[REQ-TEMPLATE] - Music Chart Site

[RLW]

Type of Contest : Template Design for Music-Chart.info
Prize : $100 US to the design that I use - If I don't get a design that I like (in which case I won't be using any of the submitted designs), a $40 US prize will be provided to the best entry. Payment will be made by Paypal. You'll also get a permanent backlink to your design business or portfolio website (if you have one) for as long as I use your design as the template on my site.
Contest End Date & Time : Exactly 10 days (240 hours) from the time of this post
Size Requirements : Design width should be approximately 990px. Your design can be wider (e.g. to accommodate a background image that would be seen on larger screens), but the content must fit within that 990px width.
Color Requirements : I do like dark backgrounds, but you are free to use your creative licence
General Requirements : To be honest, I don't know exactly what I'm looking for- but if anyone is interested I can surf the web for a while and post some links to designs on other sites that I like and you could use these as a guide. I like simple designs, that have a hint of artistry to them. You can include space in the design for some advertising, but it's not essential. You should be designing for the content on this page and your design should incorporate all the information you see there now. If possible, a simple mock up with data from this page and this page should be included in your entry
Additional Information : You can use the logo provided here or you can design a new logo - the choice is yours, but the prize will remain the same either way. You are not required to code the layout in CSS/XHTML - I can do that myself, but if you still want to do the coding you can. The winner should be able to provide their design in a format that supports layers (that will help me slice and dice for the coding) such as Gimp's .svg or Adobe's .psd. If you want to submit your design using a different format, please let me know in advance. I encourage you to consider the bandwidth usage of your design, but for the right design I would probably ignore any bandwidth issues anyway.


I think thats everything!
There's a reason that I'm running a design contest, and it's because i suck at design. So despite what I've written as the requirements, please feel free to break out of them if you think the design will be better by doing that.


If you have any questions, please feel free to ask...


READY.... SET.... GO!!!

 

[RLW]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2zgsuuh.png

Willing to work on the logo a lot more and can easily add to the sidebar.
Let me know what you think!

Thanks DimeDesign.

I think the red header is way too tall. I'd like the search box to have a submit button - thats just my personal preference.

The logo is too simple, and I guess visually that also makes it hard to see the layout in a positive way. You could work on the logo, but I don't think there would be much point unless work was done to make the layout better as well.

The 'jump to another country' tab is too simple - it kind of looks like it was just shoved there for the sake of it. You also need to consider the animation that will show when that tab is clicked. With the tab as it is, I can't see any 'graceful' way to animate the opening of the panel that shows the country links. Incidently, for yourself and anyone else that enters a design, if you can find a way to show the countries in the layout that looks good without having to hide them in a panel, you can.

It's also important that each song in the chart list has it's current rank shown on the left.

The arrow next to the 'special offer' text doesnt work for me. I do want to draw peoples attention to the offer, but I don't want it to be that obvious that it looks tacky.

Speaking more generally, I like layouts where the visitor can look at the page, and easily identify the various aspects of the layout - like header, footer, sidebar and content. I see lots of layouts on websites where that distinction can't easily be made. In those situations it kind of feels like I'm seeing everything just 'splatttered' across the screen.

On a positive note, I do like the simplicity of the page title. It's bold, a different colour to the text, and easily identifiable. I also like how you preceeded the 'learn more about this chart' link with >> - not sure exactly why, but that part of the page looks good.

I have written a lot, please don't take it personally. I just wanted to give you as much feedback as possible to make sure that you have the opportunity to submit a design that I like.

At this stage I still prefer KJDesign's design.

 

[mav]

I should have an entry posted sometime Monday.

EDIT: Computer crashed Monday. Fail. Not sure if I can get in on this still.

 

[adarshnet]

My Second try :
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1295/draft6.jpg

Please give as much feedback as you can.
Will be waiting for it.
Thanks

 

[RLW]

Hi Adarshnet,

Compared to your first attempt, this is much better, but I can't say that the quality is there yet.

I like how you have the 'find an artist or song' text inside the search box, I think that looks good. The button is also good. Unfortunately, the curved corners aren't smooth enough.

The red line across the top of the layout could work, but in my mind it should be a lot thinner.

Background images can work if they're done right, unfortunately, this background looks like something from the very early days of the web, when web designers would put almost any picture they could find as a background image. A background image should complement the other design elements. It shouldn't be a design element in its own right.

The text in the 'special offer' area is a good size, and a good level of boldness. Unfortunately, the blurred red colour behind it doesn't work for me. I also find the envelope confusing. I would expect to see that icon near a link to join a mailing list, or a link to 'contact us', but I can't see how it is relevant to a special offer.

The rest of the text on the page seems too big to me,

with the actual chart area of the page, I think I preferred your original design for that part. I think you should have taken the way you originally designed it, but maybe tried to add some more flair to the rankings on the left.

Overall, I can see that you've put a lot more effort into this one, but the various elements don't seem to have come together into a cohesive design. It's tough to describe, but you'll see from the examples I posted that less can be more - and thats what I'm looking. You need to try and make your design more subtle, but still show some technique.

 

[adarshnet]

Thank you for the feedback.
about the non smooth corners, I am sorry I just wanted to get over that part quickly so I used the eraser tool,will refine it a bit more.



---------- Post added 07-31-2010 at 01:49 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-30-2010 at 11:55 PM ----------

My 3rd Try : http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1001/draft7.jpg

I made it as a quick try,I will later try to implant the features of the original design in this one.

In this try I reduced the size of the page,added a few pictures,removed the blurring of the offer,removed the envelope.

