Mark Ong

Firstly, this is an excellent design concept. The illustration s brilliant and very original!

My biggest gripe is that it looks more like a poster/flyer than a website. Reason being the lack of an apparent form of site navigation (i understand the main call-to-action is to submit and/or signup) and a strong footer to complement.

What I'd really love to do is not layout so many screenshots at a go. Perhaps some form of carousel would keep it a little cleaner, focused and more "interactive" (allowing the user to cycle through the various screens).

To take the concept one step further and keeping with the fun and simple branding that you've set out to achieve, you could introduce something playful as indicators for the "Before" and "After" instead of the diagonal ribbon on the top right. Perhaps a little "Duh!" vs "Wow!" kind of smilie.

More details in the notes.

Hi Steven,

Page 1:

• Remove icon rather large. Consider a smaller icon and text but have it in red (commonly associated with "cancel")
• Changing the quantity is a little strange. Consider a little "add more" button below the final price
• Bring the total price up (don't leave it on a separate row). If a user has multiple items, the borders and rows might add confusion in future
• Have all the delivery notice, etc in a separate (maybe very pale yellow) box and slightly smaller. This will call enough attention but not take up too much space as they're not critical to the actual checkout process.
• I'd like to have the "Continue Shopping" button below the checkout but a smaller button like you've done. Its always good to solicit more sales. Now it looks a little lost on the left

Page 2

• General form layout is ok. My personal preference is to align labels to the right so that its nearer the input field
• As others have indicated, the add a delivery address part is a little strange. Consider showing fields for delivery address with a checkbox above it to say "Delivery address same as billing address". On check, populate with same data from billing address

Page 3

• My only concern is how the entire invoice would look if you have multiple items. I'd relook into the typography, spacing and general placement of all the information.

Hi Julio,

Overall nice looking site with suitable colors. As others have pointed out, might want to have the logo stand out a little more.

My main comments are with regards to the main graphic (banner):

• doesn't look clickable (or is it supposed to be clicked?)
• if it is meant to be clickable, include a strong call-to-action button to direct the user
• a little more intro text for each type of function to further offer a unique selling point of your client's as compared to his competitors
• instead of squeezing all 4 sections together, might want to introduce tabs or some form of rotating banners. This allows you to showcase the nice photography that you have, as well as provide more space for text and buttons. I'm thinking of something like https://aim.nextjump.com/ or http://expressionengine.com/

Hi Ilan,

Firstly, I must commend you on your effort, considering that you don't come from a design background.

HTML emails are really tricky to design, and even trickier to code properly.

I can't really point to any one thing in particular regarding this layout but do bear the following pointers in mind:

• Take for granted that most email received will have images disabled by default
• designing for above-the-fold is even more critical for HTML email. Consider having links/anchors near the top to summarize the various sections of each issue, like a table of contents
• Keep your grid really rigid for easier development later on. What I mean by this is do not have unbalanced rows and columns for your content area.
• If you're using an ESP to deliver your newsletters, do consider using their Forward Friend function for a broader reach
• Factor in an online version for those that may not be able to view the email properly
• Remember to factor in CAN-SPAM compliance stuff such as your company's physical address, unsubscribe link, and a short liner on where the recipients email was gotten from and why they're receiving this newsletter.

Lastly, I have to partially disagree with you that fancy graphics are not necessary. An engaging email (whether visual or through content) is of utmost importance or you might find many recipients dropping out of your mailing list.

Your attention to detail is excellent with all the subtle highlights and shadows mimicking a light bevel.

I'd like to bring more attention to the Total Time portion which seems like an afterthought and left up there in the blue bar. I believe in terms of usability and information, the total time spent would be important and should therefore, warrant its own highlighted row in the table (either at top, bottom or both), with a larger, bolder font to really shout "Total!".

Lastly, the background color for the cells containing the individual times are a little too similar to the panel's outlining border color. From a visual point of view, this makes your data table "fade away" to the right side of the panel. I personally don't think you need to have a different color there, just have it the same color as its sibling cell as all data contained on that row are related anyway.

Great layout and totally excellent typographical choices. Clean and clear, as what a homepage should be.

