A New Version of the Concept has been posted. View New Version
Concept Reviews
-
colors are bad-
-
I'm not sure why you've moved to a brand new concept. I'm guessing your client is asking for more? I think your other concepts were much stronger than this one.
I really like this page of the archives site, maybe you could pull some of this if you have to have another concept? http://www.archives.gov/nae/
Notes Added to Images View
-
1Browns
There are too many browns in this design, I recommend you choose another color to complement this to break it up a little.
-
2Logo
There is a different logo in each of your drafts. Are you also redesigning their logo? I personally think this one is weak. I live in DC area and have been to this building a few times. I would not recognize the building from any other building in DC (except the capital and white house of course). I think the other two logos are stronger.
-
3Stand Out
With all the browns and lack of border around this area, it seems to be blending into the rest of the page. I did prefer the other two "feature" areas
-
4Keep Tweaking
I'm like where you're going with these little feature boxes, but I don't think you're quite done yet. I would play with borders, shading, or playing with the titles here to make them feel a little more finished.
-
5separation
I think these areas need some separation and definition from one another. Like the rest of the page, everything seems to just blend together.
-
6Logo II
If you choose to keep this logo, I would try this as a test: Make your logo the same light brown that the titles of this nav bar are. Make the nav bar a little taller and have the logo/homepage link be the first part of the bar. So scooch over the categories and put the logo where "research our collections" currently sits.
-
-
Currently there are only 5 menu items but I'm sure that these will change or expand.
Today's Document, Featured Exhibit - Title and unrelated graphics seem dull boring and does not engage with content that describes whats going on.
The page background images seem to enhance the theme but sadly in more than 50% of the cases it would be hidden for people using 1024x768 screen resolution.
Your design will improve many folds if you try and focus on what users to such a site might actually be looking for or excite them; content is the key to any website's success the visual design is usually temporary.
I dont know why you posted another design @ http://www.conceptfeedback.com/concept/3751/gov-agency-site-redesign/ But this is version is awesome far far better.
-
I too saw a previous iteration of this one. That may skew this review, but, I'm liking this one better.
"Democracy Starts Here" has decreased in prominence to where I think it strikes the right balance now. The three buttons underneath it, they draw my attention. Now you've given me some idea of what you want me to click on: if I like documents, try today's; if I like exhibits, try today's; and if I like browsing, ta daa there it is.
I'm not sure there's a solution to the mild problem I see: the three buttons divide the space into 3 equal columns, and the area underneath divides it into 3 unequal columns (and the 2-column section below that matches the latter (good)). There seems to be yet a third alignment paradigm in your phat-footer; THAT needs a tweak.
People are harping on your color choice, but it's not awful. I think the successes of this layout may be somewhat color-independent, though. You could make it blue again, and that would be more "American." There IS a little too little contrast between the white box that contains your content and the ghosted constitution in the background. It makes for an indefinite or indistinct line there... not ideal.
But overall this is tight work. As a visitor I very very much appreciate that you've given me some fun options for what to do first.
-
I think that the main image: NationalArchivesWebsite_C.jpg is the best of the lot.
You've steered it away from too much brown, introduced the blues, which looks nice, and used the "star logo" which looks cleaner and less distracting, in my opinion, than the other logo option.
The site looks easy to navigate, and given the nature of an archive site, some reading and careful attention will be required anyway/ The most common options/links seem to be available with little effort.
In short, I like it! Good job.
-
You know, you seem to have accomplished what you set out to do, based on your notes about the project.
The amount of information is well balanced, and I like the white space. Altogether, it just looks good, because it is not as busy and overcrowded as all the other web sites that deal with politics (and I've seen my fair share of those).
So I think you hit the nail on its head. Nicely done.
