A site mockup

[ljm]

I've gone for a (yawn) blog look here. Not unique by any standards, and looks scarily like a Wordpress template (yuk). Anyway:

Attachment 2658

I threw the 'logo' in at the last minute. It looks out of place and probably shouldn't be there. It's the part I'm having the hardest time with.

This is more a test of my ability to design, and a blog style layout is the best way to achieve this so I have potential for content. I've missed out details like link colours and hover statuses and stuff, but I feel I have the bulk of my ideas down already.

So yeah, any good? Worth giving the XHTML/CSS treatment? Or should I abandon it and try harder?

(I'm also a fan of a certain show, hence the big quote in the middle. I thought a random humourous quote thing would be good as a centrepiece of sorts).

[Steax]

Layout is perfectly normal (and hence acceptable). My main problem is the lack of colors (obviously), but (less obviously) this causes a lack of focal point on your page. I just don't know where to look first! Everything seems to be the same black everywhere, nothing really arouses my attention, and the text is far too blocky. Make it smaller and give it some leading.

It's a good try, but let me give you an idea - get out, take a walk for a few hours, completely forget about every website you've been too, and then pick up a piece of paper and draw. Draw with only one question in mind: "I want to show people information, and I want people to read it. They also need to be able to see more information than they see at any point".

Don't let any existing website influence your drawing. Roam freely. You might come up with a layout or design you never dreamed of. I used a similar method with my personal blog, which came to me after seeing preschool students playing in a garden.