falkencreative Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 Hey all. In case anyone is interested, I've been working on a site redesign (just in the mockup stages at the moment -- not a working website just yet) that I'd love to get some feedback on. It's for a high school drama department. I designed/coded their website four or five years ago -- it was one of my first "professional" websites back when I first started -- and the current website badly needs of a redesign and recode. It's amazing how much you learn in a couple years. Take a peek at the design and let me know what you think! http://bit.ly/c5EMNl
NuCoder Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 Looks good Ben! The only thing I would think maybe is add a little more detail (slightly) on the curtain background to see it better (?) Overall it's a nice and clean design.. Brian
falkencreative Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Posted October 21, 2010 Thanks for the comments. Turns out, the client wasn't happy with it at all unfortunately. They want go in a completely different (a bit tackier, unfortunately) direction.
virtual Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 Ah the eternal problem, client's tacky taste versus web designers much better taste. Unfortunately you have to give them a product that they are happy with, and if you can't live with it, don't put it in your portfolio. I have several of those, and although I could do with the exposure, the clients like to mess around and mess up the sites and I really cannot put their awful DW resulting code into my portfolio. As you said It's amazing how much you learn in a couple years.
newseed Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 You ought to search out other comparible high school drama sites and see how they match up to what they are wanting. Sometimes client thinks what's cool to them is not really cool at all after the site is finished and launched. By then, it's too late to afford a change.
falkencreative Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Posted October 21, 2010 You ought to search out other comparible high school drama sites and see how they match up to what they are wanting. Sometimes client thinks what's cool to them is not really cool at all after the site is finished and launched. By then, it's too late to afford a change. High school sites, overall, are all terribly bad. I did do a bit of research, and really didn't find any that I liked or that looked half-way professional. In this case, I think the client has a very specific idea in mind what they are wanting, but is having trouble communicating what they want. Unfortunately, it seems they expect me to be a mind-reader about what they want, which is something I'll have to work on...
newseed Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 If that is the case then have him search the net and find sites that he likes as a go by. He can also point out different functionallities from various sites that he would like to have. Otherwise, if he cannot communicate well to give you a good visual, he will have to draw something up himself to give you a clear picture. It's not always easy to get something out of your head and onto paper.
virtual Posted October 21, 2010 Report Posted October 21, 2010 It's not always easy to get something out of your head and onto paper That should make him understand what a difficult job the designer has.
dianikol85 Posted October 22, 2010 Report Posted October 22, 2010 Is it going to be a dynamic site Ben? If yes what are you goin to use? A cms or codeigniter?
falkencreative Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Posted October 22, 2010 I'll most likely use CMS Made Simple for the CMS backend.
dianikol85 Posted October 22, 2010 Report Posted October 22, 2010 You think WP could do the job as well?
falkencreative Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Posted October 22, 2010 You think WP could do the job as well? I'm sure it could. In this case, I'm going with ease of use, and I've found that CMS Made Simple is a bit easier for clients to understand.
mikecriss Posted November 1, 2010 Report Posted November 1, 2010 Well i am also working on a final project of school management system covering all the modules. Its just going to complete within next month. just going through prototype two. Its both a desktop and web based application using using .Net framework.
falkencreative Posted November 1, 2010 Author Report Posted November 1, 2010 For anyone who is interested, here is the near-final version of the design. The client's quite happy with it, and I think I was able to meet their expectations without making the design feel too cheesy. We went in a bit of a different direction and it feels a bit more fun/interesting rather than conservative/professional. http://bit.ly/93eUau
fize4ever Posted November 2, 2010 Report Posted November 2, 2010 Wow Ben! I'm stunned by your new design. I sincerely hope to reach the same level of expertise that you have one day I'd be a beast
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