GRC 275 Learning and Discussion Forum

The product that I am selling is Vintage Women Sunglasses. I focused on colors that would attract the female audience. Also, I wanted my designs to be simple with a creative/elegant feel. Here you go...

The FIrst Design:
I think the flat purple makes the site look a bit unfinished. Im also not sure about the banner for the navigation, it will be difficult to code that when it comes to it so I wouldn't go down that road. I like the close up of the sunglasses I think adding more photos of people wearing them would be better. Let people imagine they are wearing them. Just look at popular fashion sites they always have people modeling their merchandise.

The Second Design:
The main thing with any fashion website is lots of photographs with people wearing whatever it is you are selling. I think incorporating that would make your site much stronger. Get cool photos of models posing with sunglasses would really improve the visuals of the site. On the second page if the site where you have 6 sunglasses listed out I think you should keep going with that concept. Grid layouts are all the rage atm so just keep going and make each product stand out. Think http://fab.com/ for sunglasses.

I like the inner layout page of the first one, (the girl and the 3 on top) and combine that with the bottom layout. I think the teal is fresh and fun.

Tina,

I cant decide which one has more potential. I defiantly like the header and navigation portion of the first design. I think the purple is too powerful tho. I like the soft teal color of the second it goes with your elegant logo. Im digging the frames around the shades in the second design, it relates back to your logo and gives continuity. I like the design of the first layout and the color and the fancy stuff from the second. Hope this helps.

Joshua

I like the first one. I dont thing the white background works. Also, the illustrations mixed with photos dont mix well

I like the second layout a bit more, even though both are pretty nice design. The ribbon in the first design is pretty cool, but like Kyle said, it may create some difficulty when coding it. So, if you like the ribbon idea, maybe you can try to place your logo into your ribbon as one graphic in your header, and place the navigation buttons from the second design above or below the header image?

As for the content page, I like the second design more, and since you have all the glasses in a block/uniform style, maybe you can create a shelves-like kind of graphic and rest the glasses on top of them? It will give the feeling of us actually being in the store browsing the glasses on the shelves...Or have some kind of container for the set of glasses on the page, just so it doesn't feel like it's floating.

I like the second design but the frames around the sunglasses confuse my eye. Am I looking at the frames or the sunglasses? What if you used that frame design as a background for the sunglasses, maybe lower the opacity and played around with that somehow, or maybe just a section of the design instead of the whole thing...

I really like your second design with the light turquoise green you choose, it would help bring women's eyes to your product which is your target audience. Also, would work if a man would take a look at the site also for gift wise. keep working with what you have I think on this design and it could be a great website.

I like the banner style navigation of the first design, and agree with Kyle that bringing in more imagery of people wearing the product would create more interest. I think with the dominant imagery you could keep you background very simple and rely on images and type.

Hm. Interesting choice of directions.

Design 1

A high concept, high contrast mix of curves and squares. I like the ribbon navigation and the top banner typography. I think that the layout below the banner clashes a bit with the swooping ribbon and script type above. Also, I think purple is an awfully strong color for what you are going for here. If you want to use such strong colors, I'd recommend a black background with the design in white atop it.

Design 2

A super clean design. I like the use of the victorian pinstripe flourishes and light blue gradient. It presents the product cleanly and attractively. Unfortunately, I think the layout below the top banner is a little plain. It needs more pictures and a tighter layout. It seems a little loose and broken up right now. I would include pictures of the sunglasses being worn and make sure your typography reflects you top banner. This design has real promise though.

Conclusion

I'd say your second design has better upside. It's cleaner and uses contrast much better. As for the layout, research how a lot of fashion websites do it and then steal liberally. You've got a potentially very strong website on your hands here.