geekhack

geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: zwmalone on Thu, 04 June 2009, 18:39:24

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Thu, 04 June 2009, 18:39:24

I've started on a serious redesign of the unicomp website.  I created this thread because it was spilling over into the Praise for Unicomp thread.  Unlike my previous design, this one is a fully working template, ready for  completion.
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2560&d=1244158592)

If you have any shots of your Customizers/Spacesavers (Modified or not) you'd like to donate so I could put them in a gallery, it would be most helpful.
If you have any web or graphic design skills it would be most appreciated.

ALSO, on a completely unrelated note, this is my 500th post, making me a senior member!

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: huha on Thu, 04 June 2009, 19:00:24

I actually quite like the current Unicomp website. Yes, it is extremely ugly and devoid of almost all information, so I'd like some of the specs and stuff to come back, but at least it doesn't look like every other web 2.0 site. Really, I'm so sick of seeing the bland web 2.0 designs I'd much rather prefer a bland 90's design.
Your design is not bad per se, but it just looks so uninspiring.

-huha

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: ch_123 on Thu, 04 June 2009, 19:05:28

I wouldnt exactly call it Web 2.0... Not enough flash for that xD

I'd take a look at some of their old website designs on the Internet Archvies. They look dated, but the whole structure/layout was quite good.

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: bigpook on Thu, 04 June 2009, 19:09:06

No, this is uninspiring

(http://ajm.no-ip.info/STUFF/Screenshot-Online%20Store%20Home%20Page%20-%20Mozilla%20Firefox.png)

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Thu, 04 June 2009, 19:33:15

Still working on the design.  Here's what I've got so far...
(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=2561&stc=1&d=1244161921)

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Thu, 04 June 2009, 21:02:38

I shot Unicomp an email...

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Fri, 05 June 2009, 04:15:43

Suggestions on what to do to make it look better (besides making it look like something from the '90s..., I'm not trying to make it look web 2.0, just something modern and professional...)

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: cchan on Fri, 05 June 2009, 06:51:36

Quote from: zwmalone;94306

Suggestions on what to do to make it look better (besides making it look like something from the '90s..., I'm not trying to make it look web 2.0, just something modern and professional...)

flash only, gaudy backgrounds, annoying background music, real life navigation metaphor... makes everything better!

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: itlnstln on Fri, 05 June 2009, 07:09:45

I like it. Simple. Clean.

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: Hak Foo on Fri, 05 June 2009, 19:15:36

I'd say they might want to consider a proper shopping cart, like Zen Cart or Magento.

This will leave them free to host wherever they want (I don't trust Yahoo anything), and, with the right cart, they can do nice things like showing disabling sold-out items automatically, postage estimators, etc.

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: cchan on Fri, 05 June 2009, 20:44:10

Quote from: Hak Foo;94431

I'd say they might want to consider a proper shopping cart, like Zen Cart or Magento.

This will leave them free to host wherever they want (I don't trust Yahoo anything), and, with the right cart, they can do nice things like showing disabling sold-out items automatically, postage estimators, etc.

How good is OSCommerce? I've noticed a few sites I've been on use that.

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: Hak Foo on Fri, 05 June 2009, 21:32:50

It's like the grandpa of the industry... there's a lot of modules, but it's pretty creaky and old.  I seem to recall it was a pain to get running on PHP 5, but that was in 2006.

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Sat, 06 June 2009, 14:58:13

I got an email from Chuck, he forwarded my message to their "web department" (A term I use loosely)

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: Mr.6502 on Sat, 06 June 2009, 20:03:41

I like what you are going for but personally there are some things that stick out and make my eyes not like it (I often talk about my eyes as if they were a separate entity because when people are looking at things they often do what their eyes tell them to without realizing it).

It appears you are going for a simple and clean design, but then I think you should figure out if there is a reason for the gradient background and solid borders.  The borders are so bold against the overall background colors of the page that they stick out to the eye almost as much as the writing does.  Their purpose is to divide the page up into visual pieces but I think there are much more subtle ways to accomplish that that aren't as confusing to the eye.  

Also all the text at the top is so similar that it ends up being a jumble.  Is the logo, the navigation menu and "Welcome to Unicomp!" all going to be present on every page?  If so I would question the logic of having the huge Unicomp logo followed almost immediately by the huge "Welcome to Unicomp!" text.  If the welcome message is a title to a specific page, I think there needs to be something that more clearly defines the transition from header to content.  

All my opinion of course and if you say "that's all crazy talk" I wouldn't take offense.  But if you agree with my POV I'd be interested in playing around with the mockup you've got to show you what I'm getting at.

Quote from: ripster;94518

Web Department:

Show Image

(http://images42.fotki.com/v1319/photos/9/96260/6758437/Keyboard-vi.jpg)

That's the Crayola Keyboard (http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-11071-Keyboard/dp/B00167ZYMK) BTW.

Sidenote, I have to get one of these for the office!  If someone messes up a keyboard or mouse, they'll be demoted to "Kindergarten" status!

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: Hak Foo on Sat, 06 June 2009, 21:23:22

I thought generally they just bought those awful 'corporate' PCs where the BIOS has no options more advanced than 'set the date'

Title: Unicomp Website Redesign
Post by: zwmalone on Mon, 08 June 2009, 16:46:49

Restarting from scratch... My "reliable" hard drive (reliable as in it's not my 7200.11 series) crashed...  This time I'm hand-coding everything and taking everyone's suggestions to heart, and hopefully implementing most of them...