30 Minute Redesign: Out of Box Pakistan

Week 71: Out of Box Pakistan

This week I will be redesigning: Out of Box Pakistan.

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 background header effect is eye catching and works well with the overall design.
The color scheme is cohesive and attractive.
Whilst it’s not strictly part of the website design, the logo design is professional and enhances the page.
There is a good amount of white space on the page, with all the elements being padded well to avoid crowding.

WEAKNESSES:

The main problem with this site is that it uses a free template. For this reason it won’t stand out or be unique at all.
It’s hard to know what the company does. There is no welcome message, just a large logo, so visitors don’t understand the purpose of the site.
A lot of the content in the footer feels obsolete, meaning that this space is wasted.
There are no examples of the company’s work on the homepage or any calls to action. There isn’t much drawing the user further into the site, so many visitors will just leave.

My Redesign

As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Out of Box Pakistan’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 help explain what the company actually does.
I added examples of their latest work, and included a bold call to action button to draw users further into the site.
I added an eye catching photo area to the header, setting the design apart and making it more visually interesting.
I retained the white space, making sure that all elements were well padded.

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!

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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.

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4 Comments:

Stephanie says:

November 21, 2011 at 12:45 pm

A really nice redesign and something that was needed considering the original was using a template, I think that something more bespoke should be used as every company is different and choosing a template makes you look like everyone else. I really like the use of colour in this and the call to actions are really important so a really nice design overall.

Reply
- Tom says:
  
  November 21, 2011 at 5:20 pm
  
  Thanks Stephanie. I’m really against templates as a whole. At least if you’re using one I think it should be heavily edited and used more as a basic framework.
  
  Reply
George says:

December 3, 2011 at 2:06 am

I am loving the redesign. As much some people hate using templates, I currently use a template for my website, It helps to use one to structure the site, put things in place before a bespoke design can become affordable.

Reply
Akhyar Dar says:

December 30, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Tom, you really did an excellent job, I loved it, unfortunately I couldn’t keep track of my request for 30 minutes redesign so it took little long to get back to you. Now you have redesigned OOBPakistan.com and its awsome at least for me, what do I have to do because I was trying different options along the line, if you could check http://www.oobpakistan.com, it is not as you did but I tried something.

Reply

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