Gentoo Foundation Website Redesign Contest -- the vote

Message

gutter · Post by **gutter** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:45 am

wow all great designs

sparky007 · Post by **sparky007** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:35 am

Good work everyone.
For me it was Aaron Shi again. Not completely convinced with the infinity Os in the logo though.

toon · Post by **toon** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:22 am

I voted for Aaron Shi's design.
It looks professional, it is functional, and it is beatiful.

One thing I like to see changed:
The text is too greyish.
I prefer to have the regular text printed in a dark color,
more towards black than is the case in Aaron's design.

joeybravo · Post by **joeybravo** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:02 pm

All of them look great, but

+1 Charles-Andre Landemaine - gencorp

PROs

1. Accessibility (notice the TOP menu with sub-categories, quick access from
anywhere when you're wandering inside the site)
2. Neat
3. Organized and Balanced
4. Color theme matches Gentoo

CONs

1. Frontpage image is too big. I bet it will be replaced by admins
2. Fat Fonts (me prefers smaller fonts)

I wish we could test drive the entries instead of basing our votes
and comments on the physical appearance.

r3pek · Post by **r3pek** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:11 pm

well, the design from Aaron Shi is the most eye candy one

so my vote goes to that one....

Congratulations to all.

jpetso · Post by **jpetso** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:13 pm

We _really_ need a second round to revise the designs.

That way, Aaron can replace the infinity sign with the original gentoo artwork and shrink the pictures, while Iris on Mirror can restructure the navigation and come up with a reasonable color design that appeals to the community.

gencorp looks cool, but there are far too many navigation levels (or at least it seems so, because they are duplicated). gentech, in my opinion, should get the items from the left navigation bar elsewhere and replace them with the ones for everyday use. Or something like that. Derek should try not to encapsulate the navigation items into full sentences and also shrink the image a little bit.

However, at this point, I have voted for Iris in the mirror, because I fear big images and I don't like Aaron's purple.

Breach · Post by **Breach** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:12 pm

it's really great to see, Gentoo has such a talented band of admirers ready to whip up a professional-grade web site, we deserve it!

Aaron Shi earns my heart too tho'

Wrawrat · Post by **Wrawrat** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:39 pm

I voted for Iris on Mirror but gencorp is also quite nice...

Aaron's design would be absolutely perfect if Gentoo was a commercial distro but that's not the case. I feel that many new users will simply get away if we adopt that one. Getting rid of those professional-looking images for more cartoonish might change this impression, though.

Ah, forgot something. Like pretty much everybody said, Iris should be more purple-ish. And it would be perfect if the author adds a breadcrumb trail like Ari suggested.

JOS654 · Post by **JOS654** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 1:53 pm

the only thing i would change in the aarron design is the banner the derek banner shows much better the true gentoo and no the perfomance way

k-dub · Post by **k-dub** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:09 pm

These are all quite good, however they all have aspects that I do not like. Derek's entry doesn't include space for the ads. The "gentech" entry, which I voted for, seems a bit sparse and the top nav seems too "fat" vertically. The "gencorp" entry is painfully busy in the top navigation although I really liked the links below. Aaron's entry has confusing naviagation in the graphics and I don't like the tiny fonts with dashed underlines. The Iris entry would be my top pick with some simple color changes and font changes.

The current design is very good too, but it's time for change.

eGore911 · Post by **eGore911** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:10 pm

I'm in favor for at least 3 of them

Anybody considered using more than one design and the user is able to switch? (Like http://mplayerhq.hu/ did this ( http://mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/news.html and http://mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design5/news.html for example)

pjv · Post by **pjv** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:11 pm

I first posted this on another site design poll, sorry:

<
I seem to be to late, but I would also have voted NO (no to a change of the site).

I really like the current site because it's so practical and goodlooking.

I don't really like any of the 5 suggested followups. I miss the lots of black at the top with the bright green that sticks out. Instead they've gone for an olive green which is already used by other distro's. The text fonts and hypertext links aren't simple anymore, lot's of little junk like bullets. Also the links on the main pages aren't nicely organized. NEW USERS WILL NOT FIND THERE WAY ON THESE SITES! The never-used top bar (the online bad aspect of the current site) is still there in a worse shape. Also there aren't any nice shades of purples and the dose is to high mostly. These sites remind me of (this or previous) lame SuSE and Mandrake sites! Makes us (e.g. Gentoo) look like a commercial company, not by the user for the user anymore!

Plz, let me know what you guys think! Note: I mean to give constructive criticism here... Hope someone listens...

>

vdboor · Post by **vdboor** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:32 pm

I really like the community part of Gentoo, and that's why I voted for something resembling that (gentech). I hope the gentoo website will not be turned into a SuSE like website, because it gives me a closed feeling (everything hidden behind large layers). Sorry to say, but I really hate that site, even though I think SuSE has good product.

The design of Aaron Shi has a very professional look, and if the words "High Performance Computing" were left out, I might have voted for it. Sadly, those words gave me a feeling like the gentoo community I love was transformed into a bunch of zeolots, and I pressed back as fast as I could without taking a closer look.

In other words, it looks nice, but it scares away new users..!

