30 Minute Redesign: CelebZine
30 Minute Redesign: Week 4 VoteHave every post delivered to your inbox and get access to hundreds of useful design freebies.
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Week 45: Web Guide 4U
NOTE: You may have seen that this week’s poll was a tie. In these instances there isn’t a lot I can do besides choosing which design I’d personally prefer to redesign. Both sites were excellent candidates, but I’ve decided to go with Cycling Maven as it’s something quite different to work with.
This week I will be redesigning: Cycling Maven.
In the space of 5 minutes I can identify some of the key strengths and weaknesses of this design, and sketch out a mockup.
STRENGTHS:
- The general design is solid. It’s clean and professional, and all the elements work well together.
- Visual hierarchy is established via use of headings, the content is clear and legible, the posts are prominent.
- The site doesn’t feel cluttered. There is adequate padding and use of white space.
WEAKNESSES:
- The design is good, but it just screams ‘theme’. Nothing feels unique or interesting about it.
- The color-scheme isn’t bad, but is just dull (and the owner really doesn’t like it
) - Nothing portrays the theme of cycling, besides the logo. Furthermore the logo is just plain text, so is instantly forgettable.
- The content is slightly strangely positioned. The post categories are placed in a drop down menu right down in the footer. These should be more prominent to aid browsing the site.
My Redesign
As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Cycling Maven’s features, adding a few design flourishes and a clearer layout that promoted content over wasted space:
MY AIMS FOR THE REDESIGN:
- Integrate a more colorful, lively color-scheme.
- Establish a visual theme of cycling, through various photographic and iconic elements.
- Reposition the content, making the post categories more prominent.
- Make the menu more prominent, and make the overall site more unique, interesting and engaging.
Before/After:
Here is a quick comparison between the original design and my 30 minute redesign. Sure, my design could be more polished, but I believe that a lot of the basic elements have been improved upon, creating a more pleasant browsing experience.
How and Why To Enter Redesign Saturdays
You can have the chance to have your website redesigned in next weeks post. All you need to do is leave a comment to this post with your website address and why you think it needs a redesign.
The Benefits of Getting Your Site Redesigned Include:
- Most obviously – a FREE redesign job!
- Your website gets exposure to PSDFAN’s thousands of readers
- You understand how to improve your website. This isn’t just a redesign, it’s a lesson in design principles.
- You will get emailed the .psd of your redesign and can do whatever you want with it!
NOTE: I can only accept sites with English content, as foreign language websites are simply too hard for me to work with.
So please, leave a comment today for a chance to have your website redesigned next week!
About the Author:
Tom is the founder of PSDFAN. He loves writing tutorials, learning more about design and interacting with the community. On a more interesting note he can also play guitar hero drunk with his teeth.
10 Comments:
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That’s a very unprofessional bike that you have selected for the logo..
Well I did have limited time to find an appropriate image. I thought it looked pretty cool.
I love the refocus of the site and the clarity of direction.
Thanks Michael. I was pretty pleased with this redesign, it does feel a lot clearer to me.
Hi Tom, Great Redesign.
Ive been on the hunt today for inspiration as im totally lost on what to do with a site for a member for my family i said id help him get set up. Ive came across your articles for redesign. Needless to say ive just read all of them and they are really impressive.
The sites i make end up lacking that spark that makes modern webdesign like yours really pop. I dont know if its the text size, format of content; i dont know, i just cant seem to get it look complete.
think you could help?
Links:
PSD: http://www.mediafire.com/?asdlialsfjcdcdt
web: cavanaghcleaning.co.uk (down for the next 2 weeks)
Hey William. I’m afraid we can only accept live websites for our weekly polls. Please feel free to suggest your site for a future week once it’s all up and running.
I love the after site, it is amazing what you could do in 30 minutes.
Thanks a lot! I appreciate the kind words
.
Thats amazing Tom. Thanks for choosing the site.
We need to talk.
Mark: I’ve emailed you
.