[Project Complete] Wildlife & Nature Photography $250 - Quick Deadline

[davenet]

(Admin code added by Palmer - B22644946)

Hello everyone.

This is a site I need and I'm on a short schedule. I need mockups in the next couple of days, and I will select someone very quickly as I need to get this coded right away. I will be available to answer posts and make suggestions almost around the clock, so please post something and expect a quick reply with feedback.

My client, Raymond Oelrich, is an avid hunter and sportsman. He publishes a widely regarded big game hunting magazine. He has taken alot of photographs on his trips around the world and wishes to make them available for sale on a new web site.

The URL will be www.raymondoelrich.com, in case you need that in the design.

There will be 6 categories of pictures:

Landscapes & Scenic
Flowers
Insects & Reptiles
Birds
Wildlife
General

He may add a category or two later.

The main page should have links to the following areas of the site besides the picture categories above.

Bio (About the Photographer)
Gallery (I think the categories should go in here)
Ordering (contain info about ordering, prices and policies)
Equipment (info about equipment he uses)
Contact Me (generic contact form)

So as far as the design goes. It will have a black background, it should look clean and crisp, very eye catching. It should not be busy or outlandish looking. Very classy. Can I insert any more adjectives??? We will have the photos listed in groups under each category. They will be both horizontal and vertical. I will attach a few so you can see what they will look like.

He told me he wants to feature the font Monotype Corsiva for the descriptions associated with the photos. The text will be white on the black background. I don't know if you need to know this, but thought I'd throw it in.

He recently sent me links to some other photographers web sites. I think he mostly sent them to have me see the photos because I don't think the sites look like they've had any design work put into them at all.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/galleries/featured/featured_image-02.htm - tells something about each photo, likes the black background.

http://www.wildimages.co.uk/layout/home.htm - liked the gallery / categories and how some elements of the site function.

http://archivalartprints.com/gallery2.htm - automatic slide show with prices listed.

Looking forward to some responses soon. Please ask if I can clarify anything. I will reply quickly.

David

[geofharries]

Are you looking solely for the PSD/PNG files (original artwork) and you code the HTML/CSS - or we provide both the artwork and the HTML/CSS?

Some of us, including myself, don't own the Monotype Corsiva font. Could you provide an example of how it looks so we can find a suitable alternative?

geof

[davenet]

Hi,

HTML/CSS would be necessary. That way I can code any additional pages without alot of trouble.

As far as the font goes... here's a link to what it looks like. Equivalent would be ok.

http://www.agfamonotype.com/isv/cat_display.asp?type=scr6b

Actually, not sure if you will even need to include this in the design since it is mainly related to the photo descriptions themselves. Building the entire site is not part of this request, just the main layout format. I will have to do more work to get the site ready, including adding each of the sub pages. I do want the design to be lend itself to being an overall template for the other pages I will need to create.

I'm also linking to a couple of photos.

Photo 1: http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo1.jpg
Photo 2: http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo2.jpg
Photo 3: http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo3.jpg

Thanks,

David

[pod]

Hi David

I will make my entry in as soon as possible
(if you can provide more hi-res photos it would be great)

Thanks

[davenet]

Hi,

I can provide some more photos. Those that I provided are as high-res as they get for right now. If you want higher res than that I'll need to get in touch with the client. These are supposed to be preview photos only.

Here are 4 more...

http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo4.jpg
http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo5.jpg
http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo6.jpg
http://www.beenanza.com/roelrich/photo7.jpg

Thanks,

David

[pod]

Thanks for quick reply :) I'll be posting my entry in 24 hours

[Luc]

I'm in as well.

[davenet]

Thanks guys. Looking forward to submissions. I will be here today for any that might come in. Tomorrow I'll be at school for about 3+ hours, but do have access via my laptop so can still check in and make comments if needed.

David

[geofharries]

David,

Looks like I am the first to enter...

Please find attached my design. It's clean, simple and classy. The focus is on the photos and the navigation (tabs up top; standard thumbnail gallery; and drop-down menu) is very user-friendly. The light blue colour is from the sky of the photo being shown. Font is Georgia, which is fairly close to the font you spoke about, and can be used as HTML rather than a graphic.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback.

geof

http://greenroomcreative.ca/designoutpost/raymondoelrich_v1.jpg

[davenet]

Hi Greg,

Very nice, and I like the simple layout too. Eye catching for sure.

I have a couple of questions... how do you anticipate the layout to handle landscape photos? You're current sample uses a portrait layout, so I'm curious how you envision a landscape layout affecting the thumbnails on the left?

Also, are you anticipating that any photos in the category being viewed would be shown as thumbnails to the left of the current photo? I see you have 8 thumbnails positioned to the left of the photo now.

David

[geofharries]

It's Geof, not Greg :)

I planned for the landscape/horizontal photos to be left-aligned and all photos will be 450px wide, with no restrictions on vertical height.

You are correct on the thumnail functionality. Any thumbnail (40px x 40px) that is clicked shows the larger version to its right.

geof

[davenet]

Whoops. My bad, Geof...

Ok, that makes sense and sounds like it would work just fine.

As far as the tabs on the top, I'd like to see something different up there. I do like the highlighted tab reflecting the current page being viewed, but not so sure about the font size, color of the letters. Maybe you could work that a little and see if any improvements can be made. Ray had mentioned he'd like white lettering on the photo descriptions, but I'm wondering if the top might use a little more color. I'm open to suggestions, but not quite sure I'm ready to settle for what you have there now. I see the current photo is the basis for the colors at the top, but what about other photos that don't have those color tones?

I'm starting to ramble... I'll wait to see what you can do with it.

David

[geofharries]

I'll get a revision done by the end of today (currently 1:55 pm my time).

geof

[davenet]

Looks like we're in the same time zone then.

David

[DesignGeneral]

Hi David,

Welcome to Design Outpost :yes:

Here is my entry. :)

When you mouseover the icons from right side below the icon will appear the category name. You can have up to 12 categories images below the menu bar.

The bottom right corner highlited will serve like anchor for top of the page. Assuming that you will have more images displayed under a category, that anchor will be useful.

The images will have a width fixed to400px and height variable.

Regarding the photo description to be written with the Monotype Corosiva font, that's not a good idea because isn't a common browser font and that will be replaced with default font if your visitors doesn't have it installed.

Cheers,

Adrian

[davenet]

Hi Adrian,

Nice entry. There are several parts of it that I really think stand out. The sides make a very nice touch to viewing the rest of the page. Showing the name of the photograph along with the description is perfect, just what we had in mind.

If anything could be changed, I would like to see you work on the header a bit. If you could make the photographer's name more prominant as the title of the page, that would be good. Also the menu at the top is a little hard to read in the cursive font you selected. I think the font should be different and maybe the brackets indicating the current page could be changed to something that is more noticeable.

Thanks.

David

[davenet]

And Adrian...

One more thing, your comment about the typeface my client had suggested, Monotype Corsiva, is right on. I think my client doesn't understand how some of this works. Since it is not a font available universally, we probably should not use it.

Everyone else that's working on this template, please take note of this as well.

David

[DesignGeneral]

Hi David,

Thanks for the nice words :)

The font from menu is Monotype Corosiva, I thought if your client like it I should use it somewhere, so I used it for his name and the menu buttons.

I'll revise the header and the menu.

Cheers,

Adrian

[geofharries]

David,

Here is my revised entry. I've changed up the main menu and added some texture to the header. The link colour has also moved from blue to orange - my original intent with the sky blue was for it to simply look natural, the fact that it matched a photo was purely an inspirational move.

Hope you like it!

geof

http://greenroomcreative.ca/designoutpost/raymondoelrich_v2.jpg

[DesignGeneral]

:)

[davenet]

Ok. I see for some reason I didn't get emailed when the new revisions were posted. I better whitelist the address these notices are coming from.

Geof... nice revisions. I do like the top better now. The orange is nicely visible without being 'loud'. One thing I'd like to see is some text near the photo as Raymond told me he would probably have some type of description associated with each photo. Also, you might show where a BUY button would be positioned.

Also, where will the category title be displayed while viewing the photos? It would be good for the visitor to know where he/she is while in the gallery.

Adrian... I do like the direction you've gone with the fonts at the top. I think I prefer it though with the name at the top on the left and the menu item's pushed to the right. Something doesn't look right with it all centered, at least to my eye.

Other than that, I don't know what else to say about these entries right now. They look nice.

David

[pickadesign]

Hi,

I'll be submitting an entry soon.

Thanks

[geofharries]

I can make those changes tomorrow morning.

geof

[DesignGeneral]

Hi David :)

Logo to the left and menu centered.

[DesignGeneral]

:)

[Luc]

Here's my entry. I made 2 arrangement.

--image removed for update--

[davenet]

Great to see some new entries and revisions...

Adrian. I prefer the second revision where the menu is pushed to the right. I think it looks more balanced for some reason. I don't see anything else in that design that should be changed right now. Maybe something will come to me a little later.

Luc, thanks for your entries. I prefer the first one. I like the vey faint image of the elk in the background, that adds a very subtle, but nice touch to your entry. The second one is a little too busy for my taste. So going with the first one, can you make he photographer's name in a font not quite as flamboyant? I like it and I don't like it so I'd like to see a different font there.

Second, I know the client will want to have a full preview of the photo, so cropping it to fit into a square won't work too well. If you could change your 'preview' to show the photo as a portrait, keeping in mind that there will also landscape as well. I think setting a consistent width would be ok while allowing us to change the height to fit the format is the best plan.

With the thumbnails at the top, what do you propose happening if there are more than 10 or so of them? The client has indicated that he'll eventually have 50 or so for each category. It could get crowded.

Good work everyone, I think we'll have a winner by the end of the day.

David

[davenet]

Just a quick note to everyone...

I did just think of something while making a note to Luc in the post above. That is regarding the thumbnails. Ray told me that he has eventually about 50 or so photos for each category. What would be the best way to handle the thumbnails with that many photos per category?

David

[DesignGeneral]

Hi David,

Regarding the tumbnails:

Without programming:

You can display between 5 - 10 images per page and have more pages for each category, this will ensure you don't have a slow loading site and you can manage easy to have a row with thumbnails on top.

With programming:

Another idea is to display images in flash and dynamically load images and details about images. The thumnails can be displayed like a scrolling row or column on either side of the flash. You can use either XML files or a database to manage easy all things.

Another idea is to display just one image at a time and dynamically load images and details about images from a database. You can have a previous and next button to navigate easy between images. This should be a fast loading site too.

I hope this helps you :)

Cheers,

Adrian

[geofharries]

David,

Here is v3 of my design. I've added some more texture to the header (with a drop-shadow on Raymond's name), the section title, space for a photo description and a Buy button. There's also more thumbnails to choose from and with those, a method to navigate through as many pages as required.

regards,

geof

http://greenroomcreative.ca/designoutpost/raymondoelrich_v3.jpg

[Luc]

Thanks for the feedback. And here are the revisions. I just realize i have the Monotype Corsiva. That's the one i used in the Title.

With the thumbnails at the top, what do you propose happening if there are more than 10 or so of them?
Like what Adrian said.

[Anne]

Here's my entry (3 versions)

Anne

[davenet]

Great work everyone. I am currently where I can't make many comments, but will do so in a couple of hours.

David

[davenet]

Hey Geof,

I like the upgrade to the header, it looks good. The navigation for the thumbnails makes sense and looks intuitive.

I don't care too much for the placement of the text and 'buy' button. If you change it back to just the title appearing above the photo and then move the description and text to the left, I think it would look better.

David

[davenet]

Luc,

Nice work. The changes look great. I don't think there's anything else to change on your submission.

David

[davenet]

Adrian,

I appreciate your comments about the navigation. It really helped me and it also seemed to help some of the other designers tweak their submissions.

David

[davenet]

Anne,

Thanks for the submission. I like 2 and 3 the best. It is because of the layout of the thumbnails. Of those two I'm drawn to the third one. That header really draws your eye into the page.

Some changes you could make, the buttons at the top should be all the same size, Bio is very small right now. I also think the Buy button at the bottom doesn't have enough contrast with the rest of the background. Maybe change the color or do something else so it not as washed out into the background.

David

[Anne]

Thank you for the feedback.

Here's the revision

[davenet]

Hello everyone.

I think we have enough here to make a decision now. I will be in touch with my client and have an answer by tomorrow morning, if not sooner.

David

[geofharries]

David,

Here is my latest design. I've moved the photo title and text + the buy button to the left and then changed up the category navigation a little bit. This makes more sense to the user: colours match the main menu and use very similar graphical elements. The focus in my design is on usability - everything is geared towards making photo navigation and viewing the most important aspect, next to the photos of course :)

regards,

geof

http://greenroomcreative.ca/designoutpost/raymondoelrich_v4.jpg

[davenet]

Hi Everyone.

I've been in contact with my client and he has stated his preferences to me. I will want to talk to him in person before I announce the winner. Should be later tonight.

David

[davenet]

Greetings everyone.

The client has chosen to go with Anne's design ideas. I would like to thank everyone for their excellent work.

I also would like to add that this client has the potential to refer more photographer's to me. I would like you all to keep your designs on file so if we need another one down the road then we might pick up where we left off with the other three. I will keep a list of which designers did each design so I can refer to them for future work.

So I'll wait to hear from the moderator and then Anne so we can proceed with any tweaks to her design to get it just right.

David

[pickadesign]

Congrats Anne, that was a very smooth looking design :)

[Anne]

:D
Thank you

David, I am ready to proceed. What changes would you'd like to see? Anne

[davenet]

Hi Anne,

On the right side, where the thumbnails are at, can you put in some kind of directional navigation link? This would be to allow for a larger number of photos, say 20 - 50 photos per category, which is what Ray indicated he would eventually have. I think having them all show up at the same time would make the page look cluttered, but having some kind of links to indicate there are more photos would be helpful. A couple of the other entries had implemented a similar function into their designs.

I think the navigation bar at the top could use a little refinement. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but something looks a little unfinished there. Maybe you could 'work' it a bit and see how you can enhance it.

By the way, I know that my client really liked that header you made. I think that might have been what swayed him toward selecting your design.

David

[davenet]

Oh, one more thing, maybe it would be wise to put in a menu or some other way to switch categories without going all the way back to the gallery. There will be 6 or so categories, so in someone is viewing one category, allowing them to switch to another one from the screen via a drop down menu might be nice. So see about working that into the design.

David

[Anne]

Here are two new versions
#1

Anne

[Anne]

#2

[davenet]

Hi Anne,

The first one is preferable. Except swap sides, put the thumbnails on the left and photo on the right. I prefer the navigation on top like you have it in the first one. I'm not sure yet about the category selector. Doesn't look right.

Can you finish this up and get me the template (html/css)? Ray is anxious to get a home page up at least because he's at a trade show this week where he has an ad that is being released.

David

[davenet]

Anne,

When do you think we'll have the revisions and files? I've got an anxious client on my behind trying to hurry me along.

Thanks,

David

[Anne]

Here's is the revision

[Anne]

and with a drop down menu with the category listed.

If your client like the revision I can get the HTML finished by sunday evening.

Anne

[davenet]

Go for it. The sooner the better. He's on my case to get it done!

David

[Anne]

Hi.

I sent you an PM hours ago, did you get it.
I've finished the HTML and I need an e-mail address to where I can send it.

Anne

[davenet]

Anne,

Everything looks good in the files you sent. We'll start working with them and contact you if there are any problems.

Thank you for your hard work.

David

[Anne]

That's great to hear.

You have my e-mail address if yoneed something?

Anne

[davenet]

Yes. I do.

David