ZoomConcept Reviews
Minor Problem this only ever looks good in print wrong type of icons for this site - don't download them create them yourself! Serious Problem If you can please change the font of this logo, it's just bleugh! Maybe the 'charly' would be better in orange as opposed to that red, or try a warmer shade of red Great idea but you will confuse people - KISS - Keep it simple stupid personally, I preferred the older font - looks more sophisticated! this shadow is too heavy, plus it doesn't reflect the rest of the shadows on the page - consistency is the key padding - it is required here All these shadows are of different weights - %'s - consistency! too close this doesn't fit to the grid and looks odd here! Critical Problem Also remember to keep columns of proportionate size, if you are coding it all yourself it can be done, but can look a little messy Summary:
Charles,
You have done a pretty fab job here and I love the characters, of the famous dudes, however a few nitpicks, see my notes…
I like the site and the footer is pretty sharp, and funky so good work…
Good Luck!
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Rebecca Perry commented:I agree - I think it's a huge improvement from the last concept. nice work Charles!
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Aaran Casey commented:Yes I have a few ideas on the logo, but I don't do spec work… Whomever, you decide upon to redesign the logo, make sure they post it here so that we can help and review it…
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Charles Carlini commented:
I've posted a couple of more newly designed pages for our interviews and reviews sections. While I'm not completely sold on the layout of these pages, I was wondering if you could offer some feedback or recommendations.
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Aaran Casey commented:
Charles - The new logo's are ok, it's not the icon so much as the typography, I think you really need to make it history centric (if that's a plausible word)… from what I understand the site is about the movers and shakers in history, so maybe the typography should be retro - try some fonts from here www.losttype.com
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Minor Problem I don't like the colours and typography in this logo. Too static, no fun. -
Charles Carlini commented:
The logo is currently being revised as of this writing. I will post it here once I receive the first drafts so you may comment it on it.
No need to cut the background like this here. Let it spread under the menu. Too many frames here. Would be nice if they weren't necessary. -
Charles Carlini commented:
True. Just noticed it. I will either remove the shadow or frame. Thanks.
Serious Problem Make it more clear that this is an ad. People don't like to be cheated into reading ads that pretend to be real content. -
Charles Carlini commented:
On it. Thanks.
Positive Feature good drawing
I like the cartoon-style portrait of Dali.About the new logo
I think that the image is unnecessary here, it adds more detail and distracts from the nice illustration that you have (more please!).New Idea on Simply Charly Logo.png 1 This is enough for your logo. It looks quite nice. Skip the illustration, it's too detailed for a logo and not very readable. Summary:
Good that you wanted to make a website more fun for youth, but there is a lot of fun to be added here. The design is still a grid comparable to every other news portal, like Yahoo or something. Recently http://carbonmade.com/ has redesigned their homepage to "add more fun", maybe you can find some inspiration there. They removed all frames and borders and made it much more colourful - a way to go.
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Charles Carlini commented:
Thank you Ania for your excellent points.
We've flirted with the idea in the past of making our site alot "more fun" until we learned who our core audience was from our demographic studies. Most of our visitors are college students and professors who come to our site chiefly for our exclusive content. So we made a conscious effort to straddle both worlds by injecting some "fun" and at the same time giving it more seriousness by offering "highbrow" content.
So my reservations of making the site "more fun" in the manner you've shown us with the example of http://carbonmade.com/ may turn away the very audience we've cultivated after 3 years.
Moreover, shooting for an audience like Yahoo's isn't such a bad goal. Is it?
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Minor Problem on Simply Charly Logo.png 1 not crazy about the jumbled letters 2 as a whole, the length of the logo is really wide Positive Feature on Simply Charly Logo.png 1 I like the use of the underline as it gives that needed separation between the tag line Summary:
Hi Charles - Regarding the logos, I would have to say I like #2. And mainly because it cuts down n the total width of the logo itself. With that said, what I like about #1 is the use of underlines under the text. I don't care for the "movers" or "shakers" how the letters are scrambled the way they are. I think it's too much.
What I like about the original logo is the playfulness of the boy behind the apple. It meshes well with the whole theme of the site. These newer versions seem to take on a more serious note...know what I mean? My strengths are definitely not typography and logos, so I wish I could give more feedback.
please see my notes....
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Charles Carlini commented:
Thank you Rebecca...
The reason I began exploring other options for our logo is twofold. Firstly, several designers felt that the font type of our current logo was not great. It needed a new style. And secondly, that our core audience are college level students and professors. But our logo looks like it's geared more toward kids K-12.