Narada · Post by **Narada** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:47 pm

The obvious choice IMO is Iris On Mirror that is lean and space efficient. The rest are not suited to a smaller resolution such as 800x600 which is what I am browsing from. The use of larger images and excessive whitespace between elements means more scrolling. So I voted for Iris On Mirror. If I was allowed two votes I'd vote second for gencorp. That is also very good for the same reasons as Iris On Mirror. They are both also very pleasing to the eye without making excessive use of strong colours. Generally speaking, excellent work on all designs.

skatrek · Post by **skatrek** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:49 pm

Iris on Mirror is great as a "friendly" community site, versus a "I'm a big web host" kind of site (the images on Aaron's site are the biggest *problem* I think). I agree that a purple motif would be better for Gentoo, but the green is also nice. However, I might make the text darker since it's a little tough to read...

Peach · Post by **Peach** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:50 pm

Hi all.. and here's my opinion and why I voted for Charles-Andre Landemaine - gentech

Generally speaking, the only two interesting designs are the first from Aaron Shi and the third I voted

Aaron Shi is quite interesing well organized.. well it's just an hard redesign of the present design, nothing more, there's no rewrite of the code but the css (more or less) the only problem is the fat images used in here, where, to gain a good result should be uncompressed, and gives a bad result on wider resolutions, this means two things: or you cut the image on the right, or you center the main block giving auto spaces left and right, or you create a sort of fading out on right... apart from the fact the gentoo community is an high speed internet community, the site can result in a fat weighted site.

Charles-Andre Landemaine - gencorp this is not useable at all.. maybe the one I hate the most. Apart from the graphics, there's nothing better in this one... it's just a stupid portal with everything messed and mixed up all togheter with no distinction

Charles-Andre Landemaine - gentech this is the one I voted... this is the one I preferr, not because it's optimal, but because it's less bad than others . ok ok... I'll give up, but I should note that this design has got a really tall navigation bar, that is futile, if you're not blind or your monitor is too far from you (like 1 km or so). I think one problem can arise if the image used on the right of the "welcome" text has to be dynamic, this means a quite annoying editing of the images for the rounded corners.. but nothing else apart this...

Derek Gerstmann not bad at all, but, man, this should be a little bit more thought... know what I mean? 1) the header is really bad graphically, 2) the big center image is really too wide and stupid, 3) there's no highlighted news neither it has been thought for a dynamic feed, 4) there's no handbook style...

Iris on Mirror This is not bad but seems.. in a way, off topic. I mean, there was nothing wrong with the colors of gentoo, and unstrengthen them give a bad appeal, a really bad impact, in my opinion, apart from the fact that the header should be done better. The really only good thing about this style should be the weight of the whole site..

That's all for me

next time if I'm not as busy as I've been since now, I'll try to get into the contest too

Raffi · Post by **Raffi** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:52 pm

I don't really have a preference on the look of any of these. I voted for gencorp because it was the only one that provided a way to search the site. I never have understood why the gentoo site does not have a search (or have I missed something?)

grimjed · Post by **grimjed** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 2:58 pm

Congratulations to all the finalists. All the designs are quite attractive and your efforts are appreciated.

I voted for Aaron Shi. However, after reading some comments and taking a second look, if I could vote again, I would have changed my vote to Iris on Mirror. I do like the clean layout of Iris on Mirror. I think Aaron Shi should lighten the colours a little to give a cleaner look. I think Iris on Mirror should change the greeny-yellow colour and stick with purple and white.

I now find myself cheering for some kind of collaborative effort between Aaron's and Iris's designs. Ya, I know. They are quite different - but they both have strong points and weak points.

curtis119 · Post by **curtis119** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:20 pm

I voted for Aaron Shi. The corporate look and feel gives Gentoo a more professional feeling. If Gentoo wants to be seen as a viable alternative for corporate servers/desktops, then it has to have a professional image. The gentoo survey is good sign that this is a goal of the Gentoo project.

Charles-Andre Landemaine - gentech is a very close second for the same reason.

alechiko · Post by **alechiko** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 3:21 pm

I cant wait for the new design to go up, something fresh, its gonna kick ass

yama_ · Post by **yama_** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:31 pm

I've voted for Aaron Shi . His graphics kick ass.
Even though it looks like a corporate website , we need a new look.

Cheers

Yama_

gigel · Post by **gigel** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 4:59 pm

i've voted for gencorp.
aaron shi's desing looks nice too

Detronizator · Post by **Detronizator** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:28 pm

elektrohirn wrote:All designs look very professional, but I don't like those pictures that make the site look like a company's website. Gentoo.org is a community site, not a company, so I voted for "Iris on Mirror" because I like it's simple, clean design. I agree with Z3RO that it should be a little more purpelish though.

Good work everyone!!

Tom

Narada · Post by **Narada** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:35 pm

I agree with elektrohirn. Most people are voting for Aaron Shi because general first impressions are good. However, for this particular purpose Iris On Mirror really is best suited.

Hyrken · Post by **Hyrken** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 5:43 pm

I vote for Aaron Shi. It seems to be good. I'd like the last one, but green color is not for gentoo, sorry.

Gentoo Foundation Website Redesign Contest -- the vote

Gentoo Foundation Website Redesign Finalists

Nice!

High Performance...?

Iris On Mirror

The excitement! Its all too much