Team Photoshop Site Design Competition Thread!

Thanks for the entry Snore.

To me, it is missing something, and not edgey enough to represent Team Photoshop. Also, the brief says the deisgn should look good on a 800x600 - that includes the ad codes, both ideally should be towards the top of the page.

Take a look here at a site we will be launching in the next couple of months:
http://www.scriptslab.com/index.htm
The design gives identity, is clear, incorporates the ad sizes and will fit on 800x600+ (although we need to modify the code to remove the far right column on 800x600 screens). Background and text colour contrast also needs to be improved... By you can see the level of quality I am aiming for I hope.

It is a simple design, but it is clean and clear and fitted my specific brief for that project. The TPS brief is different, and we'll probably be looking for something which shows off some Photoshop design work better.

Anyway, thanks for your entry!

Rich

[QUOTE=zyconium]I was just thinking that you might want to be careful with the amount of google ads you put around on your main page, you don't want to put your percentage down, maybe thats why some were removed ? just a thought! maybe just one set on the main page, and others in "high traffic" areas where they'll be easily seen ?like at the bottom of tutorials etc.[/QUOTE]


Hey Zyc, I removed them when I took over, and yes, the click thrus' for the adsense ads have gone up a lot, in then end we may not have a second banner, but at this stage it is in my plans. We may opt for a series of small buttons sold on the site on a month to month basis across the top of the site.

Image

Here's my first idea. It breaks the 800 limit by 49 pixels, but that can be easily fixed. My other complaint right now is the content design might be lacking some contrast. Still a work in progress.

The style is clean/bright with a focus on info. Ive included 3 variations of the logo, and a few color samples. The header pretty much can be made any color and still work reasonably well.

I also added a header image. My idea behind this is to make the site more interactive, by having members collaborate on a monthly header. We could pick a theme, post a PSD here and whoever wants to add to it can....kinda bringing home the "team" idea. If anything it would provide interest/originality.


Edit:

Revised Copy

Hey Rodder,

I like that lot. It's very clean and professional.

Here are my suggestions:

I would move the 728x90 banner to just below the main masthead with the links, align it to the right, so it lines up with the 120x600 and fill the space to the left of the 728x90 with ??? Maybe a text box which links to our advertising details.

I can see the template can be easily fixed to accomodate the 800x600 screens.

The featured image idea is good, you have a very original idea there I think... It would be simple to add a featured image from one member but a collaborated image sounds a bit different and more interesting.

I would have preferred to see a larger section allocated to news, keeping it on the left -width is OK, but just longer - much like a blog. I dislike the iframe scrolling concept for news.

For the Tutorial links. I think all of the links to the latest tutorials need to be formatted as you have done with the featured tutorial - so there is more information rather than just a link.

If the news did flow down the left of the site there would be scope to increase the width of the right information column (tutorial spotlight etc...) after you got past the 120x600 banner. A wider column on the right could then accomodate recent posts, a a member gallery spotlight or anything else. So by that I mean running the tutorial spotlight to the bottom of the 120x600 then creating a cell the width of the tutorial spotlight+the 120x600.

Anyway, the feedback from me is it's a great design, very clean... A little plain - but that is the beauty of it I think. It will be interesting to see how this design stands up against some of the flasher designs which may or may not appear.

I think the design of rodder lacks some eyecandy... Someone has to pour some beautiful graphics over it or something. It definitely is on the good track though.

Yeah I hate iframes myself. The only upside to them is they keep the nav/other elements still in view, so you don't scroll the main page.

I've added some of your suggestions. I'll post the link in my above post, so not to mess up the thread with a million links. I also added a background color, which gives the content the contrast it needed, so it now "pops".

Nice revisions. Thanks for taking the time! It's a strong entry. Another good point it that it is very easy to skin too

Lol - just check the design again Rodder - still think it's great... feeling pumped about the direction of TPS... But still looking forward to seeing other entries - this is a competition after all - may the best design win!

That also wouldn't have to be an iframe, you can set a scroller property with CSS.

snore, you have some good ideas in your layout but there's no cohesiveness to it, the navigation seems to be a separate element while all of your content areas are separate elements. pay attention to where things line up, what's aligned with what, etc., and try to get those different things to relate to each other visually.

chris

OK, just a few days left to get your entries in... So far we have had 3... Two in the threads and one by PM...

... Any more???