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The design is getting there. It has vibrant colors, it is organized, it feels trustworthy. But, as Coco Chanel said once: "When accessorizing, always take off the last thing you put on" (http://www.iwise.com/lLceR). Based on this quote I would:
1 - Get rid of the two gray/blue lines. The don't add anything to the design. They have no purpose. These lines are actually making your page busy and less attractive.
2 - As most of designers suggested on this tread: place the connect with us links at the footer. I would suggest this website for the icons: http://www.iconfinder.net They have very colorful and interesting icons for social network.
3 - Left align the contents of the boxes. It is harder for the human brain to organize information that doesn't have an invisible line suggesting continuation or structure.
4 - Unify the photos in the boxes. The photos look too different from each other: they have different look and feel. On this website, the designer gave a unified look to his thumbnails by making them monochromatic: http://www.mikemcquade.com/ These guys here (link bellow) gave the thumbs a very thick border and and a subtle drop shadow (bottom of the page): http://www.saraverochepinocchio.it/
5 - I don't think you need buttons at the base of the boxes as you have now. Again "... always take off the last thing you put on." Since each box has a line dividing the contents from the "explore" button, get rid of the button and make the whole base of the box, under the line, a color that slightly darker than the box background. Ex: on the green box the base would be a darker green.
6 - Make the labels more significant. Everything says "explore". Ask your copywriter to come up with nicer wording.
8 - Put a splash of colors on "News and Events" and the columns underneath it. The top of the website is so colorful in comparison to the rest of the page. You should try placing some very simple 2D icons for each column underneath News and events. Be careful or the final effect could be a disaster.
9 - The woman with the eyeglass is kind of creepy. I would find another picture for that one.
Cheers!
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Archives-Home.jpg
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1
Love the logo
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2
Maybe make the search box rounded, and the border a lighter color? also I would lose the '>' after the 'Go'
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3
News Navigation Usability
I would maybe put a forward & back button here so people can cycle within the news.
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4
Social Links
Maybe put this in the header, after contact us link to free up a little space
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5
Align the 5 columns
I would align the 5 columns (except the 'Connect with us' links) with the colored boxes above to make the layout more uniform.
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6
Verteran Photo
I am a graphic designer for military agencies, and they are nutty about showing one service over another. I would recommend not showing with this picture. Instead, perhaps, show the very tops of the military seals - in this order - army, marine corps, navy, air force (date they were 'started') you can download them here http://www.defense.gov/multimedia/web_graphics/
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7
Too young
I would use a teacher here, not a student.
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8
subtle
I would use a more subtle color here. it is competing with the other colors on the page
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9
No gradient
I love this news and events feature. I would try to not have a gradient on it. If you want to stick with the gradient, maybe pull the same effect you have on the "connect with us" icons? Or use the gel styling you have on the buttons above?
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10
Texture
could you put a very (very) light texture in the back - similar to some of your other concepts? I think it would really add to the dimension of this design.
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11
The coloured columns
I love these columns. They stand out, and let people know that they are the main part of the site. They also have nice pictures
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12
The bottom links
I have seen these showing up more recently, and they work really well. If you dont want to go to one of the main 5 links, then there is more choice for you down here! Not only that, but you have done them really nicely too.
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13
The rounded corners
These also add a huge amount to a design, and yours haven't failed to do that.
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14
I dont like the logo
I dont know if you want to, but I think the logo could be better, even if it is just a modernised version, it would make the site fully complete
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15
I dont like this bar
The actual bar is fine, it is just the fact that it goes all the way to the edges that makes it look slightly less good than it could. If you chopped off about 20px both ends, and put rounded corners on, it would look amazing
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16
Shop online horizontal alignment needs to match
Apart from I think all this text should be left aligned. Also all the boxes need to match in their horizontal alignment. Shop Online is currently higher than all the other boxes.
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17
body copy in boxes to move down a bit
The body copy feels very tight to the headings in the boxes. If you get rid of the bottom separated area with the button and incorporate the entire box as a 'button' then the body copy can move down and have more space to breathe. This will also help the headings to have more impact and to stand alone a little more which helps their readability and useability
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18
columns all unequal down here
I can see how difficult this is to solve but it bothers me right now that all the columns in the bottom look to have unequal column widths.
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19
Contrast
I would have buttons with a little more contrast to stand out from the background.
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20
Lighter background
i would choose a lighter background to improve text readability.
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21
5 Columns
Try to reduce one column and then align all 5 columns with the columns on the top. It will give a more organized look to your layout. Think of the 5 columns as a grid to your website and follow them to make all things match together.
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22
aligned
Align the logo to the beginning of the first column and the end of the logo should be aligned with the end of the second column
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23
search box
You can improve your search box by increasing the height and by choosing a lighter border. Also remove the symbol ">" from Go button. Also you can separate search box and go button and align them this way: search box align with the beginning of the fourth column and go button aligned with the end of the last column. Increase with of the search box accordingly.
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24
Lighter background
improve readability but choosing a lighter background.
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25
line
remove this line.. it will give a more lighter look to your layout.
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26
news title
the end of the news title should match the end of the first column
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27
explore buttons
why not the customization of the word explore. it's the same in all columns and it would be better if could have a more friendly message.. even better if the message could be different for all columns.
Thank you for your very insightful and helpful comments. Regarding your first point, the following has been argued. Please let me know if you agree or disagree!
• The top divider grounds the logo and search box and creates a smooth transition between the header and navigation. The tops of the nav buttons are “lumpy” and need the line to smooth them out. • The bottom divider is definitely necessary—it demarcates the division between the footer items and the rest of the page. Otherwise, the footer links would feel like they were free-floating in space. • Taken together, the two subtly and neatly define the middle content zone of the page and I think the beige version strikes a nice balance between being forceful enough to “do the job” of defining the space properly while still being subtle enough to not be in your face.
Looking forward to your thoughts on those assertions!