Let me tell you a story…
Once upon a time a running group decided they wanted a new web site design. They thought that going to one of those “crowdsourcing” sites would be a great way to go because they could hold a design contest and get lots of ideas and then take a vote on which was the best. This is what they ended up with (go ahead and click on the image so you can see it in it’s full glory):
One of their group is a former client of mine who has good design sense, and she thought the site was sort of awful. She had taken the reins with the project and sent the Photoshop file asking me to keep the same basic design (since the group liked it), but to “fix it” so it looked and worked better. I realize most designers would have probably said no to the request, but I wanted to help her out and I had time in my schedule for some extra work, so… here’s the site after I spent some time on it:
It’s still sort of awful in some ways, but in several important ways it’s a much more effective site.
Fonts
There were WAY too many fonts used and almost none of them were web safe. Much of the text had drop shadows and outer glow applied which interfered with legibility. A good rule of thumb when designing a site is to keep the number of fonts to 3 or less and make your main font a web safe font so everything doesn’t have to be a graphic element. Also, be very judicious about effects applied to fonts as they can interfere with legibility.
Graphic Elements
The site was plainly over-decorated. Everything had a gradient, strange shadows inside and outside of containers, extra borders and pictures. The eye does not know where to look. Clean visual elements allow the visitor to easily process what they’re seeing so they can interact with the site in a productive way. When in doubt, keep it simple.
Clarity of message
Visitors should be able to take in a site in just a couple of seconds and have a decently clear idea of what the main message is and what you want them to do about that message. If fonts are too small, illegible or hidden within visual clutter, the message is lost. If the message is lost, it does not matter how “pretty” the design is.
And the moral of the story is…
You get what you pay for. This organization paid for a design that would have been a big, bloated, ineffective site. The person who did the original design likely didn’t know any better. When you’re just starting out, you make mistakes- it’s just part of the process.People who participate in these kinds of design contests are almost always inexperienced and mistake-prone, and the mistakes they make will often cost more than the money you saved by using a design contest site in the first place.
You can read more about crowdsourcing/spec work sites in this interesting article about design contests at Web Designer Depot.
I really do not understand what makes a font web safe?
Thanks
A font is web safe if a very high percentage (90% plus) of users have it installed on their computer. More info here at Wikipedia.
I think if that were me I would have scrapped the whole thing and started over. It’s not so much the design issues but the artifacts probably left over from all the chages you had to make are not good coding.
This was just a Photoshop design. They hadn’t even gotten to code yet. (I would have scrapped it and started over too
Your version is so much better! The original one was too cramped. I like the way you put more space between the elements and simplified everything.
I ran into a font issue last year. Evidently, I picked something that virtually nobody could read. I’m guessing only about 25% had it installed, and of course most could not read.
I know better now.
When you flick between the two sites you can immediately see which one is easier on the eyes.
I second what Sarah has said, the original was too cramped and you’ve managed to keep the overall look and removed the clutter.
Karl
Randa,
I have found one good use for those crowdsourcing design sites… they’re good for a LOT of ideas very early in the design process when you need something to start with.
I had a client with a site to do with “men’s issues”. I couldn’t get much out of him for ideas, so we went to a design contest site and for $300 had a load of concepts based around as tight a brief as I could come up with.
Out of that I got a good idea and all was well.
This was for a logo, however. A logo for a blog. I can tell you I’d never use it for a web page design, tho… that’s WAY too complex, so totally agree.
But for a simple logo for something that doesn’t matter too much and where you just need loads of very different “takes” on it, and you don’t mind throwing $300 or so at something that may deliver nothing… it’s ok!
Cheers,
-Alister
PS. Long time no blog comment
Hey Alister! I have heard of people using it for ideas as well, and it’s not a bad idea as long as you don’t choose an idea that’s been stolen from someone else and get into copyright issues or something.
Thanks for the comment!
Hi. Not sure if anyone told you this but your site looks kinda strange in my browser..
most likely several code in your design is wrong. .
I sure hope its just me and not everyone who is seeing this.
BTW I am using the Opera browser and not IE.
Im sure its really nothing but thought you should know just in case..
And oh yeah.. thank you for all the terrific website posts, I loved what I read!
Hmmm… I just checked it in Opera again on my end and it looks fine.
Great post. I got new perspective after read this article.will return again to seek new vision.
regards
Lily
It’s a really nice design, it’s simple and looks very friendly.
Your “refresh” is much more 2.0…I know it’s a stupid term, but it’s really explanatory to define a fresh, clean website
haha i had forgotten about 2.0, thats so 2008!
Wow. The “Welcome to friends in training” really stands out better now. Navigation side bar is better and the search/login bar is so much cleaner and inviting. I can see how even small changes have big impact.
I love to work designing a web site. Thank you for this information.
Wow, nice job, you have some skills, and i agree with the change of fonts, even though, i think the original design was not good, then as designers what can we do if the client has a bad taste, its a job at the end…