Technovangelism

Here is design number one. I managed to only spend a couple hours on this design. Hopefully there is enough detail that you could image seeing this for real. The overall design is lacking in polish (mostly in the sidebar). On the next design, I will be spending another hour or two adding more polish to all areas of the design. I wanted to produce this first one very quickly without putting too much thought into it. With my design skills, I need to focus on the quantity of my designs before I can start focusing on the quality.

Overall

An incredibly simple design. I tend to prefer layouts with a fixed sidebar width and the rest of the page flows. Not all of my designs will be like this as I might discover that I don’t actually like it all that much. The whole page could be laid out in html and css in no time. The only images required would be for the shadow beneath the red “flag” and the shadow on the right side of the main content area. The functionality is on par with the current site, but as I mentioned in the introductory post, this is not necessary. The color scheme is a bit bland. Grays and white looks good, but there needs to be some additional contrast. In the next rounds, I will try incorporating more complement and triad color schemes. Note: If you have ever used Adobe Kuler for picking color schemes, try out Color Scheme Designer 3.

Header

The header and initial design was inspired by the Drupalcon 2009 site. I really like the color contrast between the dark red and the gray background. A little bit of shadow beneath the red “flag” provides just a little depth without being too garish. The header is probably taller than it needs to be, but it is not so large that the user is going to have to scroll needlessly.

I dislike the number of links in the header. The current site has eight links in the header for a logged-in user. Trying to work with that many links puts a lot of constraints on what can be done. Constraints can be a good thing, but because I am doing this for fun and do not have anything at stake, I might cut down on the links in future designs.

Main Content Area

I prefer sites with white backgrounds behind the content pieces. It is easier to read and not so harsh on the user’s eyes. The light red/peach color is not my favorite, but it is very difficult to find a shade of red that is light enough to not overload the user, and dark enough to not be a mismatching pink.

Unread threads are the main focus and need to be front and center. The threads should stand out as much as possible. They are the number one reason why users visit this site, so not giving them any attention would diminish their role. The white and gray do a good job contrasting with the light red/peach, but there could be more.

Having a calendar on the site that mimics a typical wall calendar is very powerful. A list of upcoming events can not show as much information about the upcoming weeks as quickly as a calendar view can. I will probably be trying to change this up in future designs, but it will be hard to beat.

Sidebar

Ignoring the container portions of the sidebar, I like it a lot. The shadow helps reduce its focus, as it is not nearly as important to the user as the main content area is. Again, the simplicity of the design shows through and works. No rounded corners, gradients, or anything special keep it looking very clean and appropriate.

The container portions would need a lot of work if this design were implemented. They are so plain. And not the good kind of plain. They are the boring kind. Too much color might draw attention away from the main content, but something subdued would add a nice touch for when you were intentionally looking at it.

Footer

Simplicity takes the lead on this one again. Great big footers like that found on the DrupalCon site are neat, but I do not have anything to put in them. The one thing I did include in the footer is the list of those users current logged into the system. It is a very nice, out of the way place to put that list.