[nick]

Hi,

Hello to everybody, i've just joined the forum but have been lurking around for a while and found lots of helpful info.

Over the next couple of weeks i've got to redevelop the website for my Dad's business. I designed the previous site years ago when I didn't know half as much HTML (never mind web standards!) and it's in serious need of a makeover. Take a look at ....

At the time of doing the old site we were going for maximum compatibility, hence the site being all squashed up for 640x480... we're scrapping that now (and rightly so!) and going for 800x600 minimum.

Now, i'm having serious creative block in getting a new design together. I've been attempting various things over the past week and i'm at the point of tearing my hair out now

Pictures of the brochure (clickety click): 1, 2, 3

I must match the corporate image as used in their brochure, including the orange colour, as well as the font used in the logo (headings are negotiable), and the square picture blocks (I can do some slight Flash animation here perhaps). Don't even mention the use of teal text with an orange shadow on the brochure, I know it looks awful. I personally find these big blocks to get over, the minging font used for the logo (think it's Book Antiqua or something), and the rather pale and washed-out shade of orange that I have to use. Another problem is that i've been producing designs for lots of content, but have now found out he'll be pretty much sticking with the text on the old site.

So to summarise, I need to incorporate... orange, logo font, square pictures, sufficient room for text but not too much room. I'm just looking for advice here as to what to go for, and what to stay away from in terms of the design... i'm just looking for any tips to steer me in the right direction really. Any design mockups you might be able to whip together would be cool, but i'm not necessarily expecting those!

Cheers,
Nick

[pat]

In my view, the current site works well enough for the job. You want it to look simple and clean whilst in keeping with the look of the brochure - your site already does that.

Things to consider - Though the current site doesn't actually need much work, you may want to consider 1) Getting rid of Frames - instead, bring the whole site (orange rectangles etc) down and let the user scroll from the right hand side of the screen as normal, thus making it even simpler. 2)Use a simple colour-change css rollover on the navigation links, rather than fill the whole bar. These suggestions make the site simpler and easier to get around.

Also, it's directed at overseas language students - you may want to make translated versions of the site available, for the most popular languages used by visitors to the school (you could use flags to link the translated sites)

I don't think the site needs an overhaul - for me, it works perfectly well for it's purpose.

[nick]

Thanks for your comments. I agree, the site does work very well at the moment, we've had lots of comments on how easy it is to find the information you're looking for. We will keep a very similar page structure in the new site, but we feel it could look a bit more modern and incorporate the square blocks of pictures as in the brochure.

[Jay-NL]

It depends on the corporate identity you'd like to display. Sometimes a very modern website can come across as unfriendly. This is especially important for shops and service businesses, where professionality can mean something totally different than just good looks. I think in this case the design should look intelligent, and not at all flashy (containing the word Flash, see?) or overwhelming. Like a good library lady.

It think "welcoming", "friendly", "simple", "transparent" should be the (abstract) keywords here. Also, make it look like sites that people know. Almost dull - but you can use graphical elements to brighten it up, like your favourite company colours Take a look at (good) local restaurant sites, car manufacturers (volvo is a good example - with a "trustworthy" corporate image), the Google corporate website, etc.

Hope I helped you to some inspiration here. But really, the old site does the job pretty well.

[nick]

Thanks for your replies, any more comments? Really need to get the basics of a new design put together this week.

Cheers,
Nick

[nick]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but does anybody else have any comments to give? I've had a break for a week hoping that a design would just pop into my head, but it hasn't and i'm back working on this this week and don't know where to start! Just general tips as to the direction I should be heading in really...

Any replies very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Nick