Ezine template (Grapevine) *Project Complete*

[JAC&Gill]

(Admin code added by Michael - XN562412H)


$150 prize; deadline 24 Sept noon (UK time) - would like to see early designs by Wednesday if possible

Hello again,

Another ezine template is required.

Client: At Home in London www.athomeinlondon.co.uk (http://www.athomeinlondon.co.uk)
Ezine name: The Grapevine

AHIL is a bed & breakfast agency in London, managing the bookings of accommodation in private homes.

The newsletter is intended to be a must-read of insider information, essential for any visitor to London. The design needs to feel friendly and approachable, and should be in keeping with the website.

5 sections are required:
1. banner title
2. introductory message, variable length, signed by Maggie (possibly with her photo at the side)
3. the main article (variable length)
4. "Eat out for less" feature
5. "Don't miss this month" feature

Let me know if you need any further information. Look forward to seeing what you come up with!

cheers,
Gill

[Virgil]

Hi Gill,

What about the final file formats?

Thank you,

Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Giles,

HTML would be ideal; GIF/JPEG would be acceptable.

Also, just to add, while the template should reflect the website, I don't want that to limit ideas or creativity, so as long as there are some connections, you have a fair degree of flexiblity.

cheers,
Gill

[Virgil]

Hello,

I don't know if this is what you had in mind but I thought I would give it a try. I included the "Monthly house highlights" because I thought it is good for readers to see some pictures with house interiors, to gain their interest.

Feedback is appreciated,
Thank you very much,
Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

This is great - but I'd like to see the House Highlights swapped with the "Don't miss" feature (even if that means less houses).

Fancy having a go at my other template contest?? :D

cheers,
Gill

[Virgil]

Hi,

I'm glad you like this first draft. I will make the changes you asked:)

Fancy having a go at my other template contest??

Sure, where is it?:)

Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Sure, where is it?

Great - it's in the elements section. "Ezine template $150" for Shine Consulting.

[Virgil]

Hi Gill,

Somehow like this? You can fill the empty space with a link or something else..

Let me know,
Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Sorry, no. I meant, can you put the House Highlights in the same column as "In Sight" and the "Don't miss this month" next to the "eat out for less".

Thanks,
Gill

[Virgil]

Aa, ok:)

[Virgil]

Hi again,

I thought I fill the space left with some customers quote. You can place two or three quotes from clients (my present design includes just one), it gives authenticiy to the business and makes the potential clients to read other customer's experience.

Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Gilles,

I'm really sorry but this is not what I'm after. The two main subfeatures of the ezine are "Eat out for Less" and "Don't miss this month". These need to be the focus of the bottom half of the ezine - that's why I'm asking for you to have them side by side on the main section.

I like the idea of including customer quotes, but it's not essential. Anyway, either customer quotes or the house features should go in the right hand column underneath "In Sight".

Sorry if I haven't made this clear. Thanks for your persistence!

Gill

[Virgil]

Hello again,

How's this?:)

Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Exactly! :D

[Virgil]

:D

[Anne]

Here are two designs from me (only different in colors)

# 1

[Anne]

# 2

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Anne,

Thanks heaps for your entries. I really like the colours in the first design but I have a couple of changes.

In the introductory paragraph, can you add in a "Dear Jane" at the start.

Can you remove the credit (in white text) from the main article, and also the name at the end. Can you also remove the main photo.

Can you make "Don't Miss This month" a plain text article (like Eat Out For Less).

Thanks - I know these are making it look less exciting, but because this is for an ezine it needs to be a bit simpler.

cheers,
Gill

[BrianDove]

I'll work out something for you Jack&Gill :)
Brian

[JAC&Gill]

As we say over here... "you're so sharp you'll cut yourself" ;)

Would love to see an entry!

Thanks,
Gill

[BrianDove]

My entry
:)
Brian

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Brian,

Thanks!

A couple of things:

1. Maggie's surname is Dobson (not Robson!)

2. Can you put a hyphen between In and Sight; and spell Don't with an apostrophe

3. Can you move the body text to be slightly closer to the article headline

4. Can you lighten the grey colour behind Eat Out and Don't Miss

5. Could you use actual London pictures in the banner (you can get some from the AHIL website under Our Homes (prefer pictures of the outside of houses, but could have some internal shots)

Thanks heaps!
Gill

[Anne]

Here are some changes

[BrianDove]

Updated entry:

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Guys,

Some feedback:

Brian, that's great. Thanks - no more changes for the time being.

Anne, also great. Two tiny things... Can you make the "Dear Jane" the same font as the rest of the introduction? And can you remove the photo from the "City weekenders" article?

If anyone else is planning an entry, let me know. Otherwise I'll send these over to the client by the end of today.

Thanks everyone!
Gill

[Anne]

Changes made

[JAC&Gill]

Many thanks, Anne.

[JAC&Gill]

Finally, we have a winner... Gilles!

Congratulations, and thank you all for your entries. It was a great range of designs for the client to consider and she loved aspects of them all.

Only catch Gilles... the client would like it in green instead of red!

And, can the picture of Maggie be made larger?

Also, can you let me know what fonts you have used?

Ideally, I need the revisions by Monday (if that's ok with you).

Many thanks,
Gill

[Virgil]

Hello Gill,

Wow! That's great! Thanks! I want also to congratulate my colleagues & their great designs:)

No problem on all revisions, it will be all done when you will need it.

Gilles:rolleyes:

[1on1]

Congrats Gilles - Nice design, :)

[Virgil]

Congrats Gilles - Nice design:)

Thank you Martin:)

[Virgil]

Hello,

Here are the changes you requested. How's the green? You need me to darken it a bit? Or I can leave it as it is? I made Maggie's picture larger also.
Now, I can send you the layout in JPG and GIF since I'm not so familiar with HTML coding. You said GIF/JPG would be acceptable. But, in order for me to send tthe JPG, I presume you want me to remove all the texts from articles and leave room for the real texts. Also, to remove the pictures of houses too. So the final would have the spaces empty for every article.
I used the following fonts:
Impact for the text under the Grapevine logo and for the main article title, also for the text inside the green boxes.
Folio TeeMED for body texts, articles
Airbus for the signature on the main article
Let me know what else you need me to change to the layout.

Thank you again,
Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Gilles,

This is great - a blank GIF/JPEG version would be ideal.

Thanks,
Gill

[JAC&Gill]

Hi Gilles,

One last request: could you increase the size of the design. At the moment on my screen it's 500 pixels wide. Could you scale the blank version up so that it's 580 pixels wide?

Thanks,
Gill

[Virgil]

Hi Gill:)

How's this for dimension? If this is ok, I can send you the file:)

Gilles.

[JAC&Gill]

Gilles,

That's great. Please send the file through.

cheers,
Gill

[JAC&Gill]

This project is now completed.

Thanks,
Gill