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Week 55: Design Pointer
This week I will be redesigning: Design Pointer.
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 layout is conventional, but works well. The standard two column layout really promotes the content as the most important element of the page.
- The site utilizes several call to action buttons, encouraging users to explore the content.
- The site has a good visual hierarchy, with clear headings, and consistent typography. The eye is led naturally down the page.
WEAKNESSES:
- The layout structure is conventional, which does work, yet nothing jumps out or captures your interest.
- The categories in the right column are a little too overwhelming, they should be narrowed down to fewer main categories.
- My main issue with the site is that you can’t tell articles are being linked to other websites. The site is really a directory of articles from the design community, but initially I thought that it was a standard blog. It was disconcerting to click on an article title expecting to read an article within the website, and being taken elsewhere.
- There aren’t really any relevant visual aspects to the theme of design.
My Redesign
As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Design Pointers features, adding a few design flourishes and a clearer layout that promoted content over wasted space:
MY AIMS FOR THE REDESIGN:
- To create a simpler, more unique layout that uses more white space.
- I integrated subtle design-related visual elements into the header background.
- I made the search area more prominent, encouraging people to browse the articles in this way.
- I reduced the number of categories and integrated them into a more standard menu area.
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 30 Minute Redesigns
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.
8 Comments:
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Great makeover! I was surprised at first by the color scheme, but it works well. I would be interested in how it would have looked if you’d kept the original logo (different color but same shape). It’s hard to position a tagline under a logo like that.
Thanks Trisha! I don’t know why, but I just felt that a subdued color palette would be appropriate for this site. I agree about the logo, it would have been hard to position it centrally, especially with a slogan clashing with that downwards arrow.
Nice work Tom! The original site looks pretty bad (no offense) but I think all of those buttons/links on the right side are not really helping the current site. I love how you have put everything into the navigation bar in a simple and clean way while still managing to establish a sophisticated and clean feel for the site. Well done!
Thanks Eric! The collection of buttons in the sidebar on the original site was really bugging me, it felt almost like an advert or something instead of a navigation. As a rule of thumb I never believe in having more than 7 navigational links. Links can generally be reduced to fewer main categories.
Nice redesign there. Your redesigns always turn out to be better both UI and UX wise compared to the original. Just wanted to know if I could enter the contest again for the next week. My site: http://TechExplorer.in
I am a designer and I’ve designed my site but I really want to learn how can I improve it. I wish to see how other experts view it from their perspective and what modification they’d do if it were their site. That’s why I am enrolling my site for next week’s redesign.
Thanks a lot Jal. It looks like your site is the only suggestion this week, so look out for your redesign this weekend. I guess it pays to resubmit
.
Thanks a lot Tom, really looking forward to it.
Another redesign and a great final outcome. I was when I first looked at the design surprised by the colour choice but I think that it does work well. The grid system and layout to a website such as this is really important and you want to make all articles and elements of the website, as there are so many of them clear and easy to find. The search function in particular was much needed.