[Coach]

OK elements, good to hear. I'd like to get some submissions flowing here.

Orynge, I do not think the red/blue look looks the best, that is not required at all and I think I like lighter colors to keep that clean, professional look. See my previous posts in this thread for some template examles I came across that looked good. I'm not thinking the template has to be identical to those but they comes across as being very much first class to me.

[elements]

Alright, here's my take at it :o


It's a little basic currently, I just wanted you to see where it was going and get your opinions. If you're feeling it, I will continue developing.

The main text content would start appearing at the bottom.
Anyway, let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[Coach]

elements,

I think I'm looking for more of a "unique" design if you will. Check my post here with some example templates I saw that have a nice header. I like this header style, though perhaps less vertical than the examples:

http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...indpost&p=36588 (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2241&view=findpost&p=36588)

[JeremeDavid]

How do you like where this design is going? I worked on it mostly in HTML, so it's a lot wider than most preview designs. It will scale down fine, though.

Here it is. (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/index2.html)

[Coach]

I think this has potential. Some thoughts ...

1. Do you think this logo will work or has to go? To me it just does not fit in to this design as it seems to "obnoxious". The goal is for the site to be professional but not overly stuffy. Would a simpler logo without the guy screaming fit in better do you think?

2. I think I like lighter colors for the header and I'm sure you had the blue darker so that it would contrast with the logo probably? I'm thinking a lighter green or blue as the color.

3. I'd like to use some mouseover tabs for the navigation. What about bringing down the header so it continues on the left side of the page and that is where some mouseover tabs would be for each section? Kind of a smooth transition curved down and to the right from the upper left?

Also an FYI you can lose the poll space as they can be removed from what we're going to do. Our goal is to have maybe 2-3 sections in the content area of the homepage we can highlight and the rest can be found in the navigation menus. That way we don't clutter the content area with a ton of different things.

[JeremeDavid]

Is this more along the lines of what you're envisioning?

After working with the logo, I don't think it's that bad. It goes nicely along with the theme. It would definitely look more professional without the guy screaming, though.

I'm going to work on some changes now. I'll be posting again in a while.

EDIT: Forgot the attachment.

[Coach]

Yes, thanks for the mockup. That was what I wanted to do but don't have the capability here. I was searching unsuccessfully for a template that had it :)

I think that mockup is pretty close to what I was thinking.

[JeremeDavid]

How do you like this one? It follows the same basic format as my whiteboard sketch.

Here (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/index2.html)

[Coach]

Yes, nice.

1. Can we have the left nav curve back to the left and then have the footer separated a bit?

2. I'd swap out the photo on the far right as that is a baseball photo and our people will notice little details like that :)

3. Are the tabs up top and on the left easily editable as we expand?

4. If the headings (Softball Store, Bat Reviews, Forums, Featured Products, etc.) are images can we do a stylish font as opposed to the simple block font?

[JeremeDavid]

1. Definitely.
2. How can you tell? This photo came up in my search for "softball" at my stock photo site. I'll change it.
3 and 4. Since they are graphic based, you would have to make a new graphic, but it would be easy to insert. I can provide you with a blank button graphic should I win so that you can make more buttons.


I'll work on those changes now and post back in a little bit.

Thanks, Coach.

[JeremeDavid]

Changes made.

Please check here (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/index2.html).

[Palmer]

I think he means the little boy on the right. That is a baseball in his glove :)

[JeremeDavid]

Oh, ok. I didn't even notice that. :-o

It's changed now. ;-)

[Coach]

1. I'm still seeing the boy catching the ball on the upper right. That is a baseball:)

2. Can we have the header photo of the guy with the mustache (sp) and the photo below different so that the same photo is not duplicated?

3. Also (probably my bad for not explaining clearly) the "fancy fonts" I was envisioning were for the section headers like "Featured Products", "Recent Reviews" etc. and not in the tabs on the top. I'm thinking that perhaps the "Featured Products" section is going to have an image header where the lower review standings headers are text based? Is that true?

[JeremeDavid]

<!--QuoteBegin-Coach+Dec 22 2003, 06:22 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Coach @ Dec 22 2003, 06:22 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> 1. I'm still seeing the boy catching the ball on the upper right. That is a baseball:)

2. Can we have the header photo of the guy with the mustache (sp) and the photo below different so that the same photo is not duplicated?

3. Also (probably my bad for not explaining clearly) the "fancy fonts" I was envisioning were for the section headers like "Featured Products", "Recent Reviews" etc. and not in the tabs on the top. I'm thinking that perhaps the "Featured Products" section is going to have an image header where the lower review standings headers are text based? Is that true? [/b][/quote]
1 and 2. I've got it now! I changed the image that was in the header. I was confused when you asked about it because I thought the ball there was rather larger. Those three images (including the baseball image and moustache guy) are temporary. I thought that would be a nice place for you to have some news items and you could have your own photos there. However, if you want some generic images like those to use, I can put some there.

3. I thought you were talking about the navigation fonts. My bad. You are correct. I wasn't sure how often you might be inclined to change those headings so I was going to leave them all text based. I can certainly make them graphics with more stylish fonts.

Changes, soon.

[JeremeDavid]

http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/index2.html

I just left the top images since they are temporary.

[Luc]

I'll post my entry tomorrow.

