PDA

View Full Version : The Website I Get to Completely Redo...



Blessed
03-11-2009, 02:11 AM
OK, so here is the website:

http://www.kccelebrates.com

Currently it is built using Dreamweaver. If the magazine is continued I will get to completely revamp this website. I'd like to do it on a WordPress platform - have an article or two from the current issue on the front page, give the advertisers better coverage and display on the website and generally make this thing look a lot better.

Pretty much someone else built the site, I went in and updated the link for the March magazine (which is the first one I laid out so if you want to see some of my work check out the pdf...) and put in the new advertisers, took out the old advertisers on the landing page only and didn't mess with the rest of the site yet.

Any suggestions? I'm open to any and all ideas right now, haven't started working on the project yet and since this will be my first website know that I have A LOT to learn :)

One more thing... I hate the logo this magazine has, unfortunately I can't change that... Oh Well! I changed lots of other things!

vangogh
03-11-2009, 02:47 AM
Jenn are you looking for a review of the current site or more suggestions for what you should do with the redesign? I guess a review of the current will still offer ideas for the redesign.

Ok the current design. Not crazy about it. My first thought is it's too busy. Too many images on the home page competing for attention. That's further complicated by the Flash in the center. There's really no focus to the page at at all.

With the magazines in the center why not one image for the current issue and then a link to the archives. The image will probably work in the sidebar on every page of the site.

Centered text is generally bad, which is the case on the home page. It can work with short block of text, but it's better avoided with the main copy. It's usually a sure sign that the design is amateur. Look instead to align the text left and create strong lines by aligning the edge of the text with other elements on the page.

Why two of the same image at the bottom. I assume it was done because someone thought it provided a good balance, but it really doesn't.

I'm guessing you know all of the above already, but I figured I would mention it. I looked through the current edition and you put it together nice. I like the online display though it did take a bit to load.

You mentioned WordPress. I think you're right about having an article or two from each issue. It might be better to have the first paragraph or two or a description of the article on the home page and let them link to the full page. There are quite a few magazine style themes out there. It's been s a very popular for the last year or so. If you search 'wordpress magazine themes' I'm sure you'll find a lot you can use as a guide.

If any of the distribution locations have sites it might be nice to link to them. It would also work well to organize them better. Looks like you could organize them by state and then city, though state is probably not that big a deal given the area. Maybe just grouped by city.

If the only thing they want with the advertise pages is the contact info that might work better in the sidebar or somewhere in the template to appear on every page. If it needs to be a standalone page I would suggest more content. At least some subscription numbers.

Hope that helps.

rezzy
03-11-2009, 04:58 PM
I feel like I am echoing Steven. But when I first opened the site, I had no idea what it was about.

Is it jewerly? Celebrities? Something else?

The page seems dominated by ads and other images which dont add to the page content.

Since, I am not sure what the site was about I found one that I thought was a good step towards a magazine site. People Mag (http://www.people.com/people/)

The big image on the right could be a magazine cover. You really want to highlight the covers, (if they are interesting and well done), to bring the person in. Take highlights, or important articles and highlight them at the front page.

Wordpress would be a great system to use. I am not sure of your level of expertise with coding because unless you purchase a template, creating the layout will require a certain level of coding understanding.

Ie) CSS and some PHP(if you use a template)

Blessed
03-12-2009, 12:24 AM
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was a bit confused by the site when I first looked at it...

Thanks for the input, I think that by pinpointing all the things I don't like about this current site it will be easier for me to make the new site like I think it should be. So I also appreciate the suggestions on things to do with the new site.

As for the magazine - it's on shaky legs right now, pretty much because the magazine looked a lot like this site does - very amateurish, busy and confusing. I cleaned it up a lot, but then again - that's what I know how to do :) Hopefully they will give me a few months with it and see if they can get back some of the initial advertisers and etc... that they had before they published the first magazine. There is definitely a market for this type of publication in our area so we'll see what happens!

vangogh
03-12-2009, 12:28 AM
Good luck. I see what you mean about the magazines. Last night I had only looked at the one you did, but I just looked at one of the older issues. Wow. What a difference. I'm sure you'll be able to fix up the site too.

Hopefully the design changes will show advertisers that the magazine is serious and in better hands now.

cbscreative
03-12-2009, 01:32 PM
Jenn, I anticipate seeing a huge improvement, and congrats again on the opportunity to expand your skills into web design. I'm sure you will find the knowledge here helpful when you have more questions.

Your client's current design reminds me a lot of an article I am currently working on, so I'll share a segent from it because it's so fitting here. The full article covers core principles for a successful online business. The article text below is still not fine tuned yet, but it gets the point across.


Build a high quality web site.

I am not trying to just state the blatently obvious here, but cover some basic principles to define what a high quality site is, and clear up some common misconceptions about what makes a good web site. To many site owners, if it looks professional and everything works, then it's good. There is more to it than that.

To begin with, your web site visitor will spend an average of 8 seconds making a decision about staying or leaving, so they must be able to get a general idea of what your page or site is about within that time. Content must be organized in a logical manner. Clean and simple design is best because too much just confuses the eyes. Confused visitors quickly leave.

Every page must have a specific purpose or goal, a desired action for the visitor to take, and it must be easy for them to take that action. This requires planning. The "flow" of your page needs to support the desired outcome. You must even inform the visitor what action to take so they don't have to figure it out on their own.

Beyond these basic principles, the rest of the definition for a high quality web site depends on your situation. If your site is ecommerce, then a secure, easy checkout system endorsed by a recognized authority is a must. If you have a lot of products or content, then a Search feature is expected. The key is to have all the needed functions while being easy to use.

The best way to illustrate these principles is to use Google because their simplicity is perfect. Now I realize your web site will probably need a bit more something to serve your business goals, but you should start with the minimal elements and add only what is really needed.

Think about how many designers would scoff at the Google design. Now think back to the days when we had a dozen or so major search engines all trying to dominate the market. Then along comes this thing called Google that we never heard of, and rises above all the more established search engines to become #1.

©2009 Steve Chittenden

Blessed
03-12-2009, 04:50 PM
Those are some great points Steve!

Yes... I'm feeling a lot braver with the whole website thing just by doing the updates I did on this one - I made changes, uploaded them and it worked! I did a little happy dance and my Hubby thought I'd lost my mind... but hey, new skills are exciting! Now if only that crazy sponsor of this magazine will get back from his cruise and tell us whether or not he's going to continue to help the magazine out for a few more months...

Irregardless - I have my site to build now :) Guess what I'm starting on next week.