Which Website Design Idea Looks Better?

[Neutral Gamer]

Me and some friends are thinking of setting up a gaming website in our spare time. It's gonna have news and articles and basically it's just gonna be a bit of fun!

So I just quickly knocked up these two design ideas - that's why there's only the title and main links on it at the moment. I just need some honest advice on which one looks best (or if they both look crap!) so that we can go ahead and start designing and coding it properly.

Click on the images to see them at actual size:

DESIGN 1 - Daytime Grass

This one is just like a "title" page. It's more like a blurred glass look (I think I've been using Vista for too long!) Keen eyed viewers will notice it's a Windows wallpaper in the background but if we decide to go with this design we'll change it to something similar in colour.

DESIGN 1 - Daytime Grass with Links

Here's the same design but showing a typical page with navigation links at the top.

DESIGN 2 - Nighttime Grass

This is a more nighttime design with it getting darker as it gets away from you and is supposed to be more "3D".

Any advice would be much appreciated so we can go ahead and start working on it! Cheers

 

[ChrisWB]

What are you trying to accomplish with this design?

 

[colinmack]

First is better, but the outside of the blurred glass should probably have a well-defined edge.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

What are you trying to accomplish with this design?

That's an interesting question. Make people feel comfortable and relaxed when viewing the website? Make them feel like they're viewing a modern website with some sense of style but that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Does that make any sense?!

I'm no design expert - I suppose the main aim is just to make it look "good"!

First is better, but the outside of the blurred glass should probably have a well-defined edge.

Ya, I see what you mean, the shadow is a bit subtle around the edge. When me and my friends have chosen which one to go with, we'll start polishing it up obviously and start adding the other parts to it. As long as we're happy with the basic concept (as well as potential future visitors!).

 

[ppc_michael]

Though I like the first better, I'm voting for the second because it's not a blatant Vista ripoff.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

Though I like the first better, I'm voting for the second because it's not a blatant Vista ripoff.

LOL

 

[Cabbit]

what is frosted glass and grass to do with games.

 

[HiRez]

Yes, the first one is too Vista-ey for my tastes, although it doesn't look horrible. I don't really like the second design, unless you're going for football games because it says football to me. I agree with Chris, decide what you want to say or represent first, then let the design evolve out of that. I don't get a "gaming" sense from these designs in any way.

 

[jonnylink]

I agree with Chris, decide what you want to say or represent first, then let the design evolve out of that. I don't get a "gaming" sense from these designs in any way.

I agree with HiRez agreeing with Chris.

 

[ChicoWeb]

These are all very static pages, What if someone has a 30 ACD compared to a 12 macbook? Are you going to keep it aligned statically? Most designers use color and patterns to combat this, of which I see none. It's very "print" like.

Just my 2/100 of a dollar.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

Psychological Choice?

Hi, thanks for the replies everybody.

I suppose my main aim for the design (subconciously at least) was to create something that looked different to all the other gaming websites.

The first design is, as people have mentioned, too much of a Vista copy and was obviously an idea I used because I already knew it looked good, if unoriginal. That's why the second design is so different to the first - I just wanted something that I personally liked and would find cool looking and unique. Of course the problem with that is that other people may not agree!

The thing is I've looked at so many mainstream and non-mainstream gaming sites and they all look so generic - most of them don't even have a gaming specific logo or theme. That's why I wanted to create something that stands out. Now that I look at it though I can definitely see the "football" theme that seems to be coming across of the second design but the concept of darkness with some light kind of coming through seems to be appeal to me at the moment.

I dunno, whenever I've written programs in the past or created posters or whatever, I've always designed them with the idea of making something really unique. That people would stop and say, wow that looks different. Why fit into the crowd?

You wouldn't expect the concepts of grass, glass, light and darkness to be associated with gaming and maybe that's why I identify with it. This is turning into a psychology lesson, but maybe deep down I put these designs out because I knew that people wouldn't like them, especially the second one, and that in a way would justify to me that that's the choice I really wanna go with. Does that make any sense?!

So I'll probably create my third design which takes the best of the first two (and obviously try and play down the "football" thing!) but whose heart and soul, whose concept, is in the second. If people end up hating it, they end up hating it. Better to get a strong reaction from a design (even if it's negative) than for people to simply accept it and "feel" nothing from it.

Just look at the London Olympics logo. Like many people, I hated it when it was first revaled. But it catches my eye every time I see it now - it gets noticed. Now the more I see it the more I seem to be liking it; the idea worked. Weird hey!

ChicoWeb, as for the "static alignment" and "print" like layout, as I've said before it's the concept that matters. At the moment they're just images, not web pages. Once me and my friends have decided then all the CSS, Javascript and PHP fun can begin! