Project 1 Preliminary Critique - Rebecca Baumann

[re8ecca]

Hello,

I invented a company called The Caveat Emptorium, which sells "miracle" cures for authors suffering from the dreaded writer's block. Caveat emptor means "let the buyer beware" in latin.

I tried two different looks for the logo and website. For the first design I styled the logo as a vintage typewriter keyboard, and used a fairly muted color palette to evoke the old-time feel.

For the second design I went for a wackier, modish look with an eye-popping color scheme.

[brianfreemantmcc]

I love the style of your first look, but I think it needs some alignment tweaks. Im excited to see this online! Very fun style!

[UnKool Moe Dee]

Rebecca,

I really like the logo and color scheme of the first layout. As a suggestion for the logo, I don't think the lines or "arms" in the logo should come down as far on the page and the circles and letters should be a little bigger. I understand the proportions are modeling a typewriter's, it seems like too much white space right now. The color scheme for the first also works better with the subject matter, which is serious business. I hate writer's block. I also hate artist's block. I really hate when you have them together at the same time.

Aharon

[donnalouwho]

I love them both, Rebecca! Very clever. If I had to choose however, I would choose the first. I love the typewriter graphic and the colors are awesome. I also love the clean design and simplicity of the navigation. Nicely done!

[markp]

very clever concept, and great word-play. with the buyer beware message and the old timey look of the bottle, it reminds me of the snake oil salesmen of the old west. I love the boldness of the second design. its like a pepto-bismal ad, which seems appropriate for the product. I like thew color scheme of the first one as well, but the second one grabbed my attention right away and made me curious. they are both really fun designs

[Alexey]

I very like your second one. Great job with colors and layout positioning. Design by itself is very interesting and catches my eye. Also like the letters on the header in the first design. Great work!

[Instructor]

"Caveat Emptorium" Ooof, the puns are flying fast and furious with this one. Have any of these curatives been tested and approved by the FDA? "For chapters lasting longer than four hours ..."

I like the typewriter design the best. It has a fun 30's deco feel to it and seems like it could be taken a number of different directions. It has great use of color and typography to give a fun affectation. I'd recommend playing around with a glossy or metallic brass texture on the "typewriter keys" as well as a slight drop shadow moved well away from the "keys" to give it depth. See how it looks with and without the textures. I also concur with Aharon to maybe enlarge the "keys" a little. Play with a slight paper texture on the background as well.

On your inner page, I'd do the other product listings at the bottom in circles to keep up with the "keys" theme you've got going on.

The second has a very 90's Nickelodeon quality to it and proves to me that you saw plenty of You Can't Do That On Television way back when. Useful, but just not as neat as the old 30's look on the first set.

Nice work!