So I hope to receive more feedback from others so i can tweak it some more.
Again, many thanks for your feedback.
Charles
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Rebecca Perry commented:
anytime! :-)
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Summary:
As for the screen shot on the left: engaging graphics, well organized, and interesting concept.
Who are those "experts"? I don't recognize any of them although they're probably dummy photos just for the layout concept -but you might identify them by name.
Would like to see an About Us on the home page.
The second (black) page seems a little disjointed from the other page - but are these two separate concepts? If so, the one with the S. Dali quote looks much more inviting.
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Charles Carlini commented:
1) Visitors to the live site will instantly know what we're about as the main panel with the caricature of Salvador Dali that is now displayed will rotate between several images one of which will unpack what it is that we offer. I'm even toying with the idea of creating an animated video to introduce us. So we're on it.
2) Although not apparent as it's only a screenshot, when one hovers over the image of the EXPERT a bubble will appear telling the visitor who the expert is. See example here http://screencast.com/t/oAXDOGo04
3) The second (black) screenshot is our footer.
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Summary:
Hi Charles, before I give feedback, how are people coming to this site? From Google?
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Charles Carlini commented:
Yes Joost. We rank very high on Google's search results for certain keywords already. Also, our reviews and interviews show up on the very first page of a Google search.
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Joost Wentink commented:Hey Charles, And what are those keywords?
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Charles Carlini commented:
Beside our name, other key words are "Great Historical Figures," and "Leading Historical Figures." Also, key in any of the scholars' names we've interviewed plus their area of focus and we come up on top of Google's search results.
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Joost Wentink commented:
Charles, I signed up on your site. I like the concept. I think the content could come out stronger on the homepage. If people are searching for info regarding "Leading Historical Figures", what conversion do you get today, how many sign-up, explore content? I would show three historical figures making sure two are known by everyone, and use some of your videos directly on the homepage (by the way here the videos are blocked http://simplycharly.com/godel/video.htm). hope that helps
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Charles Carlini commented:
Joost - I think you're missing the point here. I'm redesigning our site completely. Nothing from the old site will be retained except for its content. So I'm looking to tweak the new layout which I've posted here on this board.
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Joost Wentink commented:
Sorry, the feedback is regarding your new design on this board. I went to your site to understand a bit better what's offered. I think some of your videos directly on your homepage would show people right away what content you have to offer.
just trying to help......
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Summary:
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Rebecca Perry commented:
leaving 5 blank reviews just so you can post your concept will not go over well in this community.
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Pushpander Singh commented:As you know i am new in this community so i really don't know how things goes here.i just wanted to post my concept just that's why i left the blan review but now onwards its not gonna happen..
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Serious Problem Search button
I know that you're trying to be creative with the search button but it just isnt practical-
Charles Carlini commented:
It may not be practical, but I'm willing to wager that it will prompt more people to search our site - significantly. I've tested it already on another site and the heat map metrics indicated that our site's visitors searched 3 times more than previously with this simple twist. And isn't that justification enough for it's use?
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Tpecnoc Kcabdeef commented:There's search and search. Do you know what user think ? Are they actually searching for something or just trying out the button.
Positive Feature ask the expert??
i dont understand why you have dedicated a large chunk for ask the expert. I would remove the photos of all the people and maybe go for an animated design of an illustrated professor who looks like einstein-
Charles Carlini commented:
Although not apparent as it's only a screenshot, when one hovers over the image of the EXPERT a bubble will appear telling the visitor who the expert is. See example here http://screencast.com/t/oAXDOGo04
Summary:
Overall i like your top half of the website. But i think that you should keep the theme more consistent by going for an animated feel. Right now I dont feel like the website is giving out the whole fun side of history that you are trying to give out.
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Serious Problem It took me quite a while until I understood what the site is all about. -
Charles Carlini commented:
It's not evident yet from the screenshots we've posted, but the main panel on the home page will have one frame that will unpack what the website is all about.
I don't understand why the search button is positioned that way. Positive Feature Teaser is great
As soona s I understood what the site is about, I find the teaser a great eye catcherSummary:
The layout and structure is clear and looks inviting to browse.
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Thank you Aaran for your incisive comments. They are very helpful.
I'm currently seeking a designer to re-conceptualize our logo. As it stands now, the logo looks like it's aimed at grade schoolers. But our site attracts college students, professors and other academics. So we need the logo to reflect that demographic. It needs to be serious but at the same time whimsical in keeping with our site's overall feel and look.
Any ideas?