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Discussion in 'Website Ratings and Reviews' started by kingkhan, May 16, 2011.

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Study Direct College

Poll closed May 26, 2011.
better than other sites listed 0 vote(s) 0.0%
NOT better than other sites listed 2 vote(s) 100.0%
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hi everyone,
    My name's Hasan and i'v just completed a design (and also implemented it) for my client...
    however the feedback they have given hasnt been great...
    this is the website that i have created for them..
    http://www.studydirectcollege.org.uk/

    and these are the sites that they like and want their site to look like..

    http://leedscentralcollege.org.uk/
    http://www.lpcollege.org.uk/
    http://www.globalvisioncollege.org.uk/

    I can change the site no problem, however i feel that my design of studydirectcollege looks better that the sites that i have been given to look at....
    please take a look and tell me which site you prefer and what studydirectcollege lacks?
    i will use this information to update my client and backup what i think and say..
    thankyou
    Hasan


    kingkhan, May 16, 2011
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    TheGAME1264 The Displaced Web Redneck Moderator

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    Your client's right. Two out of those three sites are better (the last two) for one very simple reason: the plain text font you used. When it's not anti-aliased, it's very hard to read. I'm guessing you're using a Mac to build the site and possibly only looked at it in Safari. Get a PC and look at it in Firefox or Chrome or IE with ClearType turned off if you haven't already. You'll see what I'm talking about.

    If you designed that logo, you may also have some issues with it. I'm not sure how this is in England, but in North America, use of every color in the rainbow like that often has a tie-in to the gay community. Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, but your client may object to the symbolism of a "gay-friendly" school or an "alternative lifestyle" school. That's strictly a guess, and in no way reflects my personal opinion on the gay community, so please don't take this as prejudice when it's not intended to be.

    There are other things, but those are the two that I can see are the most likely reasons why your client doesn't like it.


    TheGAME1264, May 16, 2011
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    Andy J New Member

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    Hi Hasan,
    the colours are very bold and in your face - I found it quite harsh and jarring with all of the straight lines.
    Also, you've got a lot of colour on each page but you've opted to have the main navigation muted and not hugely contrasted from the background - is quite difficult to read the menu items.

    Your sub-menus on the left-hand side on the Leeds and Enrol pages are almost impossible to read when the link is active - full marks for indicating the active page but the grey does not show up on either the dark blue or the purple.

    There are too many block capitals for my taste in general - especially with the narrow font makes it look a little shouty.

    Hope that helps by way of constructive criticism...


    Andy J, May 16, 2011
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    TheGAME1264 The Displaced Web Redneck Moderator

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    What he said too.

    Nice stuff, Andy J. I wanted to leave something for other people to pick up on, and I'm glad you covered some of what I noticed. Good stuff.


    TheGAME1264, May 16, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    kingkhan, May 16, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hi Game...Andy,

    Thanx for the crits and brilliant feedback...

    Game...The comment bout the logo had me in stitches...lol
    Well done for Picking that up...I'm from Manchester, so I know bout the gay scene..

    No I didnt design the logo...it was provided to me from the client....

    The font was chosen from a list at googlefonts...

    The bold colours were just so that the brand repitition could be made via the logo...

    I'm gna take your comments seriously and start a new design.....

    Will post on here when I'm done...

    Thanx again for ur invaluable feedback.


    kingkhan, May 16, 2011
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    TheGAME1264 The Displaced Web Redneck Moderator

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    Then you should have a long conversation with the client before you go any further.

    If you look at those sites, and a lot of the sites pertaining to educational facilities in general, they often have a color and font scheme that involves a deep, vibrant color (navy blue or red) and usually some form of a gold or silver to try and make themselves look more "official" and "established". That logo the client supplied you doesn't really communicate that, and it interferes with your ability to build a site to their specifications. Since you're working off of their colors, they're indirectly responsible for not getting what they want, at least in part.

    I didn't know Manchester, England had a strong gay community. For some reason, I thought that was confined to London for the most part. Mind you, I'm straight and I've never been to England, so I have absolutely no reason whatsoever for thinking what I did.


    TheGAME1264, May 16, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hey Game...

    Thanx for the feedback...have already organised a meeting next week...
    In the meantime I'm going to research into the educational website trends as you suggested...
    I remember coming across a great post from smashingmagazine.com

    Yes I agree the logo is bit of a problem and has been from start...
    Will have a word and see if were able to change ... Or at least remove couple of bricks...I'm working with clients who don't know much...therefore I'm having to educate and at the same time trying to back my self up with answers...

    The colours you have suggested will also be noted down..like the gold and silver idea especially...

    Bout the gay scene in England,

    Brighton
    London
    Manchester

    Iv listed these places in order of gay popularity...

    By the way I'm straight too..