Please give feedback on this one if possible.
As I said will resubmit another entry soon

 

[Bob_M]

here is my attempt:
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/4495/52621343.png

 

[KJdesign]

I think this is what you wanted, isn't it?
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/3677/11132908.jpg

 

[RLW]

here is my attempt:
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/4495/52621343.png

Thanks for the entry. Thats a good effort. Theres a few things about this one which I like. I like how you have the flag next to the page title. I like the chart numbering - i.e. how every second one has the blue background. I also like the little movement icons you have done.

But, then theres a few things I don't like. The logo you have on there is no good. The search box blends in too much with the background, and there needs to be something around the magnifying glass to make it look more like a button. The chart information - e.g. chart date, chart country, chart genre, biggest mover, biggest faller - needs to be shown somewhere in the layout, and also the date picker.

If you want to have a look at these things, then your layout could be a contender

I think this is what you wanted, isn't it?
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/3677/11132908.jpg

Yep, looks great. Thanks.

---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:57 PM ----------

Thank you for the feedback.
about the non smooth corners, I am sorry I just wanted to get over that part quickly so I used the eraser tool,will refine it a bit more.



---------- Post added 07-31-2010 at 01:49 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-30-2010 at 11:55 PM ----------

My 3rd Try : http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1001/draft7.jpg

I made it as a quick try,I will later try to implant the features of the original design in this one.

In this try I reduced the size of the page,added a few pictures,removed the blurring of the offer,removed the envelope.

Please give feedback on this one if possible.
As I said will resubmit another entry soon

Thanks. It does look better, and you are welcome to continue to refine your design, but at this stage I can't see your design winning.

 

[adarshnet]

Sigh, I worked a lot on it anyways I am learning from these try's

My new try : http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6186/draft14.jpg

Added a new background, made the guitars and the cd player more visible,tried a concept on the ranking.

Please give Feedback
Thanks

 

[Bob_M]

Thanks for the entry. Thats a good effort. Theres a few things about this one which I like. I like how you have the flag next to the page title. I like the chart numbering - i.e. how every second one has the blue background. I also like the little movement icons you have done.

But, then theres a few things I don't like. The logo you have on there is no good. The search box blends in too much with the background, and there needs to be something around the magnifying glass to make it look more like a button. The chart information - e.g. chart date, chart country, chart genre, biggest mover, biggest faller - needs to be shown somewhere in the layout, and also the date picker.

If you want to have a look at these things, then your layout could be a contender

Thanks for the detailed feedback it helps alot, I will have a revision done soon.



Edit:
Here's the revision:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/6818/97792131.png
Let me know what you think.

 

[zoomactive.com]

Here is our entry, a modernized clean template.

Reason for edit: We forgot to design the top 100 info.

Main layout:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8131/layoutxw.jpg

Dropdown area:
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9773/layout2drop.jpg

 

[RLW]

Sigh, I worked a lot on it anyways I am learning from these try's

My new try : http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/6186/draft14.jpg

Added a new background, made the guitars and the cd player more visible,tried a concept on the ranking.

Please give Feedback
Thanks

It's still not the same quality as some of the other entries, but thanks for trying. I'm also curious about something. I'm assuming that you didn't make the images that you are using as backgrounds. Do you have the rights to use them?

Thanks for the detailed feedback it helps alot, I will have a revision done soon.



Edit:
Here's the revision:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/6818/97792131.png
Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the revision. It's a lot better now. There seems to be a little too much black now. It's still a great effort, but if you want to fiddle around and see what you can do, maybe add in a 3rd colour or something you can.

I noticed you changed the colour scheme/layout of the that calender. The calender widget is part of JQuery UI, so the easiest way as far as colour scheme/layout of the little calender is to stick to one of the themes that can be seen at jQuery UI - ThemeRoller - Just hit the gallery tab at the top left to see the diferent themes available for the calender.

Here is our entry, a modernized clean template.

Reason for edit: We forgot to design the top 100 info.

Main layout:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/8131/layoutxw.jpg

Dropdown area:
http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/9773/layout2drop.jpg

Thanks for the entry. That shade of red is a bit much for my eyes, but other than that, this is a great layout. Thanks a lot for also including the shot with the panel open. Is there any chance you can fiddle around with the colours a little? Maybe use a red thats not quite as bright, use another colour altogether, or add another colour to the layout to offset the red a little?

As with the above feedback, could you see what you can do using one of the JQuery UI themes for the calender. It'll make life so much easier for the coding - jQuery UI - ThemeRoller

Other than that, I really like the layout.

 

[zoomactive.com]

Here is an update also please check your messages.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2906/layout2s.jpg

 

[Bob_M]

original with less black: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6924/lightmc.png
dark version: http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1947/darkmc.png


Edit:
Here it is with the country selection drop down:
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/1830/mcdroplight.png
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/6083/mcdropdark.png


If i win i will design any extra pages you need and make any revisions.

 

[RLW]

Here is an update also please check your messages.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2906/layout2s.jpg

Much better. Thanks for the entry.

original with less black: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6924/lightmc.png
dark version: http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/1947/darkmc.png

They look good. Thanks for the entries.

---------- Post added at 08:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 AM ----------

A little over 25 hours remaining...

 

[adarshnet]

I withdraw from this contest...

 

[KJdesign]

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7334/w2bu.jpg

 

[RLW]

Competition is over. Thanks for your entries everyone.

I've narrowed it down to KJDesign's entry, Bob_M's 'less black' version, and zoomactive.com's last design. I'll have a quick think about it and post who the winner is very shortly.

---------- Post added at 01:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 AM ----------

Ok... Tough choice... Thanks so much for everyone's entries. I've decided to go with zoomactive.com's entry - pending a couple of little things I need him to do for it. Sending a PM now.

 

[adarshnet]

Congratulations Zoom Active ....Thanks for the great contest ch