[Project Complete] $300 Music Site Template

[Liz]

(Admin code added by Michael - 62855515)

This contest is for the redesign of popular Hip Hop music site rapmusic.com.

Prize: $300
Due Date: May 20th - extended to may 27th

Other sites in the same market space:
www.allhiphop.com
www.ughh.com
www.sohh.com

Sites we like:

http://www.rapbasement.com/
http://www.d12online.com/

to a lesser extent...

http://www.rapworld.com/
http://www.hiphopdirectory.com/

Background:
Serving up over 10 million page views per month, Rapmusic.com targets the underground and commercial Hip Hop markets. The heart of the site are the forums where, on average, over 500 active users can be found at any given time. http://board.rapmusic.com/

The average visitor is 15-30 years old. 60% white, 20% african american, 20% Hispanic.

General Redesign Info:
This contest is for the redesign of the rapmusic.com homepage ONLY.

The template chosen here will also be used for all subpages and forum. The designer will NOT be responsible for doing any additional work for these other pages. However please keep in mind that your template must work with our inside content areas and the forum.

There is no "official" logo - feel free to change the site logo as you see fit. "Ultimate Hip Hop Action" is our tagline.

Winner of the contest shall provide:
- Unflattened PSD file
- HTML template with placeholder content (content on the main page is dynamic)

Requirements:

Page must have space for 2 banners: 728x90, and 468x60. These must be positioned in the top fold.

Top Level Navigation: Board, Lyrics, News, Reviews, Artists, Old School, Underground, Audio Tools

Second Level Navigation: AIM Chat Room, "Screen Printing", Gear

Also need an "advertising info" link featured prominately.

The content boxes currently on the main page must remain as sections on the main page.


Please let me know if you have any questions - I will be checking this thread and providing feedback daily.

Thanks and have fun!

[Aliska]

Hello
I like the topic of your contest :) I will definately create some versions for you

[Liz]

Cool. Looking forward to your submission! thanks.

[Liz]

If other designers are planning on entering, could you just reply with your intent to enter? I'm trying to get a feel for how many options we'll have to choose from.

Thanks!

[BrianDove]

Ok, I will enter :)

Brian

[Lilja]

I will enter your contest :)

Lilja

[Aliska]

Hello.
My version. Waiting for your comments.

[Liz]

Thanks for the entry Aliska!

I'm going to hold off on expressing the particulars of what I like in this design so I don't influence other entries.. but suffice it to say its a good look.

Here's what I would like to see different though:

1. The main navigation has too much wasted space horizontally. Is there a way to shrink the height of it?

2. The headers for the content areas below look too much like the navigation. I think they should have a slightly different look and feel to identify them as content headers rather than navigation.

3. Rapmusic has over 20 content "boxes" on the main page, including: What's Hot, Live Hip Hop Events, CDs & Vinyl,
Reviews, Hip Hop Central, Turntablism, Artist Spotlight, Beats/Producers, Rapmusic RBL, Shout Outs, Game Zone, RSTL, Audio Tourney, Game Zone, Smack Down, MP3 Forum, Flea Market, Gear, Introspectrum, Car & Audio, EMC Battles, Sports Central, Sanbox, Lifestyles and Poetry Realm.

I'm concerned about how this many content areas would look with your design. (Especially the size of the headers for each) Can you please add some more so I can get a feel for how it affects the overall layout?

Thanks!

- Liz.

[Aliska]

Hello
Changes at my version per you feedback. What do you think?

[Liz]

Looks good - there are still some minor things I would have you change if you were selected as the winner, but this is good enough for now!

Still hoping some more people will enter - I'd love to see some different options.

[Aliska]

Ok, happy to hear that :)

[Lori]

Hey Liz,

Is there a design style that you favor? I know that most music sites are quite similar (boxy, black)...

Is that what you need? Are you wanting to go with a dark or light theme?

[Luc]

Please provide high quality samples of web site reference URLs which you really like.

[Liz]

Definately a darker theme - although not necessarily black.

I don't have a preference as too boxy or curvy, although with the amount of advertising, boxy may be the easier route.

Main competition is allhiphop.com so that's who we need to blow out of the water. Definately going for an urban look.

Sites we like:

http://www.rapbasement.com/
http://www.d12online.com/

to a lesser extent...

http://www.rapworld.com/
http://www.hiphopdirectory.com/

[Maleika]

Hello Liz,

I am going to be partaking. :)

Kind regards,

Maleika

[Liz]

Just a bump as a reminder...

I had hoped to wrap up this contest by the end of the week, but so far I've only had one entry.

I'm hoping to get a few choices!

[Squad]

Hi Liz, here is a start from me... i have to go home, otherwise i would finished it. I hope you can let me know if this is ok for you.

Thanks,
George.

[Liz]

Hi George, thanks for the entry!

I'm not sure this is entirely the direction we're going for. The color scheme is on point, but both the header and the main body seem to be a little simplistic.

Also, I'm not crazy about the mosaic pattern in the header area (it seems to distract more than add anything).



Any other designers still planning on posting an entry? Thanks! Liz.

[RoboticDesign]

Here's my peice I developed in acouple of days. What you think about it? I think the colors go good with the style and theme of the website.

[Liz]

Hi, thanks for the submission... you're on the right track but there are a few issues with this layout

- the 3 secondary navigation items seem to be more prominent than the primary navigation
- images of people are OK, but we probably want to stay away from having primary images of known artists.
- main navigation is small, a little plain, and sort of unreadable.
- The main body content blocks seem to be very square. Something about the heavy white outlines seems to take focus away from the actual content. We're not crazy about the style of the headers on these boxes either.

Thanks for your entry...

The invitiation is still open to other designs, I look forward to commenting on others!

[RoboticDesign]

Hopefully this fixed the errors that you saw in the page.

[Liz]

Thanks for the update. I think that's all the changes for right now. If we decide on your template, I'll ask you to make any additional modifications.

Still looking for some additional entries - is the requirement for conversion to HTML/CSS scaring some of you folks off?

I'd like to see some more options, even if it means handling the conversion here.

Please let me know if you think you may be able to get in an entry - I'll extend the deadline if necessary.

Thanks!

[Luc]

Hey, i'd like to enter but I've been very busy lately. I'll work on this tomorrow.

[Fabian]

Still looking for some additional entries - is the requirement for conversion to HTML/CSS scaring some of you folks off?

I'd like to see some more options, even if it means handling the conversion here.

PSD only, im down with that :yes:

[Palmer]

Liz, I'm concerned about the designers using images of musicians in their mock-ups. I'm sure you are aware of the legal implications involved in using copyright protected images on web sites. Can you provide images that you have permission for them to use?

[Liz]

Liz, I'm concerned about the designers using images of musicians in their mock-ups. I'm sure you are aware of the legal implications involved in using copyright protected images on web sites. Can you provide images that you have permission for them to use?

Thanks for looking out Palmer!

I'm fine with the use of stock "urban hiphop singers" or the elimination of images of musicians in the header all together.

That was never a requirement for the design.

We certainly do NOT want to see any images of known hip hop artists in the header as we are, in large part, serving the underground market.

I assumed Aliska's photo was stock art (please correct me if I'm wrong) and I asked RoboticDesign to stay away from using images of Eminem, etc.

[Lori]

Liz,

Aliskas image looks like it might be JayZ....

I have not entered yet due to workload, and "style"... I have just not been able to "think" of something to do for this one...

[RoboticDesign]

actually the new image im using i have rights for i have alot of copyrighted images that can be used as my artists give me rights to all there images. Well cant wait til tomorrow to hear the judging :)

[Liz]

I'm going to extend the deadline on this for another week, in the hopes of some additional options. Thanks guys.

[Fabian]

Hi again

Do you like where this is going...the general style :)

[Liz]

General style, yes... should I save specific comments until later?

[Aliska]

Hello.
My image is from stock site, and it's royalty free for using in design. If you need I give you a link to check it.

[Fabian]

Thanks Liz

By all means if you see something you would like changed feel free to let me know:)

Cheers
Fabian

[Liz]

Fabian - Like the general look (especially the textured sides), not feelin' the gradients, or the plain white navigation.


For everyone ...

Keep in mind that this is a major site - even with the particular theme of being an underground urban site we're still shooting for a level of professionalism that would put us on the same page as other urban/music sites (think bet, vh1, mtv)

[Luc]

Here's my shot. Not totally done but content boxes will be the same.

[Fabian]

I'll see what else i can do :)

[Liz]

This is hot luc... we especially like the way you arranged the content area.

Some changes I'd like to see are:

- Migrate the three secondary navigation items to the top area between the two banner ads on the right. Do something a little different than the rectangle you have it in now to make them stand out more.

