30 Minute Redesign: Cameroon College of Arts
30 Minute Redesign #98: James Willney
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PSDFan Extra
Week 67: Impressions of Day
This week I will be redesigning: Impressions of Day.
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 uses some relevant imagery, such as the sowing equipment and personal photo of the artist.
- There are attempts at call-to-action buttons throughout the website, helping to draw in users.
- Examples of work are displayed on the homepage.
- The navigation is simple, concise and fairly clear.
WEAKNESSES:
- The main issue for me was in understanding exactly what Day does. I had to explore the inner pages to properly understand the concept behind the website. This should be explained straight away via the homepage.
- The relevant imagery in the header is great, but I don’t understand the use of the brick pattern background, it’s distracting and seems random.
- The browsing options on the site are a little confusing. The homepage presents categories for browsing Day’s work (two out of three of these links don’t work though), yet there aren’t really links for this in the menu.
- The entire design feels a little inconsistent. It seems to include several styles in one, and the various styles (brick patterning, sepia tones etc…) all seem to clash rather than blend nicely together.
My Redesign
As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Impressions of Day’s features, adding a few design flourishes and a clearer layout that promoted content over wasted space:
MY AIMS FOR THE REDESIGN:
- I included a clear welcome area to instantly explain what the site was about.
- I used a much more consistent, attractive design style, with a watercolor background effect relevant to the artistic nature of the site.
- I added a ‘gallery’ link to the menu, as well as adding hover/active states for easier browsing.
- I integrated a more engaging footer area, displaying recent works, as well as a bio section for Day.
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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OMG, OMG – I can’t believe this. I am crying. this is the BEST thing that has happend for me in a long time.
WOWIE, this is so amazing. Oh My
Oh wow, You insight and suggestions are head on and the revisions are amazing and concise.
Thank you so very, very much. Will I get the .psd? Do you mind if I post this on my fb page?
Wow! Great job!
Awesome transformation, redesign works good here. I liked the Background and it makes it more beautiful.
I love the new colors! I feel like the site better highlights the artwork! Very nice job, as always Tom!
Great job. I love purple. Its better than yellow anyway, haha!
This is a nice redesign and a big improvement on the original. The colour was not expected but I think that it works really well. Although I do like the colour as mentioned I think that it needs breaking up a little as when looking at the site my eye does not focus on anything in particular as I start looking down the page.
As usual, great work.
I know you need suggestions… What would you do to change up churchdoctor.org? They specialize in helping churches, para-churches, and non-profits do what they do, but better. They also have free e-books, video files, and other things, but everything is laid out in ways that make the website difficult to use.
I thought it might be a little different than what we normally see here on psd.fanextra.com. It’s not a church, its a business. But its more of a church than a business. haha