Project #1 Prelim

[Instructor]

Hm. Looks like we've got two similar looking designs that share the same strengths and weaknesses. I'll be critiquing them as one since they are so similar.

Design 1 & Design 2

Both designs have very bold layouts and easy to use and follow navigation. They place their product pictures front and center. I have no problem finding my way around both pages and would find it easy to get around on those sites.

Unfortunately they both suffer from a lot of issues at this point. First, I'm not sold on the black, teal, and purple color scheme. I'd recommend picking black and one of either teal or purple and using tints and shades of that color throughout.

Dominant navigation is a plus, but I'm afraid your may be dominating your content. Shrink your navigation text down a bit and move it up to clear the bottom of your navbar.

I would recommend left aligning your bodycopy and using bold sparingly. Less is more.

I also concur with the class that you need a stronger logo. Right now it looks like another piece of type. Make sure it stands out and is obvious about what it is.

I really like the strong use of photographs in your design. Keep it up and keep 'em front and center. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Conclusion

It might seem like I'm really bagging on your designs here, but I'm not. You've got some good bones here and if you hang the right meat on 'em your site can shine. Play with your navigation hierarchies, typography, and color and you could have a real winner here.

[wysiwyg]

You don't really have two different designs to me. So I don't have a preference for either. I'm not digging your font choices. They don't seems to work with anything. and I find the colors obnoxious, but that's just me. I would play around a bit more with those...

[nelso220]

I think color wise I'm liking the first one more.

I'd play with your type more. Like Kyle said, the typography is a bit cramped. Maybe make the menu buttons on the top a little bit smaller? : )

[shgc13]

I like the second design a little better than the first one. I think I would ad some kind of logo to the top title. I might play with color scheme as well to see if any other colors work. Good job.