Project 3 preliminary

[Samantha_Thomas]

Hello, again, one and all.

the original website I chose to do was http://cloud9walkers.com/

I tried to stick to the original theme with the colors and clouds, rearrange things, and add on some much-needed organization at the top of the page instead of the bottom to get all the info you need. I imagine the inside page (stallion one) and all the others like that will be scrollable due to the nature of this type of website.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make the second type of layout cause I literally could not think of any more that would fit this type of website, and I'm open to suggestions if you got a different kind of way you think would work.
Or recommendations to change the one I was able to make. I will take any and all suggestions and think about it.

[Cole_Richards]

Hi Samantha, I really like these! The designs are a definite improvement over the original website design, the use of navigation for the different types of horses being sold is really nice, I would change some of the fonts, they are a bit distraction in my opinion, a less expressive font and a little smaller size might bring that extra note of professionalism, otherwise I really like the direction you're going!

[kpargs]

Hi Samantha,
You organized this website nicely, I think I like the photograph with the sunset colors in it because it ties into your color palette and makes for some visual interest.

[Fatkid53]

I like the new setup for the design you chose and it is a vast improvement on the original site. I like the color scheme you carried over from the original site as well. I might take a look over your nav setup, it seems a bit crowded to me, I might pare down the fonts to a smaller size or the background shapes for the links to create a bit of breathing room but still maintain their readability. A great start and good luck moving forward.

[lilykmitch]

Hi samantha
I really like the color palette you chose for this website and i think it goes well with what its about. something i might do differently is to add the name of the website to the top section where you have the clouds.

[Instructor]

Ooooh! Things are coming right down to the wire in your poll, Samantha. Let's see if the objectively right answer wins.

A true pity you couldn't give us a second design, but it looks like everyone's giving you their best feedback on this one.

Woof! Look at those drop down menus. My lecture on Tuesday the 29th will serve you well. Good use of transparency on 'em. Adds a nice little bit of visual interest. The bit that I like best is how the clouds change from page to page in your header. Very open range. I think it would be really cool if each page had a different one. That would make for a great little navigational aide throughout your website. The leather belt navigation is an interesting idea. It's certainly well placed and easy to use and I like the belt buckle home button. Good colors too. The blue does a good job of echoing the sky and the goldenrod is a great natural color that works well with the blue and invokes light colored leather, horse fur, and fields of grain. Good color psychology there. A script bodycopy is an interesting choice. Ordinarily, I'd chide you for it, but here it gives the website a handwritten feel alomost like it's a series of papers tacked up next to each horse's stall. A bold choice that paid off for you. Good margin work on the whole thing. Nothing feels too crowded.

I think you should lean into the skeuomorphism you have going on here with the leather belt navigation. Really texture that thing to look like leather, make the home button look like a big ol' golden belt buckle. Maybe use the title font for the main button text like it's been burned into the leather. The script works fine for your dropdown menus though. Make sure everything aligns on your belt nav, too. They seem to have different heights and placements on the computer layout. Make sure the dropdowns are the same width as your buttons.

Good work! At least on what you turned in.

[zandrews]

Hi Sam!

Awww love your website choice! Both of your layouts are so beautiful (and so similar - which is not a bad thing because your color combo and layout organization is excellent).

Personally I love the second option with the sunset header image as it just adds a little more oomph and pop to the layout. The one thing I would adjust moving forward though regardless of which set you pick, it to adjust your fonts just a tad/ The "HOME" is great but the rest of the navigations should wither be a simpler font since its smaller as itll be easier to instantly read/discern and also the font shouldn't be italicized as everything looks like its leaning. Perhaps that was intentional in relation to the speed of horses but for navigation and readability purposes, I think it would make your layout overall much cleaner.

Really a strong start here and should make for a fantastic final website. Great work!

[squidgola33]

I really like the color choices you have made here, they work very well together and aren't too overwhelming. I think everything looks really nice however the page is very flat I feel adding a drop shadow or some stylized effect to your font or images would really give your website some more depth.

[Elle Barre]

Hi Samantha, It's hard to get past that oddball photo... such a bizarre portrait of a woman and her horse... that being said, you did raise the level of organization on that site. The colors ... They work, easy on the eyes. One thing thatat the orig site did right was have the photos fill the frame... I think that was a good thing to leave behind (except for the 'leapfrog' picture). Your overall looks are consistent... that makes navigating any site really user friendly and your drop downs are good. Organization really well done. :- )

[James Hill]

Hey Sam,
I really like your website redesign. My favorite part is the color scheme and image choice. Your font choice is a bit hard to read in the body copy part. Good job.