Only thing I'd really like to change is the text alignment of the footer links (the keywords in the very bottom panel next to the newsletter signup). Left aligning them would be easier to scan. In addition, besides your main content area for the homepage, I assume everything else including the inner pages would be left aligned.

Other minor and totally non-critical stuff:

• Screenshots (ok, somewhat critical): kind of comes across as very "templatish"
• Footer logo: full color and looks the same size as the main site logo, could "down" it a little (smaller or 2 tone)
• Repeated navigation at the bottom: I get what you're trying to do here for ease of use, but when you scroll to the bottom, it may seem like the header is repeating itself again. Could be less similar to the top nav, or less prominent.

Nice clean layout.

Only gripe is the header are is too tall. The space there distracts the eyes from the main content, which is the most important aspect of your website.

Also if you're intending to sell this design, you might need to do something about the H1 (About Me). Using an image as a header negatively impacts a website (in SEO, accessibility, etc).

Sorry but this just isn't working.

I suggest you plan out how your site will work first, before how it'll look.

Looking at the mock up, I (or any user) would have hardly any idea what the site is about, how it'll benefit the user, and what to do next.

Hi Lee,

I'd like to move the tag line (You need help with...) up somewhere below the logo and navigation. Thus when someone visits the site, the immediate questions are answered:

• Who you are (logo)
• What you do (tag line)
• What you've done (portfolio)
• Why you (this should be your set of call-to-action buttons)

Also currently, the set of buttons look lost together with the portfolio piece. I'd suggest a simple strong button to lead visitors to the next landing page, then further filter them out into your various pages for each type of service.

I like the 1st layout better as its neat and easier to scan.

Only thing I'd change is some stronger headers to clearly define and differentiate each section. Perhaps through color or background color. Also, a little more bottom margin after each content piece.

Check out www.marthastewart.com. Probably one of the best designed lifestlye portal / online magazine out there for inspiration.

Overall, love the clean look and layout. Works excellently with the good strong images.

Some tweaks I'd make is to shift the logo to the left and give it more space around it so that it stands out a little more.

The renderings for the background image are a nice touch, but may get stale after some time.

For the 4 main images on the home page, I'd either shorten the height so that the headers are immediately visible without too much scrolling, or shift the headers to the top.

Lastly (sorry, don't understand the language), I'd like to give the bottom portion where the text is and slideshow (I assume) a 1/3 2/3 column instead of 2 rows.

Oh, and you're missing a footer.

Since these are the points you're looking for, here they are:

Structure I assume you mean layout of the homepage and not the actual site structure? As what Steven has mentioned, you're talking on about what the software can do, but not how it would benefit, or even be important to a visitor. You're not selling them the "why" aspect of the product enough.

Color Color scheme is fair. Of the 3, my preference is the blue based one.

Brand Strength Besides the logo, don't see much strong branding elsewhere. What happens when a visitor goes to a subpage? Where would the logo be then? Use the headers to re-emphasize the brand as well (eg using the same or similar type as the logo).

Effectiveness of design Again, its not so much of design here, but rather content. Nothing wrong with the layout per se, but nothing really pushing a visitor to click / view / try / buy. I may be wrong though when the site goes live and you monitor the heat map or analytics.

Stick with convention here: align your text to the left.

The main content is fine, though a little wordy. However, consider left aligning the headers and text on your footer. This will give your footer grid some better definition.

Like the overall clean layout and clear separation of content areas.

Only gripe is that there's too much "articles" on the landing page. Would probably drop it down to 3 max for each category (under the green, red orange and blue headers).

Firstly, I love the main focal point: great imagery and an obvious call-to-action (though the button could look a little more like a "button").

The user account information is too similar to the contact information on the left. Differentiate that a little with some clever use of typography. This is the most important information of the user for this site and should be immediately "scannable".

Frankly, there's too much text on the home page: - no immediate call-to-action - company / contact information not immediately available

And as with the rest, more realism with shadows and highlights.

Also (personal preference), not a fan of fixed height web pages (I understand its flash).

The footer looks like a simple afterthought.

I'd like to see some quick links there, contact information and other standard stuff like "terms of use", "privacy policy" and/or copyright information.

Sometimes, conventional is good. I was initially looking for the logo of the site and realized it was on the right. Coupled with the different variations, it was a little confusing.

Corporate identity is just that: Identity. Keep it fixed and strong.

Also, the social media icons could be a little less intrusive.

Other than that, like the clean simple layout.

Love this fun and vibrant design. All the little touches are great (such as the emphasized green tab in the nav, and the social media buttons hiding cheekily behind the main content)!

I'd just love a little more space between the articles in your subpage. The content balance is a little off with the main content area being way shorter if there's a lack of items. Perhaps you could layout some "related content" or some interesting info horizontally after the main content. This will also encourage the visitor to explore the site further.

I Like It!

The indentation and some center alignment of the text is rather haphazard. You might need to relook into using a proper grid to layout your content areas.

The image banner is redundant and takes up too much space. And there's too much text headings all over the page that starts distracting from each other. Try working on the visitor's objective flow and design your content areas and lay it out with a grid accordingly from there.

For the header portion, am personally not too keen on having the logo take up so much space and have such a large main navigation resting right at the top of the browser. I'd still go with the convention of having the logo small and left aligned, and have the navigation below it. Would also be good to move the language selector to the top left where its immediately visible to visitors seeking an alternate language.

My biggest concern, (though maybe no fault of yours) is the actual content of the homepage. The "marketing" text is (sorry to say), terrible at best, and reads like a very desperate attempt to get visitors to explore the site further.

Also on the same issue of web content, the headings for the banners don't speak enough. Example: "Hotels" - is your client providing information of which hotels serve their product, or providing information of prospective purchasing executives from hotels?

To really make the design work, you might want to speak to your client about their content and their website's objectives and visitor goal conversions. Only then can you craft and layout a better design to assist in meeting those objectives.

To answer all your 3 questions: change the concept for the listings. Having them in columns would only limit the information and visual impact you have on the purpose of the website.

Off the top of my head, one concept would be to represent the regions from a map concept, with some indicators representing the number of prisoners. Your current layout would pose certain limitations if just so happens: the listing in one region exceeds others, or more regions start to be included.

I'd also like to lighten up the site a little. Even though it should portray a sense of sadness and grief, it should also provoke some form of action from the visitor, which likely will not prompt a sense of action from the overall darkness.

A good reference site I could recommend would be www.yellowribbon.org.sg which is a site for helping the general community give ex-convicts a second chance. Though not totally similar in purpose, I believe both organizations do have their similarities in terms of subject matter.

Hi Hakan,

Great to see your typical style of "breaking-the-shape"! Done beautifully here with the small touches in your layout. Each individual content area is separated nicely. Color palette compliments well too.

I especially like the footer vines graphic which I assume was inspired by the logo. I do feel though the vines would look more suited if they were more "vector-ish" and less realistic. Still a really nice touch though!

Only thing I'm not too keen on is the italics on the header text. Its a little hard to read (maybe some CSS letter-spacing would help). Alternatively, just remove the italics since its more commonly used to emphasize certain body text rather than be used as headings.

Overall, another solidly laid out design!

I actually think the colors are fine. Especially the good contrast in the main navigation.

I also like how you tried to "break the shape" with the gray area, and the silhouette at the footer. I'd do without the single pixel white outline though and leave it either a shade lighter, or darker than the footer's background color. Blend it in but don't contrast it too much as its a complimentary design element and not a core function of the page.

The only thing I'd like to change is the background for the main area. For main content or areas with more text, its always good to fallback to a dark-text-on-light-background so that its easy on the visitor's eyes.

I'm with Amy on this, especially for a social network. The colors for the main content areas are way too "heavy" for someone to comfortably browse and spend time on the site. If your main theme is the maroon color, use those for you header, footer, text headers and (maybe) even the left side panel. But keep the content area clean, with preferably dark grey on white or anything else comfortable to read.

Look to the many popular social networking sites such as LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, etc and notice how their main content is always, ALWAYS on a clean white (or generally light-colored) background.