Hi guys,

 

Just started on this mockup for my uncles business. Only going for a simple look and feel.

What do you think so far?

 

 

 

cheers,

 

Andy

Edited December 20, 201015 yr by AndyDesigns

Simple but nice

I agree, it's simple, but look really nice!

Sorry, not liking it. It has no character or style to it. Honestly looks like it came out of Word.

Sorry, not liking it. It has no character or style to it. Honestly looks like it came out of Word.

 

out of word LOL!!!!!!

 

I like it, nice and simple

Hey Andy, the design is pretty simple and straight forward and looks like the user would be able to find there way around it easily as it's not over crowded in anyway. What I would say though is that you could add some colour to it and it does seem to be missing some creative flair. I would mess around with it a little more and see if you can come up with anything more.

I like it although, the navigation over flowing the main text area would be something I would look into.

out of word LOL!!!!!!

 

I like it, nice and simple

 

Don't see the problems with it?

 

Ok... let me list the problems.

 

1. Masthead has bluish gradient. Both the navigation and the footer have brownish gradients.

 

2. Navigation has red hovers... which are non-existent anywhere in the entire design other than two pointless almost unnoticeable horizontal rules that serve no purpose.

 

3. Footer text isn't even horizontally centered in the space inside the footer. This isn't a big issue, and only a mockup.

 

4. For consistency the drop shadows need to be the same. The text shadows are going down and to the right, while the machine in the masthead is going down and to the left. This isn't a big one either, and is an easy fix, but try to stay consistent.

 

5.Heavy banding in the masthead.

 

6. Layout is boring and uninteresting. There is no call to action and nothing really telling the user what the company does unless the user already is familiar with the industry or reads a huge amount of text.

Don't see the problems with it?

 

Ok... let me list the problems.

 

1. Masthead has bluish gradient. Both the navigation and the footer have brownish gradients.

These all appear to be grey gradients in fireworks so not sure why they look brownish

 

 

2. Navigation has red hovers... which are non-existent anywhere in the entire design other than two pointless almost unnoticeable horizontal rules that serve no purpose.

I intend to add more red elements in other parts of the design

 

 

3. Footer text isn't even horizontally centered in the space inside the footer. This isn't a big issue, and only a mockup.

Thanks for pointing that out, will fix it

 

4. For consistency the drop shadows need to be the same. The text shadows are going down and to the right, while the machine in the masthead is going down and to the left. This isn't a big one either, and is an easy fix, but try to stay consistent.

Again thanks for pointing that out, will fix it

 

5.Heavy banding in the masthead.

I will look into that

 

6. Layout is boring and uninteresting. There is no call to action and nothing really telling the user what the company does unless the user already is familiar with the industry or reads a huge amount of text.

I agree the layout at the moment is not very creative but its only a starting point.

I think the Automation Consultants tagline does tell the user what the company does.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, cibgraphics I feel your first post was a little harsh considering its a preliminary mockup. But your 2nd post was more constructive, I have replied to your points above in bold. Thanks again for all the feedback guys.

Edited December 21, 201015 yr by AndyDesigns

The gradient are grey... guess my eyes are playing tricks on me. My bad.

 

Automation Consultants doesn't tell me anything because Im not in the industry. Are they expecting business from people who are not familiar with the terms of the industry? If so, then I would take that into account. Even still, you have to expect people who are not familiar with their industry to come upon this site and expect them to find out in a few short seconds what they do, because you never know where potential business might come from. If I came on this site... I would leave right away, because I would have no idea what they do, and what they could do for me and my business regardless if they could actually do anything or not.

 

As for your gradients, usually it is more pleasing to the eye if the lighter color is on top.

 

Do me a favor, do a box layout. Don't worry about gradients/content/images/anything. Just layout boxes and label them nav, callout, logo, ect. And play around with that. You will find you can get some pretty interesting layouts that are complex yet visually interesting that will suite your needs a lot better than just jumping into a design and playing around with gradients and text. Layout first... then content.

The gradient are grey... guess my eyes are playing tricks on me. My bad.

 

Automation Consultants doesn't tell me anything because Im not in the industry. Are they expecting business from people who are not familiar with the terms of the industry? If so, then I would take that into account. Even still, you have to expect people who are not familiar with their industry to come upon this site and expect them to find out in a few short seconds what they do, because you never know where potential business might come from. If I came on this site... I would leave right away, because I would have no idea what they do, and what they could do for me and my business regardless if they could actually do anything or not.

 

As for your gradients, usually it is more pleasing to the eye if the lighter color is on top.

 

Do me a favor, do a box layout. Don't worry about gradients/content/images/anything. Just layout boxes and label them nav, callout, logo, ect. And play around with that. You will find you can get some pretty interesting layouts that are complex yet visually interesting that will suite your needs a lot better than just jumping into a design and playing around with gradients and text. Layout first... then content.

 

Thanks for the input, I have tried using wireframe layouts before and find them to be uninspiring.

This design was actually based on a basic template which judging by your response was a bad idea. I do actually feel its a backwards step in progress compared to my portfolio site www.top-titles.co.uk (also work in progress), which is alot more modern and creative.

I may have another go at doing a wireframe as I realise thats how alot of experienced designers start, however, I may go back to using design showcase sites to drawn some inspiration for the layout (as I did with my portfolio site).

