[Project Complete] $300 - Software company (no coding)

[jamesnk]

Hi designers,

I’m looking for a website design for a software business I plan on starting. The company’s name is Newtonsoft and will make products aimed at other web developers and server side .NET programmers.

What I’m looking for is an overall look and feel for the website. Initially I would just like a design for the front page and once I’ve found what I’m looking for and picked a designer, a design for the products page. The two would be very similar, reusing the layout with just the addition of a navigation sidebar. I’m experience with html and css so a picture of the design and the various image files are all I need.

Since my market is other programmers and software developers I’d like a design that is very simple, clean and not overly cluttered. Other elements of the website I’ve make up my mind on are a centred design and a white background.

Some more details:

- I would like to have at the top of the screen a primary nav of links with a secondary nav that changes depending upon what section you are in. Here are the primary nav links:
Home, Products, Downloads, Store, Support, Weblog

- Footer
I want a footer with the usual links and search.

- I’d like a place in the header for a search textbox and button.

Here are some other website designs that I like to give you some ideas of what I’m after:

http://www.mozilla.org/ - I like the rounded corners, the relatively strong colors, the tabs and the way the design works so well with screenshots of their products. I also like the layout of their various pages i.e. home, products and support. The only thing I don’t like about it is the title and logo not being on a white background.
https://addons.mozilla.org/ - Very similar. I like the search textbox and dropdown setup in the header.

http://www.otakusoftware.com/ - A little minimalist, but there is something about it that appeals to me.

http://www.leaplogic.com/ - I really like the navigation tab bar on this website, the strong colors and the clean design. The logo in the footer is a nice touch.

http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?event=displayStoreSelector& - Cluttered but I like the overall style.

http://www.skillswap.org/ - I like the simplicity of the tab bar, the rounded corners and the subtle shadowing.

That’s it! I look forward to seeing your designs.
.

[Anne]

Do you have a logo?

[jamesnk]

Not quite yet. I'm actually getting something designed in your logo forum right now (if you come up with a great logo design while making the website you could win both :)).

http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/showthread.php?p=150400#post150400

Some text for the title in whatever style and color you think is best as a placeholder would be fine.
.

[Mark]

*removed* because I have a buyer for it.

[jamesnk]

A good effort Mark but I don't really like the colors and it is all a little square. Also there is no where for the secondary navigation links.


I've updated my post slightly and added a few more sites.

[Lilja]

Hi

Just want to let you know that I will try to have a design ready tonight.

Lilja

[Lilja]

Here is a start. It is not finnished yet, but I want to know if I'm on the right direction :)

Looking forward to your feedback.

Lilja

[cosmic]

Here is my entry:

I used the winning logo from the logo contest. When the logo is finalised, I will update the colours used in the template.

http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/newtonsoft_1.gif

[cosmic]

version two:


http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/newtonsoft_1B.gif

[BrianDove]

here is my try :)

Brian

[Luc]

I'll be working on this.

[LalitB]

I will have something for you soon.

[will]

I loved Bill's work on the logo. I think it represents totally the concept and gives a very unique identity. My only change was a green adaptation of the apple. I worked the site very colorfull because I think professional doesn't mean boring. Also as a programmer myself I tend to be more attracted by sites that are more relaxed than adobe and macromedia. Places where I can say I will find products made from people with creativity to creators. :D

[Lori]

Can we get a eps version of your chosen logo :) As soon as I can get that, I will enter.

[LalitB]

Hello,

Here's my entry. I look forward to your feedback.

Regards,
Lalit

[Fabian]

Hi

Used the red to give it more impact :)

Looking forward to your feedback
Fabian

[jamesnk]

Wow, I'm overwhelmed. In future I'll make sure to check every day to provide feedback for everyone to build on.

I'll start from the top :)

Lilja:
The content area is alright. Main thing is that the colors are a little washed out. Perhaps a darker blue and a more electric green? Also the tab bar doesn't support a secondary level of links.

cosmic:
The tab bar is ok, although I'm not sure about having the search textbox inside it. The colors however are very bland. I'd like to see some more colors either from photos or screenshots.

BrianDove:
Your design also needs some more colors and contrast between what you currently have. The tab bar doesn't support secondary links. Some other ideas are splitting the text into two columns and a simplier footer.

will:
I really like the strong colors and the detailed tab bar. You almost make me want to use that logo. Still not keen on the apple though :)
The main thing I'd like to see would be the design in blue and whatever you think you work best rather than green/yellow. Some other things are the main body text (the two middle boxes on the left) outside the rounded boxes and simpler footer.

prelude785:
Overall it is ok but a bit bland. Some of the rounded boxes could do with some detail around the edges perhaps or some more colorful images.

Fabian:
Sorry but I don't really like the red. Thanks for your entry though.



I've learnt a lot from looking over all of your ideas. Here are the main things to help everyone improve their designs:

- Big thing is more impact. A darker blue and a more electric apple green to contrast against each other is one idea to make things less bland.
- I want a simple design but what there is I'd like detailed and polished. One area is around edges. Making them almost appear raised using light/shadow looks quite good as long as it is subtle for example.
- Color photos/screenshots. I'd like a design which works with screenshots so I can show a visitor what something looks like. Doesn't matter right now what the picture is of. Any windows application or website scaled down will be fine.
- Little less green. I was envisioning green as more of a highlight rather than the main color.


Hope my feedback is some help.
.

[Fabian]

Fabian:
Sorry but I don't really like the red. Thanks for your entry though.