[Luc]

Hi Coach,
I'm not sure If I'm going in the right direction. Can you give a comment on what I've made so far. Thanks!

----image removed----

[Coach]

Actually I really like that. To me it seems our logo seems out of place there though? Do you have an idea to get the words of our title in that might be more integrated? Also the header seems a bit too tall, can it be made less vertical and still look nice? Or did you perhaps blow this up for detail?

[Luc]

Hey I'm glad you like it! :) I'll make your requests ok.

[Coach]

Jereme,

1. Are the tabs on the left and top images or text and can the colors be changed via CSS?
2. Same question for the Featured Products and the Reviews sections. Are these images or text I can edit?

[Luc]

Hi again Coach,
Here's more complete view. I still incorporated the logo. I think it looks fine.
Can you tell me what you plan on putting in the homepage columns? Thanks!

--image removed--

[Coach]

I like the header minus the orange logo. The rest seems a bit too "futuristic" and we're interested in a simple, clean look.

[Coach]

Jereme I had just a couple quick questions for you (above) and can you also let me know what the content page template would look like?

[JeremeDavid]

<!--QuoteBegin-Coach+Dec 27 2003, 09:27 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Coach @ Dec 27 2003, 09:27 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Jereme I had just a couple quick questions for you (above) and can you also let me know what the content page template would look like? [/b][/quote]
1 and 2 from above: The fonts there are graphic fonts, but I can change them to something like Arial that would look similar. The menu colors on the left would be CSS-controlled. The Featured Products header is rounded and thus graphic as is the title. I can square that off and use text there so that you could edit it easily as well.

I will have a look over some of your subpages and work on a content page soon.

[Luc]

Revision:

<img src='http://www.weevox.com/mockups/softballfans.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[JeremeDavid]

I made some changes.

- I changed the headings back to text so that you can edit them.
- All of the content areas are editable via the stylesheet. Even the headings with the rounded corners can be changed there.

For the subpage, I removed the left menu completely. Let me know what you think about this.

Thanks.

Main Page (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/softballFans)
Subpage (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/softballFans/subpage.html)

[Anne]

Here is my contribution. Please let me know what you think.

<img src='http://www.newfacedesign.net/designoutpost/softball/softball.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Link (http://www.newfacedesign.net/designoutpost/softball/softball.html)

-Anne

[Coach]

Sorry I was away for the college football bowl season. I'll go over these here shortly and provide some feedback :)

[Coach]

OK ...

Luc,

I like your's, especially the color separation for the categories on the bottom right. Can we try it with a more "generic" font (for lack of a better term) on the menus on the left and top? Also I'm not sure about the logo on the bottom?

Anne,

I like the clean look, can we do it with some soft, pastel colors like a light blue or a light green? I like te simple fonts you used for the menus.

Jereme, your's looks great, can we use a smaller font for the headings on the left and a simple font like that for the menus up top?

[JeremeDavid]

<!--QuoteBegin-Coach+Jan 7 2004, 04:06 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Coach @ Jan 7 2004, 04:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Jereme, your's looks great, can we use a smaller font for the headings on the left and a simple font like that for the menus up top? [/b][/quote]
I changed the fonts. Bare in mear that these fonts will be controlled by the stylesheet and will be very easy to change if necessary.

Softball Fans with Font Changes (http://www.photoshoptutorials.org/samples/softballFans/)

[Anne]

I change the colour a little bit to light blue with white background
temp 2 (http://www.newfacedesign.net/designoutpost/softball/sb_3.gif)

and with a light blue bg
Temp 3 (http://www.newfacedesign.net/designoutpost/softball/sb_2.gif)

Let me know if you want to see it in green as well. I can also add some links on the top if you like.

- Anne

[Luc]

Thanks for the feedback! Will post the changes later Coach.

[Luc]

-=image removed=-

[Coach]

Jereme,

Good to know.

Luc,

I like it but can you use a real simply font for the menus similar to what Jereme and Anne did?

[Luc]

Ah ok got it! Hang on.

[Luc]

Here you go.
<img src='http://www.weevox.com/mockups/softballfans3.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Coach]

OK, would that font and size be controlled in the css that I could make it smaller or a different font face?

[Luc]

yes coach

[Coach]

Jereme,

I think we'll go with your work. I appreciate all entries and feel his works best for what we are looking to do now. Let me know how we proceed.

[Palmer]

You may contact Jereme privately and the 2 of you can work out any minor revisions. he will then send a zip file with everything you need.

Thanks Coach :)

Congratulations Jereme, you're on a roll :notworthy:

[geofharries]

Yeah Jereme, that's at least 4 or 4 in a row I believe....

I wonder what the record is for templates? :nerd:

geof

[Luc]

Oh gosh! What's happening! I've lost a lot of contest... :( ...:cry:
Congrats Jereme! :drink:

[JeremeDavid]

Thanks Coach, Luc, Geof, Palmer!

I hope the trend continues. :-)

[Luc]

<!--QuoteBegin-JeremeDavid+Jan 16 2004, 05:33 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (JeremeDavid @ Jan 16 2004, 05:33 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Thanks Coach, Luc, Geof, Palmer!

I hope the trend continues. :-) [/b][/quote]
:D Why don't you take a break and let me continue the trend? :lol: Good job! :tup: