[Project Complete] Redesign our website's front page - $250

[trevorh]

(Admin code added by Palmer - A0384915D)

Hello all, we need to overhaul the front page of our website to reflect the release of our newest product, Print Audit 5 and also to make it focus more on our products.

Our website can be seen here:

http://www.printaudit.com

The side menu and the top banner should be kept the same. I only want to change the white portion of the page. The size of the page should be kept the same too, although it can be made a little longer if necessary. Also, I don’t want to have to redesign any other pages, so the front page should be kept consistent with the look of the rest of the website.

The ‘Select an Item of Interest’ section should be replaced with an ‘Announcements’ section. It should have room for two short, one or two sentence announcements. These announcements will introduce new products, case studies, reviews of our products, etc. I need to be able to update this section with relative ease. This means you will have to create a variety of graphics for this section, suitable for a variety of different announcements. These graphics should say: New Product, New Case Study, Product Review, Notice, Special Announcement and Featured Document.

We also want to add a 'Featured Products' section. This section should have room for two products. It should have a picture of the product’s packaging or hardware. Right now it will feature Print Audit 5 and Copy Audit. Each product should have a one sentence blurb describing it and 'Free Trial' and 'Learn More' links.

Here’s a picture of the Print Audit 5 packaging:

http://www.printaudit.com/images/print_audit_5_packaging.jpg

Here’s a picture of the Copy Audit terminal. Please do what you can to make it look a bit cooler. By this I mean adding some cool shadowing effects or mirroring, etc.

http://www.printaudit.com/images/copy_audit.bmp

The packaging and hardware pictures do not have to be very big.

The ‘News’, intro paragraph, the javascript graphic with the rotating graphics and the ‘Print Audit Customers Include’ sections should be kept the same, as far as their content goes anyhow. If you need to reposition them or change their layout, that is ok.

I want to add one button to the left-hand menu, below the Live Sales Support button. Please make it read “Copier vendors…sell more hardware using the Print Audit Reseller Assessment Program.” It should have some sort of an eye catching background image that represents making more money or selling more hardware (printers and copiers).

Please note that you don’t have to code this page in html. You only have to come up with the graphics and layout.

There are stock photos available for you to use in the designer's hangout.

Deadline: April 25. The deadline is a little flexible, but I need to have a good start on it by then. Please let me know ASAP if you’re in.

Thanks,
Trevor

[Michael]

Designers, the stock photos can be found here (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144371#post144371)

[Aliska]

Hello :)
I'm in and will post some versions in 1-2 days

[trevorh]

Hello, here's a better picture of our software box.

http://www.printaudit.com/images/3d_packaging2.jpg

[trevorh]

Aliska, sounds good. Is anyone else in? I think I'm going to be able to extend the deadline by 3 or 4 days.

[trevorh]

Here's the Print Audit 5 logo, in case you want to use the round portion somewhere on the page.

http://www.printaudit.com/images/Print_Audit_5_logo_300_dpi.bmp

[Aliska]

Hello Trevor
Here's my first version. I couldn't upload Print Audit 5 packaging or Copy Audit terminal images, so I just place another images for now. If you like the whole design style I just later change the images. So, what do you think?

[trevorh]

Pretty good start, but it needs work.

- The annoucements section really only has to have 2 annoucements. The look of the 2 annoucements on the right is pretty good.

- 'Print Audit was recently reviewed by...' can be removed. That should now go into the annoucements section.

- I'm not sure if I like you using red. I know we used it on top of the page, but it's not really one of our colors. We made that announcement red to temporarily draw attention to it. But I'm undecided about the, so you can leave it for now.

- The featured products section looks good, but it's hard to judge it without the real product pictures.

- The news section is a bit confusing. I don't get what all the pictures are supposed to be. I think the news section can be left as text, as it was before. Maybe you can put icons beside the news items to spruce it up a bit. Also, I think the news should be put up higher. It can share a space with the annoucements section, since we are chopping that down to 2 annoucements anyhow.

- The copier vendors graphic needs work too. The 'hardware' pictures should be printers or copiers...so I would remove the monitor and replace it with a picture of money or a printer. The picture you're using in the annoucements section might work there.

Thanks.

[trevorh]

Also, can you try to come up with something nicer for the headings. I don't think think i like those green headings anymore. I don't mind the icons though. Thanks.

[Aliska]

Could you upload Print Audit 5 packaging and Copy Audit terminal images on the forum, so I will be able to use in design ?

[trevorh]

Oops, I fixed the links to those pictures in the first post. Please try again.

[BrianDove]

I will try a design later tonight :)

Brian

[Anne]

I've been working on an entry and will post it later today

Anne

[trevorh]

Aliska, were you able to download the pictures?

[Aliska]

Yeap, thanks a lot. I'm working on design now and will post in an hour :)

[Aliska]

Hello
Another version with right images :) What do you think?

[Anne]

Here are 3 versions from me with small variations to them.

Anne

[Fabian]

Hi,i'll have something to view soon

[trevorh]

Aliska, too much red. I would get rid of the red altogether. The product images look pretty good, but can be made smaller and you have the logo on the Copy Audit reversed. I don't like the pictures you're using for the annoucements. Rather than using printers, you should be using the stock photos. For example, if the annoucement is a new product review the picture could have 2 people talking.

Anne, nice start. I like version 1 the best. However you're missing some sections, like the rotating logo graphic and the Print Audit Customers. Also I would like the News section to remain somewhere near the top. I think the intro paragraph can be made to take up less room. If you could make it only take up about an inch going across the top that would be good. That would give you more room for some of the other elements, like the news.

[trevorh]

The intro paragraph doesn't really need to have a heading either. I'm ok with just having it on its own near the top. Maybe it can be given some kind of a background color to make it stand out a little more.

[Anne]

Thank you for the feedback and I'll make the requested changes.

btw, the rotating logos is not visible in Opera (only the text).

Anne

[Aliska]

Here's the changes :)

[Fabian]

Hi

Ok,here's what i had in mine for the redesign :)

Looking forward to your feedback
Fabian

[BrianDove]

here is my try :)

Regards
Brian

[Anne]

Here's the revision

Anne

[Luc]

I'll post mine shortly.

[Luc]

Here's an idea.

[Squad]

i'll post something in the next couple of hours.
George.

[Squad]

There it is.

Cheers,
George.

[trevorh]

Hi folks, there's a lot of good entries here. Nice work. Time for some feedback.

Anne:

It looks good overall. I think the intro sentence looks too plain though. How about giving it a blue heading like the other sections have?

You need to make the graphic for the left hand menu.

Aliska:

Your design is not working for me. Thanks for the work though.

Fabian:

- Thanks for the entry, but that doesn’t work for me.

Brian:

- Looking good. I’m not crazy about you Reseller Assessment graphic though. Any other ideas for it? It’s not very eye catching and looks out of place in that menu.

Luc:

Nice start. I like what you’ve done with the product and announcement pictures.

- I don’t like the background graphic for the News section. I like the gray shading, but not the picture. It’s hard to tell what it is. Also that section can be made narrower.

- I don’t like the picture of the guy in the Featured Products section. I don’t think a picture (other than the packaging) is necessary there.

- I would get rid of the gray and white spaces on top of the page.

- You have the right idea with the Reseller Assessment graphic. I like the way it blends into the menu. However the graphic you chose doesn’t quite work. The money is ok but the hour glass isn’t really appropriate. How about blending a picture of a copier with money?

- I would change the gold links to blue, because we use blue links in the rest of the site, so we have to stay consistent.

Squad:

Nice start. The Announcements section should be bigger. I would put it where the Copy Audit section is now.

- I can’t decide if I like the top section or not. It’s creative, but perhaps it sticks out too much. I would make that section smaller. Maybe make the yellow box longer and narrower.

- I would put the Print Audit 5 Caption below the box, instead of over top of it.

General comments for everyone:

I've decided to make the Featured Products section only have one product, so call it Featured Product now and only put Print Audit 5 there.

Here are some copier photos you can use in the Reseller Assessment graphic. They're pretty crude so you'll have to make them look better. Perhaps it can be blended with a picture of money.

http://www.printaudit.com/images/copiers.zip

Thanks!

[Squad]

Thanks for feed-back, but i didn't get: "Maybe make the blue box longer and narrowed"
Also, left banner for resellers looks good? Should i play more with the pics you've sent?

Thanks.
George.

[trevorh]

Hi George, sorry I meant the yellow box on top, with the intro sentence and rotating logos. The copier graphic looks pretty good. I'm not crazy about using the same copier photo twice though. We used that same picture in the banner. So maybe try to do something with the copier pictures I posted.

Thanks.


Thanks for feed-back, but i didn't get: "Maybe make the blue box longer and narrowed"
Also, left banner for resellers looks good? Should i play more with the pics you've sent?

Thanks.
George.

[Anne]

Here's the revision

Anne

[trevorh]

Hello Anne, while it doesn't look bad, it looks pretty busy. I'm not sure what to do about that. It may be caused by the blue headings going all the way across the page. I think the copier vendor graphic needs work. I like the way it blends into the menu, but the picture is too dark. Thanks.

[Squad]

There it goes...
i know i've put only 1 announcement, this is because i forgot to add another one :blush: I will add if you say that i am on the good way with this.

Thanks.
George.

[trevorh]

Hi Squad, my first thought is that things need to be spaced out better. It looks kind of squished. The copier vendors graphic still doesn't work for me. I think it may be the yellow I'm not liking. I don't mind yellow if it's used very sparingly on the page.

[BrianDove]

here is my updated entry :)

Regards
Brian

[Luc]

Revisions:

[Anne]

Here's my revision
Anne

[trevorh]

Brian: I like most of it. The announcement and product sections look good. I don’t know about the intro paragraph though. I would make the background color the same as the other sections and also use the arrow bullet for that heading. If think the background color needs to be more consistent in the different sections, right now it just looks random. I would either go all light blue or all white. Your copier graphic needs work. The graphic should be eye catching, but it shouldn’t overshadow the rest of the menu. It doesn’t have to stand out that much. I’m going to upload more stock photos with better pictures of money. You’re close but it needs some tweaking.

Luc: I like most of it a lot. I would make the news headlines and partner logo sections less wide…about the same as they are now on the page. Also you should remove the Copy Audit section from the featured products section. We’re now only going to have Print Audit 5 in that section. You’re copier graphic is pretty good, but still not quite what I’d like it to be. It looks a little bland. Please try to do something with the new money photos I’m uploading.

Anne: Your headings still stand out too much. They make the page look really busy. How about making them an inch or 2 long and then have them fade to white, instead of having them go all the way across the page.

I’m going to upload some better pictures of money for the reseller graphic, they should be in the designer’s hangout soon. Thanks!

[BrianDove]

updated entry ? is the copier image any better ? :blush:

[trevorh]

Hi Brian, the main page is looking good, but I'm still not crazy about the reseller graphic. I don't like using the same picture twice. We used that same copier graphic in the banner on top. Everybody is using yellow and green for that graphic. You might want to try blue instead of yellow.

The new stock photos should be available in the designer's hangout now.

[Luc]

Revision.

[Anne]

Revision

[Anne]

Another version

[trevorh]

Thanks Anne, but I'm going to narrow this contest down to Luc and Brian. Luc and Brian: I think it's going to come down to the reseller graphic. Luc, your graphic is close, the money looks good, but the copier looks bland and out of place. Any other ideas for that one? I'm ok with just using money and no copier if it's done in a cool way.

Thanks.

[Luc]

Ok here's 2. One without the copier. The second has a copier. I think it's about the not so good shot of the copier that makes it bland? But here's my idea anyway. Hope you like it.

[trevorh]

Hello, these look pretty good, but I'm starting to think I won't like any graphic in that left hand menu. I think putting a graphic there makes the whole page look busy. I have an idea that will hopefully make things a little easier. :) What we could do is put the Reseller Assessment Program into the Featured Products section. It would go where we had Copy Audit before. The only problem with that is we don't have a product box for that one, since it's basically a special version of Print Audit 5. So you will have to come up with something to represent it. It could be something like a smaller version of the copier/money graphics you guys have been creating.

[trevorh]

Brian are you still working on this? I really need to wrap this up in the next few days.

[BrianDove]

Yes, I am sincerely sorry, I will be making an update in a few hours.

sorry again,
Brian

[BrianDove]

here we go, sorry again :blush:

Brian

[trevorh]

Hi Brian, thanks but I'm not crazy about that picture. One idea would be to just put Print Audit Reseller Assessment Program with some sort of a design around it, in place of the picture.

Hi Luc, you might want to try going back to the old design where you had Print Audit 5 and Copy Audit under Featured Products. Instead of putting the picture of Copy Audit into the gray box, put an appropriate stock into the box. Just an idea, maybe you're working on something better.

Thanks.

[Luc]

Revision.

[trevorh]

Hi Luc, I don't like the idea of making a new box for it, because the RAP is just a special version of Print Audit 5. Two things you may want to try: Putting a stock photo like this one into the gray box:

http://www.printaudit.com/images/ph_comp2.jpg

Another option is to make a logo of sorts that says Reseller Assessment Program and put that in the gray box.

Thanks, we're close.

[BrianDove]

Update,
I can put the stock photo you just posted ?
Brian

[Luc]

Should I remove the box?

[trevorh]

Hi guys, I'm going to go ahead and declare Luc the winner here. Thanks for your work Brian.

Luc, we're close but still need to do some tweaking. I may have found a way to make the copier graphic work in the left hand menu. I'll send you an example of what I mean.

[Michael]

Moved to the revisions forum

[Luc]

Oh thanks! I'll be working on this later. :)

[Luc]

Here it goes

[trevorh]

Hello, I like it. However I think we need to add something to it to indicate that it's a link. I think people will just assume it's a graphic and not think to click on it. We should add 'Click here to learn more' somewhere on it.

Also, can you add headings under the announcement pictures. I.E. 'New Case Study or 'Print Audit 5 Released'. Thanks.

[Luc]

Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting. I had computer troubleshoot and just got back today. I'll do this tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

[Luc]

How's this?

[trevorh]

Hello, looks good. What about the headings for the annoucements section? Thanks.

[Luc]

Oops! Missed that.

[trevorh]

Looks good! Please send the final graphics.

[Luc]

File sent! Thank you for choosing.