Just wondering :confused: :blush: ,other than not liking the red..Does this design work for you ?

[LalitB]

Hello,

Thanks for the feedback. Here's an update:

[will]

Hi, Jamesnk, here is the new version. I simplified the bottom and the content. Also the background image of the packages was also simplified to avoid grabbing all the attention of the visitor. I still love Bill's design because I cannot get rid of the uniqueness and originality of his vision. Definitely a personal recomendation.

Take care,

[Lori]

Hi again James :)

You forgot about me....

Can I get an EPS version of your logo so I can create a design for you :)

[Lilja]

Here is my revision :)

Lilja

[IDarwish]

Hello,

I started on something.. I will try and have it done asap :)

Imad

[IDarwish]

And here is my entry ;) Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Imad Darwish

[jamesnk]

Lori:
I didn't forget, I just didn't have a logo I was completely happy with until now. I've resized the designers image up so the quality isn't that great but this should be the final version except for maybe a minor tweak or two.

http://www.newtonsoft.com/images/logo.png

What does EPS stand for?

Fabian:
The tab bar was ok but I also wasn't too keen on the image or blue text either.

prelude785:
Better, although the tab bar and the content area still doesn't have enough impact for me. Thanks for your efforts but I think some of the other designs are a little closer to what I'm looking for and I don't want to take up more of your time.

will:
Sorry, I should have said navy instead of blue.
I spent 30 minutes playing around in paintshop pro putting in the colors I'm going for. Please don't laugh too hard at my poor artistic skills - http://www.newtonsoft.com/images/designwill.png (the dark lines around the boxes are my poor attempt at shadows)
I still like the gradients and the detail in the tab bar and other areas, I just don’t know how to recolor things without flood fill :)

Lilja:
Much better. I can't really think of anything to do differently (I added the latest version of logo myself to see what it looked like so don't worry about that). When everyone else has submitted their designs I'll get back to you with my decision.

IDarwish:
I think I've mention this before but I don't want the search box in the tab bar. Some other things are the green is too dark and I'd like rounded corners around blocks of color.
.

[will]

James, don't worry, I'll make the changes of the color right now. I won't bother you any more with Bill's logo as you have made your choice but I would like to say that it was a great identity to be used.

Talk to you soon,

[will]

Here are 2 versions with the colours requested. The first one is plain and the second one has 3d in the bars. :D

PLAIN
http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_site2.jpg

[cosmic]

Here are my revisions.

The product screenshot can be placed on laptop screen.



http://www.cosmicwebdesigns.com/design_outpost_contests/newtonsoft_1C.gif

[jamesnk]

Thank you for all your designs but I've decided I want to go with will's.

will, I think your design best gives a simple, clean look that I like but still has lots of impact.


Both of your newest versions look excellent and I like what you did with the texture on the green panel. Out of the two I think I prefer the plain panels.

Could you try two things for me so I could see what they would look like:
- add subtle shadows around the panels. http://www.skillswap.org/ does it well.
- slightly smaller rounded corners on the big panels. Perhaps slightly larger than the smaller corners on the tab and title bars?

Thanks.

[will]

Thank you very much for choosing my entry. I'll work on the changes right now. :D

[will]

Here are the changes.

[jamesnk]

Hrmm, I after seeing them, shadows kind of ruin the cleanliness of the design a little by making things a little blurry. I do like the less rounded corners though.

Could you:
- remove the shadows (sorry)
- change the lighter green color back to how it was previously
- make the announcements and sub tabbar corners less rounded like the two big boxes as well (I meant all of them) and
- make the primary tabbar font one size smaller and the reduce the tabbar height to fit
.

[will]

Here are the new changes. I left one of the samples with a slight shadow in the menu zone that enhances it a little more and the other without it. The only thing I didn't catch was "change the lighter green color back to how it was previously", could you clarify this one for me, because before it became green it was orange or do you want me to change the saturation of it ? thanx

WITH SHADOW
http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_site2.jpg

WITHOUT SHADOW
http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_site2b.jpg

[will]

Hi, plz. let me know when you want me to prepare the final files. Thanx

[jamesnk]

Sorry, I've been rather busy this week and haven't had time to sit down and think about this.

The light green I was talking about seemed to have changed in the earlier version with shadows, but as it back to what I like then don't worry about it.

I'm basically happy with that page (I'd prefer not having any shadows rather than just that one thanks). The only thing I'd like different is the main tab bar font a size smaller and the height reduced to match.

I mentioned also designing a products page in the first post, but basically I just want a general layout for content pages that are more text. It would reuse the tab bar, footer and colors from the front page and have a couple of sections of text with titles. The only new thing to design would be a sidebar. It doesn’t need to be anything special, just lists of links under various categories.

[will]

No problem, I will make the changes today :D

[will]

Here are the pages. Let me know if you want me to take the sidebar from another site or want me to make more variations. I tried to keep it simple as the design but anything can be done.

+ CLICK HERE FOR THE FINAL DESIGN (http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_final.jpg)

+ CLICK HERE FOR THE SIDEBAR VARIATION 1 (http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_final_inner1.jpg)

+ CLICK HERE FOR THE SIDEBAR VARIATION 2 (http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_final_inner2.jpg)

+ CLICK HERE FOR THE SIDEBAR VARIATION 3 (thiner bar) (http://www.willdesigns.com.ar/newtonsoft_final_inner3.jpg)

[jamesnk]

Final files received.

Thanks.