30 Minute Redesign: Web Guide 4U

Week 44: Web Guide 4U

This week I will be redesigning: Web Guide 4U.

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 design follows general design conventions (posts to the left, sub-column to the right etc…)
The typography and color-scheme (although a bit lacking) are at least very cohesive.
The navigation is fairly prominent, although there aren’t any active states.

WEAKNESSES:

The site is totally overloaded with adverts. Of course it’s necessary to have some, but I’ve found that it’s often best to use a clean, minimal layout, with less ad units to increase conversions and overall profits.
The typography, whilst cohesive is overly small, so is not that engaging and is a little hard to read.
Even though there isn’t too much content, the site feels quite disorganized. It needs to be cleaner and more minimal.
There is no visual hierarchy, so the posts have equal precedence as the sidebar, and as a viewer I’m not really sure where to look.

My Redesign

As always, I was limited by the 30 minute time-frame, but I tried to improve upon several of Web Guide 4U’s features, adding a few design flourishes and a clearer layout that promoted content over wasted space:

MY AIMS FOR THE REDESIGN:

I made the site cleaner and more minimal. This included more white space, less ads and a clearer layout.
I used larger typography, which helped establish more of a visual hierarchy.
I only used one main menu, including a sub menu in the site’s footer. This made sure that the site was easier to browse and less confusing for visitors.
I used some cooler design features, such as a creative footer, and stylish call to action buttons. This helps add an extra touch of professionalism to the site.

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.

7 Comments:

Mark Ferguson says:

February 13, 2011 at 11:47 pm

Seriously, it’s amazing what you can do in such a short time.

Please save me from this horrible brown website of mine. You can see I’m no designer but I did my best.

Ideally, I’d like a clean, simplistic site with maybe a nice blue, black, white colour scheme.

Thanks.

Mark

Reply
- Tom says:
  
  February 14, 2011 at 12:09 am
  
  Thanks so much Mark! Your site is actually not that bad at all, although it’s a little hard to know what it’s about at first glance.
  
  Reply
Trisha Cupra says:

February 14, 2011 at 2:51 am

Another great, simple makeover. It’s all about the visual hierarchy.

Reply
- Tom says:
  
  February 17, 2011 at 4:55 pm
  
  Thanks Trisha! I agree, good visual hierarchy is an absolute must.
  
  Reply
Computerdux says:

February 15, 2011 at 9:12 pm

Hi Tom, let my blog enter the redesign vote next week

Reply
- Tom says:
  
  February 17, 2011 at 4:58 pm
  
  Just off to include your site in this week’s poll .
  
  Reply
William Montgomery says:

February 20, 2011 at 4:15 pm

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)

Reply

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