- The header doesn't say "hip hop" loud enough. I like the concept and the colors, but we need something more hip hop related as far as imagery. An Emcee, record tables, a mic, anything like that.

- The Navigation is low contrast and blends in too much with the rest of the site. Can you try out some other options as far as colors/styles to make it stand out a little more? We don't want it to be secondary to the content areas or overpowered by the ads.

Thanks!
Liz.

[Fabian]

Hi Liz

Please note that the Eminem photo is just for demo only purposes,just to show you what can be done.

If you look at VH1 and MTV there use high quality photography to create visual interest,this is what i've tryed to do top centre.The concept here is to swap out the picture of one artist for another every few days,and have a link to that artists bio and such...this is what is know as sticky content,always changing and bring back the punters.

god i go on a bit :rolleyes:

Looking forward to your feedback
Fabian

[BrianDove]

Hi Liz,
I have started something, but not sure at all if you are looking for something along those lines.

Looking forward to your feedback,

Brian

[Luc]

Hi Liz. Here's the revision. This is the same photos in my initial post - turntable and a grafitti wall. But the banner covered it, so here's what I did. Let me know what you think.

[Liz]

Hi Liz

Please note that the Eminem photo is just for demo only purposes,just to show you what can be done.

If you look at VH1 and MTV there use high quality photography to create visual interest,this is what i've tryed to do top centre.The concept here is to swap out the picture of one artist for another every few days,and have a link to that artists bio and such...this is what is know as sticky content,always changing and bring back the punters.

god i go on a bit :rolleyes:

Looking forward to your feedback
Fabian


Hi Fabian - This is a nice revision. What we definately don't like is the green color and the alternating table colors. The headers on each section and the main nav is a little plain and a little too "slick" - especially compared to the nice background you have on the sides.

[Liz]

Hi Liz,
I have started something, but not sure at all if you are looking for something along those lines.

Looking forward to your feedback,

Brian

Brian - not sure if there is enough here to really make much of a comment on. The header seems to be a bit blurry, but I like the logo treatment. Thanks for tossing your hat into the ring!

[Liz]

Luc - take a look at my attachment to get a better feel of what I had in mind for the header area. I'm not sure how the 3 nav items up top should stand out - but something should be done to them to make them a little noticable. Maybe going for a button look or including an icon?

Not crazy about the color of the navigation. If you were chosen would you be willing to try out a few other combos?

Thanks,
Liz.

[Liz]

Just wanted to make a note that this contest will be closing tomorrow evening (CST). I appreciate all the submissions from all the designers.

If there are any last minute changes or submissions, get em in now!

Thanks folks.

[Luc]

I'll get back later with the revision. My pscs crashed yesterday :(

[Luc]

If you were chosen would you be willing to try out a few other combos? Yes definitely, until you guys are happy. :)

[Liz]

Hi folks -

I want to thank everyone for the great entries they posted for this contest.

Making a decision has been hard because we liked so many elements from so many different entries.

Ultimately it came down to who had the best overall graphics and look and feel.

Luc - we loved your navigation style and header treatments on the content. There are still some things we'd like to see tweaked with the header and the navigation, but we can address that later.

Thanks Luc - we've selected your design.

And thank you to all the other designers who participated.

[Luc]

Thank you! :) Let's continue in the Revisions forum.

[Liz]

Luc, here are the specific changes -

Can you drop the little text beneath each navigation element and make the whole navigation bar more narrow. Also, we like the bronze color, but can you increase the contrast on it? We want it to stand out from the rest of the layout.

That button look for the top 3 navigation items really doesn't match the look and feel for the rest of the site. Can you try something different?

Finally, we like the faded header, but its still really hard to see the "hip hop" coming out of it. Can you try using a stock image of a rapper/mic/turn table and incorporate it without fading it out?

Thanks.
Liz.

[Luc]

How about this?

[Liz]

Is that the same file?

[Luc]

Sorry for the error. I updated it.

[Liz]

Luc - this'll work. Can you email unflattened PSDs, HTML, CSS etc to liz@800media.com.

Thanks,
Liz.

[Luc]

Sorry for the delay. I'll do this tomorrow.

[Liz]

no worries. Thanks!

[Luc]

Files are sent! Thanks for choosing! :)

[Liz]

Files received, thanks for participating!