monkeys' site v1.2
monkey1979 (684 points) | Wed, 2010-01-27 18:41Hi again all
Original brief to myself can be found here:
http://creativebits.org/monkeys_site
I have added in the thumbnails, am still arguing with myself as to what to include.
The white background looked nice with just the placeholders, but when I added the images it all looked a bit too washed out. Now I am wondering if a black background is too heavy.
All opinions, exclamations, critique welcomed.
Cheers
Monk ^__^
living on dreams and custard creams.
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WAW!!! THAT'S SEXY NOW!!! =D
you just opened the iMONKEY STORE xD
what do you think about add some grayscale social networking icons above right columm.
yes I'm brazilian xD
great suggestion, I use twitter and facebook, but only for communicating with my friends. I have thought about creating separate accounts for business promotion, but have always held back, not sure what I'd say... "Scored a brochure today that'll keep me in beer tokens until May!!!"
The time has come for Monkey to get serious though, I need a marketting plan.
I must be growing up. I want an office.
living on dreams and custard creams.
Yeah I love it too <3 (oke, almoooooost as much as my own site but that's my baby!)
Now change all thumbnails with Qwertyale avatars and you'll get those orders in no time!
http://jackmancer.com/
http://twitter.com/jackmancer
HaHa, I bet he would want a cut of the profits...
living on dreams and custard creams.
The black is too heavy for me - also don't like the effect it's having on your corporate colors. The layout works, but imho it still needs some zoom - something off the grid, not so anal... to loosen up the structure a little.
the black has been playing on my mind, although I can't help but love the way it adds vibrancy to the thumbnails.
I have toyed with making a background texture out of the logo, it tessellates very nicely and mounting the page on various colour solid frames, but nothing looks as nice as the simplicity I have found in this version.
I agree that the corp colours need altering on the dark background, the warm grey on the M could use toning down / darkening slightly, and the green needs to be muddier and more organic. though I wouldn't change the body text / header text colours.
Your next point: I really want to break the grid slightly, do something off beat. I have tried all sorts. Using the top line like a heart monitor on the right hand side, recreating the shape of the logo in a single line. I have tried diagonal menu systems to match the angle of the logo, I have tried ragged edges, but am constantly being drawn back to the clean.
This is only version 12 for me, I'm getting tired of arguing with myself.
Being your own client sucks.
Cheers
living on dreams and custard creams.
First impressions: Nice, clean, professional, laid out well, simple. I like it.
Upon closer inspection: The above still applies, but I can see your concerns about the black being "heavy." To me it the "heavy" feeling comes from two things: the weight of the black background and the density of the image grid... the combination of the two makes for a bit of an intimidating vibe. Give the work a bit of room to breath so it's not overwhelming. Look at the screeen of an iPhone... the gutters are larger relative to the size of the icons. Perhaps if the columns had maybe 30% more space between them, even if it meant the images had to be smaller? And what about going with a dark gray background, another 10-15% darker than the background of this forum? I don't know if that will argue with the gray in your logo, and you may need to change the color of your text and boarders.
Again, let me reiterate: clean, professional, laid out well, simple, I like it. If you feel like you're going to over-work it you could stop right now and all would be well. I think your instincts are right on with your subtle grid layout; don't try to force interest with arbitrary raggedness. I just think it looks a little tight and tense.
Hope that helps.
I like this.
fedora FREEDOM. FRIENDS. FEATURES. FIRST.
fedoraproject.org
i would go back to the white background.