30 Minute Redesign: BK Graphix
30 Minute Redesign Series
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False Voting
Some of you may notice that Atmos actually got the most votes in Thursday’s poll. However, I have reason to believe that many of these votes are fake, as Atmos was initially nowhere in the running, and then received a sharp jump in the number of votes last minute. Therefore I’ve decided to go with the site that consistently was receiving the most votes – Thompson’s Computers.
Week 14: Thompson’s Computers
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:
- Cohesive color-scheme
- Relatively clear menu
- Text is quite large and readable (for the most part).
WEAKNESSES:
- Header design feels messy and unprofessional
- Gradient effect on the menu feels dated
- The red color for the design is quite dark, and therefore feels depressing, rather than fresh and dynamic
- There are instances of black text on a dark red background, hindering readability
- The surrounding black background is morbid, and doesn’t fit with the theme of the site
My Redesign
As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Thompson’s Computers features, adding a few design flourishes and a clearer layout that promoted content over wasted space:
WHAT I TRIED TO DO:
- Create a fresh new color scheme, with lots of white backgrounds and brighter shades of red
- Created a nicely designed welcome area, with subtle design touches to display professionalism
- Increased readability through typography and color choices
- Used relevant imagery to instantly show what the site is all about
- Introduced a call to action button, drawing people further into the site
Comparing the 2 Designs:
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.
- You will get emailed the .psd of your redesign and can do whatever you want with it!
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.
13 Comments:
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Hi Tom. I admit that I forwarded the poll to some friends who voted for my site. I didn´t know that this was cheating. So I am really sorry for that. But I can truly tell you that the number of votes for Atmos which were coming from me and my friends were definitely below 10. Therefore I was a little bit disapointed. But I respect your decision and I think I would have been suspicious, too. Although I would have really loved to see your ideas/improvements for the site…
I´ll simply try it again for next weeks 30 minute redesign (Only if you allow me to of course). This time without forwarding your link.
Therefore I am not giving up
Btw: Thompson´s Computers looks waaaay better!
I don’t understand the placement of the navigation? It doesn’t appear to be centred or aligned to the grid? But, overall an obvious improvement and great for a freebie!!
Not bad, red is a really hard color to work with. I think the best red color scheme site I’ve ever seen is buysaleads. It would be really interesting to see where this would have gone if you would have had an hour instead of 30 minutes.
I agree with David. The red seems a little overpowering and without any type of design elements below it seems pretty unbalanced. For what it is (30 mins) it is not a bad redesign at all.
Agree, this red is a little too much, its just a matter of adjust the saturation down probably. Anyway, a lot better that the original site.
Thanks for another 30′ improvement!.
Can I resubmit the site http://www.bocotasmdp.com.ar?. Thank you Tom!
Another great redesign but I do have to agree that the red banner seems a bit too much compared to the rest of the site. It is definitely an improvement compared to their old site and a great achievement in 30 minutes.
[...] 30 Minute Redesign: Thompson’s Computers [...]
I like the 3D ish nav menu. I really like the greyed out vendor icons as well and let’s not forget that red isn’t the most easy color to work with, especially with white, but in 30 minutes he did a pretty damn good job. I’d probably be barely started by then
Stan: Thanks for explaining. I didn’t mean to come across as harsh, but we have had issues with vote forging in the past. Please feel free to keep resubmitting your site and I hope that one week I’ll get to redesign it
.
Steve: I believe the navigation is centered. It might just look off-center due to the other elements.
David: Yeah, I don’t like working with red, but yeah BuySellAds does it beautifully.
Bryan, I appreciate the constructive criticism.
Hugolatra: Consider it resubmitted!
Oliver: Cheers, I appreciate that!
Ceane: Thanks a lot.
Heya, really nice work a 30 min redesign, knowing nothing at all I like it a lot because of the simplicity in the text areas. That said I’d like to vote in with this site which I made for my school to be able to handle party registrants (so we know how much food and alchohol to buy) and a better/ quicker way to show the school schedule for each person.
Cheers
Definitely an improvement. The call to action is good but too generic. What does explore the site mean? Isn’t that what I am doing right now?
Looking forward to the next 30 min redesign.
http://www.replacements.com –
Cluttered design that got more cluttered over time, and yes – it is table based, that alone requires a redesign.
An improvement from the original site, websites with lots of content can look cluttered but this is a much better solution. The red at the top works well too, a colour scheme to a website doesn’t have to mean the whole page.