    I'm nearly finished designing my portfolio site
    http://www.hasankhan.co.uk

    Still a work in progress

    Chat to you soon, thanx again


    kingkhan, May 16, 2011
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    Andy J New Member

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    good luck with the logo... Seems to be always that people have their own logo that they've created from clipart or half an idea but are extremely attached to it.

    Am new here so not sure about the link drop but this is in no way associated with me but I thought you might find it amusing if you haven't seen it already.

    Mods - if not permissable - then please remove:

    http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell


    Andy J, May 16, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hey Andy,

    Lol...that was mega cool...and so true....
    It's kinda turning out like that with all my designs recently...

    Too many changes just completely change the whole site design and structure..
    Iv saved that pic and I'm gna look at it everytime I get p***ed off

    Nice1 Andy


    kingkhan, May 16, 2011
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    AlphaMare WDF Moderator

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    If you're meeting with your clients it might help to have a couple of alternate ideas for a logo to show them.
    Also - it took me a while but i finally realized that the grey squiggle under the logo was a tagline that reads "Knowledge is power". That's a great concept (in fact I use it on my own site, in a different context) but it is wasted in a tiny font like that.


    AlphaMare, May 16, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hey AlphaMare,

    I'm hoping they haven't already printed out leaflets/Flyers or letter Headed paper etc...
    Will get something sketched before we meet nxt week..

    Gna go get some sleep..got work in the morning..

    Thanx for the heads up on logo


    kingkhan, May 17, 2011
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    AlphaMare WDF Moderator

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    OUCH! That would be bad...

    One more point, (most designers know this if they have worked with any kind of print design before, but you may be new to this):

    A really good logo will work in colour and in black-and-white. The very best logos are fairly simple and usually quite memorable - e.g. the Nike swoosh or the CBS eye. (in fact I am rethinking my own logo and am working on a redesign for this very reason!)

    There's a very good article on logo design here: http://www.best10logodesigners.com/logo-design-articles/the-characteristics-of-a-good-logo-design/, which you may want to read before the meeting. You may even want to make some notes to show to your client, as they may not have thought the logo through as well as they think. (And speaking of logos not well thought through - you might find this amusing, if you've not seen it before: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1901656/OGC-unveils-new-logo-to-red-faces.html )


    AlphaMare, May 17, 2011
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    smoseley Administrator

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    You're wrong. Your design is lacking in all the ways you mentioned above.

    http://www.lpcollege.org.uk/ is the best of the 3 other sites you posted. Mimic that one if any.


    smoseley, May 17, 2011
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    kingkhan New Member

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    Hey Smosely,
    Thanx for ur comments buddy...I'm working on a redesign...and am going to present some sketches which are of the same layout/structure and in the same design prInciple...just making sure I don't copy them outright;)

    Alphamare,
    Great news iv been given go ahead to design their logo...
    Will post some sketches in here if the moderators will allow that..or maybe start a new feed..on regards to work in progress...

    You are 100% right about the logo being recognisable primarily and looking good in inverse colours such as black and White...will definitely go through the links you have kindly given pointing to logo inspiration..

    Lol the news bout the OGC made me laugh..especially at the price they paid for the design...£1400 that's crazy...wish they put on a pic of the design that they made initially..

    Thanx for all your tips and help AlphaMare

    Takecare


    kingkhan, May 17, 2011
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    graphicsman Active Member

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    just seeing this thread. BUT without reading all the comments and just going to the site i can already tell you the font chosen for the headers and navigation is not professional and too light. Navigation grey is too light to define overall. Also you may need to read up on typography. One simple rule with typography that pops to mind that you did which is a major flaw. People with learning disabilities cannot comprehend or read text with all uppercase characters. Its very hard for them, that being said you have just rendered your site useless. Also your logo at the top left is very hard to make out. Needs to be better designed and not on so many levels.

    Read this:
    http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Typo...=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305660264&sr=1-7


    graphicsman, May 17, 2011
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    graphicsman Active Member

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    Also what has popped out, sorry. But why dont you have all your navigation on one line? Redesign the logo, get rid of all the colors on the top right and move the navigation, search, and logo on on line.


    graphicsman, May 17, 2011
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    idesign78 New Member

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    The logo is very hard to read, took me several seconds to understand what exactly it said, kept focusing on the larger letters. Good idea, poor execution (not that I could do any better).

    Need a new font and look at kerning, current font is hard to read.

    I really like all the colors, wish there were more!

    Jenna


    idesign78, May 17, 2011
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    TheGAME1264 The Displaced Web Redneck Moderator

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    Go ahead and post the sketches, kingkhan. It's relevant to what you're trying to accomplish and I'm presuming not a link drop for self-promo purposes.


    TheGAME1264, May 17, 2011
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    graphicsman Active Member

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    ha ha, he has liked everyone else's post other than mine, must mean something then, lol...


    graphicsman, May 17, 2011
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