CityPics' Redesign Review

[neroux]

Hi,

I just finished a first draft of CityPics' main page redesign and would really love to hear other opinions.

The site can be found at http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php.

Thanks for all your comments.

 

[jl255]

Design seems not too attractive and main page is not well-guided. Had no idea what to click on and what this site was about. Just my opinions =)

 

[neroux]

So what would you change? I guess you prefer the current design over the shown draft.

 

[jl255]

i wld hunt for a better website template to use, many are very nice and sometimes even free. Then I will determine what marketing details I want to present to visitors if the main page is all they see. Then package them and put in the main page in an easy-to-read format. Lastly, design a user-friendly menu system to direct visitors to the right pages....

 

[neroux]

Well, the main page isnt all they see, but what do you dislike in particular?

Other comments appreciated as well.

 

[seven]

I like your theme, there is a lot of people interested in viewing city pics.

Suggestions:

-Take out the dotted line and where it says feature pic.

-The Welcome to Wien... title needs to be smaller, it is the feature component of your site and makes it seem like you are focusing on that one city for your theme, it should be more like a caption below

- you need a short summary of your about us in the bottom so people know exactly what you are about without looking around

- your right sidebar of pics and ads is too crowded, space them out

- i love your logo, slogan, and font you are using at the top left

- use a better font in your body, it's too plain and look amateur

Improve on those items and your site will be a lot lighter

 

[Mike]

Yep, what seven said.

Also, drop the pink background and replace it with a touch of a skyline, watermark it into a custom backdrop.

Categorize the pictures by country/city.

You seem to have a preference towards Vienna/Austria. If you need more pictures from Vienna (my hometown), i've just come back from home in December and have some amazing Christmas shots from downtown. Shoot me a PM and i'll email some to you.

 

[neroux]

I like your theme, there is a lot of people interested in viewing city pics.

Thanks, also for your very detailed suggestion list.

-Take out the dotted line and where it says feature pic.

Do you have a particular reason why you suggest this?

-The Welcome to Wien... title needs to be smaller, it is the feature component of your site and makes it seem like you are focusing on that one city for your theme, it should be more like a caption below

You are absolutely right. I already changed it.

- your right sidebar of pics and ads is too crowded, space them out

I increased the spaces a bit. What about now?

- use a better font in your body, it's too plain and look amateur

It was Arial, I changed it for now to Verdana. Is it better? Or any other suggestion?

Also, drop the pink background and replace it with a touch of a skyline, watermark it into a custom backdrop.

I noticed it looks a bit like pink on certain screens, but actually it should be a kind of pastel orange. This http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=F1CBB1 should be less pink. What do you think?

But I will pursue the idea of a watermarked background nonetheless. Lets see whether I can come up with something.

Categorize the pictures by country/city.

The pictures are grouped by galleries which have a city and country assigned.

You seem to have a preference towards Vienna/Austria. If you need more pictures from Vienna (my hometown), i've just come back from home in December and have some amazing Christmas shots from downtown. Shoot me a PM and i'll email some to you.

I dropped you a PM .

 

[neroux]

I got some other color suggestions and added a poll to the thread to see whats the most popular color.

http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=F0C0B3 (the original color of the new design)
http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=F1CBB1 (less pink)
http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=930000 (dark red)
http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=00003A (the color of the current design)
http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=E1D7D9
http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=D0C9AE

If you prefer another one please post it here and you can also try it out by appending the HTML color code to http://www.citypics.org/index_new.php?color=

 

[neroux]

Currently there has been cast only one vote. Nobody else going to vote or having a comment?

 

[Mike]

Dark blue for the win! HOWEVER!!!!! think about Austria, what do we have that stands out, has a VERY nice history/story attached to it and simply looks good?
The Austrian flag! Use it as watermark, place it in the backdrop, go with the a darker shade red or some other color that would compliment the red-white-red composition. Of course, this only works if your site is predominantly about Austria. If your intention is to go worldwide, then you're quite set with the blue backdrop. just my 2 schillings though :blink:

 

[neroux]

Dark blue for the win! HOWEVER!!!!! think about Austria, what do we have that stands out, has a VERY nice history/story attached to it and simply looks good?
The Austrian flag! Use it as watermark, place it in the backdrop, go with the a darker shade red or some other color that would compliment the red-white-red composition. Of course, this only works if your site is predominantly about Austria.

In this case I am sorry but it isnt, otherwise this idea would have been definitely the way to go.

If your intention is to go worldwide, then you're quite set with the blue backdrop.

So basically keeping the current color?! Isnt it maybe a bit too dark?

What about the general redesign of the front page compared to the current one?

just my 2 schillings though :blink:

It has been a long time ......