Oh, and regarding the gradient direction, I thought the same but I was trying to copy the direction of the banners gradient to keep some consistency in the design, but as you say it doesnt work as well.

The template and banner was actually done by someonelse and I just edited the text.

 

I am now in two minds whether to start from scratch because of your response or continue with it as I have had other positive feedback from others.

Although tbh I feel I'm not that happy with it anyway.

If you are not happy with it, then it is time to start over. I don't know how many projects I have started over, only to have them turn out so much better.

Edited December 21, 201015 yr by cibgraphics

Hi guys,

 

Decided to start the design again from scratch and feel I have come up with a much more creative and modern design, although i'm not sure what to do with the footer, does it look ok?

Still waiting on some photos so images used are not final ones.

Feedback much appreciated.

 

 

cheers,

 

Andy

Edited December 27, 201015 yr by AndyDesigns

Did you wireframe it first?

 

The problem that I still have it... is the lack of content and the layout is still too generic. There is nothing that stands out.

 

I did a quick wireframe of something that I thought of. Its not really fleshed out because I only spent like 3 minutes on it, but its just to show you that you should first focus on first delivering content/information and the layout rather than the graphics and gradients.

 

Just like a logo where color can get in the way of good ideas... gradients and images can get in the way of a good web layout.

 

 

Edit... that was suppose to say "Who we are" in the nav.

Edited December 27, 201015 yr by cibgraphics

Thankyou for the wireframe layout idea, however i'm not sure what content I could use in the bottom 3 columns. Anyone else feel my layout is that bad?

Hi,

 

I do like your layout so decided to have a go at fleshing it out. I wanted to add the original intro paragraph because without it I dont feel there is anything to summarise what the company does.

This now negates the need for the bottom 3 columns.

I kept the colour scheme and some gradients because I think they work quite well.

 

What ya think?

 

It is better!! Advices from others would definitely help you improve your work!! Although,I think the color is too light,guess you can use a darker one.

did you take the logo from halflife?

did you take the logo from halflife?

 

No, its the greek lower-case letter l, known as the lambda, it is used to represent the wavelength of any wave as used in physics and electronics engineering. My uncle was already using it as the logo, I just added the circle to give it some definition.

Ahh ok, its just that putting it in the circle and in orange made it a dead ringer

 

Try a mix of colours on your most recent design, white and orange work well but white, orange and dark grey will work even better. Give it a go

Hi,

 

I've made some slight changes based on the last feedback I had. Changed the logo, darkened the orange and introduced a grey colour.

My only dilemma is, if there is going to be a description and image of each service on the homepage i'm not sure what content can go on the services page without repeating whats already on the homepage.

Also, will that image rollover with text be achievable with just html and css?...because I havent learnt any jquery yet and would rather stick to code im comfortable with.

 

cheers,

 

Andy

I would make the tabs go 100% height of the box. I just had it that way on the wireframe because of the limitations of the software I was using (gomockingbird). It is starting to look better.

 

To answer you question, you will need to use javascript like jQuery in order to do that section but the reason I love jQuery is that there are a lot of plugins that are already made that do 98% of the functionality for you. Just just have to understand how to hook it up (most provide instruction on how to do this). For what you want, there is a plugin that i use on my site that would work for you called SmartTab. http://www.techlaboratory.net/products.php?product=stab

I would make the tabs go 100% height of the box. I just had it that way on the wireframe because of the limitations of the software I was using (gomockingbird). It is starting to look better.

 

To answer you question, you will need to use javascript like jQuery in order to do that section but the reason I love jQuery is that there are a lot of plugins that are already made that do 98% of the functionality for you. Just just have to understand how to hook it up (most provide instruction on how to do this). For what you want, there is a plugin that i use on my site that would work for you called SmartTab. http://www.techlaboratory.net/products.php?product=stab

 

Thanks for the feedback. I like your jquery plugin, can it be altered slightly so that you can just hover over the link and it changes, as opposed to having to click on the link?

To be clear, its not my plugin. I just use it on my own site. I would have to check to see it can do hover in the settings. I can't do it right now because I am heading out and I am only on my iPad.

Nice design but some work on menu(use bullets), middle part(content) use images of products etc. and for footer use large footer area(height wise) and add some address, phone and email link.

 

Header is absolutely effective also logo is good.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Nice design but some work on menu(use bullets), middle part(content) use images of products etc. and for footer use large footer area(height wise) and add some address, phone and email link.

 

Header is absolutely effective also logo is good.

 

Thanks

 

Do you mean add bullets to the content menu or the top menu?

I am using images already for the main content, so not sure where else you mean?

I'd like to keep the footer slim and sleek to keep a clean look. I intend to add a phone number somewhere too.

Thanks for the feedback.

I've added the bullet points and also a special offers section that he has now requested.

He also wants a news section, but I'm not sure where I could fit that in, without things looking cramped and/or disjointed, would appreciate some advice on this.

 

I've also added the telephone number, which do you think looks the best placement for this, above or within the main menu? Please see attached images.

 

 

 

cheers,

 

Andy

I've added some more content as requested by my uncle, would really appreciate some input on how i've layed this out.

 

 

 

Thankyou

woah, loving this design, looking really professional

 

Ash