Template for Media Sales Upstart

[Dan Morgan]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 10829328

Hey All,

I said I would be back after the success of our last contest to post another, so here I am. We need a simple and elegant template for the main site of our relatively new company, http://www.adrevenue.co.uk/

We are after something that is pleasing on the eye without being too in-your-face and is one of those designs which is fairly submissive, I.e. non designers would look at and not notice either how bad the site looks, nor how great it does (I.e. nothing OTT like 2advanced). Simple, straight to the point and easy to use.

Some sites we like:

http://www.adtech.de/
http://www.muse.net/
http://www.adrevolver.com/
http://www.befree.com/

We have a logo already, available from the site in Gif format, and attached in EPS so you can bring it into PS or FW at any size nice and crisp, site should use similar colours.

Open to any suggestion really, ask questions and I will try and help steer you on the right track as you go along.

We need a homepage and one sub-page. Main Navigation should include:

Advertisers
Publishers
Technology
Company
Contact

And the sub-pages should allow for various subcategories navigation wise.
Navigation text can be image or system text based, your call so long as it looks good. Big fan of text statements made in graphics apps, like the one on our homepage as it is (70%…).

Deadline will be 6pm, 2 weeks from today, extendable if needs be.

Any questions please ask!

Thanks

Dan

[madbees]

Something along the lines of this..?

size is at 100%

[tragu]

Take a look at my entry below. The photo in the template below is less quality than the original one.

Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[elements]

Hi Dan
It's nice to see you back again.

Here's a little something I put together. Clean, simple, yet professional.
Let me know what you think.



Thanks!


Adil

[Tim]

Dan,

Expect an entry from me later today or in the morning.

[Tim]

Dan,

I drew up something a little different. Its a clean and simplistic layout that has a technical but very professional feel to it. Tell me what you think.

Tim

[Dan Morgan]

Hi All,

Just a quick post to check in. I do not want to comment on any of the designs yet until I get in to work tomorrow and can post a summary of what my colleagues think as well as myself as this will be a group critique based contest. From tomorrow I will be providing regular feedback, however we work to a Monday - Friday schedule

Needless to say I am impressed by the initial four designs, very much so.

Until tomorrow

[Dan Morgan]

Morning Guys!

Right in order of submission

madbees

We like the simplicity of the design. It kind of has a vibe of the new Macromedia.com design, and the little arrow highlighting the 70% image is a nice touch.

We feel the header and layout/formatting of the text is a little too simple on their own though, very similar to what we have now.

tragu

Our favourite so far. We love the layout, the colours and the use of the photo (which normally I think looks tacky and overused nowadays - but this one is spot ion). I am not sure if you did it intentionally but the tone of the orange used in the logo is slightly darker and this makes the logo look exponentially better than the bright colour it curently uses. Was it intentional - it looks good anyway .

I personally would like to see some variations on the font used for the normal text (maybe try Tahoma, Verdan/Geneva or Trebuchet MS), as well as the image text used for the 70% image (the name of that font escapes me but I am not a big fan). *Maybe* try a image text for the headers like "Who are we?" etc.

I feel that all is missing to complete this design is some minor image touches, such as some nice bullets/'>>'s'/ or customs, and some thing to complement the large areas of block colour, although nothing over the top of course.

Adil

Hi Adil! Not feeling this one for some reason. The images are not very sharp the fonts uses in the imges just do not seem to gel with the template. I would like to see something a bit more like your winning entry in my last contest, with maybe a bit of added inspiration from the muse and adrevolver sites in my first post.

Tim

Hi Tim. Similar comments to those I gave Adil. Love the footer though (althgouh only a footer should have text that small), and the angled edges of the boxes with the sites background colour is something we do very like, how ever the main content lets it down slightly.

--

Hope thats constructive enough, looking forward to volleys and new serves!

[tragu]

Hi! Dan,

Thank you your compliments

I am not sure if you did it intentionally but the tone of the orange used in the logo is slightly darker and this makes the logo look exponentially better than the bright colour it curently uses. Was it intentional - it looks good anyway .

Orange color used in the original logo looked very bright as I implemented it into the bar below the photo. So, I've played around with colors to come up the one that is there now. I glad you liked that touch

I will make necessary changes and submit modified entries soon.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[Dan Morgan]

Excellent. I have seen lots of your stuff over at SPF and always liked it. Glad I got the chance to see what you can do outside the TP!

Dan

[elements]

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the feedback, I incorrectly interpreted what you were looking for.
Here's another shot at it, let me know if this works any better.



The gray box would be the header, I left it empty to see first if you feel the layout, if you do I can continue working on it.

Thanks

[1on1]

I must say that their are some very talented peeps on here.

Here is my effort and my very first template on DO:-

[tragu]

Hi! Martin,

I'm glad to see you here in Design Outpost forums. You were one of my respected designers in WebHostingTalk.

Your design for Adrevenue.co.uk looks awsome.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[madbees]

Here's another, do you like stock photography (or any), it can be done.

[1on1]

Some changes from me :-

[Dan Morgan]

Next round

Adil

Much better. Nice choice of colours, structure and I am very happy with the custom bar graph graphic you have used. That is the sort of nice touch I am looking for, similar to the sites I listed above, so Not sure about the copy text being image based, if I put a php backend on it then it will be a problem, plus I think system text looks better for general copy anyway.

1on1

Very very nice! Colours are nice, content flows very well. Not sure about the 70% text in the middle of the header, looks like it has been plonked there for no reason. Cannot really see much of the detail due to the scale, but the logo looks weird, have you used the one supplied. The blue bar at the top does not seem to do much, I can understand it for contrast but it is a little too thick and empty especially staright after a relativel un-busy header as is typical with sites like these.

madbees Nicer, but still a little too simple and I think naviagtion tabs take away rather than give anythign from the design. texts looks like a massive block rather than with any structure or bolded headings so the user can differentiate.

--

Thanks

Dan

[tragu]

Hi! Dan,

Take a look at the updated version of the template below.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[Dan Morgan]

Hi Tragu,

Nice touches, however maybe a little similar to the graphics on one of our client and competitors sites, Adtegrity.com. On the right track though with the idea, maybe try 2 (blue and orange) similar to what Adil did in his last entry. Would like to see the a few touchs like image symbols instead of the plus '+' symbols on the left.

--

If this is the standard after only 3 or 4 days then I cannot imagine whan these are going to be like after 2 weeks!

[1on1]

Hi Dan, thanks for the feedback. I have made a few alterations:-

[tragu]

Nice touches, however maybe a little similar to the graphics on one of our client and competitors sites, Adtegrity.com. On the right track though with the idea, maybe try 2 (blue and orange) similar to what Adil did in his last entry. Would like to see the a few touchs like image symbols instead of the plus '+' symbols on the left.

Icons usually look similar since objects used in them (In my case, light bulb and eye) are used to reveal a universal idea. I don't think you site would lose its uniqueness just for having similar icons as the other sites. On the other hand, I didn't quiet get what you wanted me to change in the icon part. However, I made some changes according to your (blue and orange) idea.

I've also created simple bullets to replace "+" sign. Take a look at the modified version below.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[motiveX]

I want to jump in here, but I have a hard time creating sites that are not focused on eye appeal but more on content.

I shall give it a shot and see what I come up with though in any event.

[Dan Morgan]

1on1

Much better, much better all round! Not much more I can say on that. Nothing I would change immediately.

tragu

I see your point on the icons. Point well made. The dual colours look good, I feel like I am singling you out but I would like to see:

1. Variation on the font used for the content text. Tahoma or Trebuchet maybe.
2. The text used to say "70% changed to something a little more stylish (my opinion of course).
3. Not too keen on the bullets used, that shape seems to have been overused. Mabe a couple of >'s in orange would work.

xteriormotive

Looking forward to it

madbees

Wow, only just noticed the low opacity logo and curves in your design in the background. I studied it quite hard and but it obviously not showing up on my screen at work (15" TFT - no abnormal contrast or brightness settings ??), but it does here and I like. Very subtle and very effective

[elements]

Hi Dan,
Glad to see you liked the second version better
I made a few revisions; changed the text to web-based as well as added a few more elements.

Let me know what you think, and if there is anything in particular you'd like to see changed.

Thanks.

[motiveX]

Just a quick idea...

[tragu]

Hi! Dan,

Take a look at the template below that is modified to have the font, Trebuchet MS for the content.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[tragu]

Hi! Dan,

Take a look the template below that is modified to have the font, "Tahoma" for the content.

*Note - I personally think that "Verdana" works best and looks well-balanced.

Thank you,

T Ragu

[Dan Morgan]

elements

Very nice. Love the little touches. Iwould tweak a few font things and colours but apart from that, I like it very much!

xteriormtive

I though you said you couldn't do content based sites!!! Thats very good! Not sure about the text in the darkest of the blue rectangle, a bit too small and hard to read, but concept very good, would like to see a few variations.

Navigation (top) does not look quite right, maybe capitalise it and use a clearer font.

Normal copy text is too light to use links that dark, as it just makes the actual xopy text fade into the background. All of that I can change though, generally though very good.

tragu

I think you are right about the font. I think I would probably use a variation for the News items on the left but in general you are spot on.

--

Thanks all.

[1on1]

Hi Dan, I have made some more quick changes to the template.

[motiveX]

Here are some slight changes.

I changed the text and link colors. I also adjusted the header a bit and changed the font and sizing of the main set of navigation.

I also made the text clearer and changed the font size on the 70% area you had mentioned was hard to read.

[Tim]

Hi Dan,

I am trying something completely different from my first entry. I tried to incorporate photos with eye catching colors and a different content area style.

Tell me what you think.

Thanks,
Tim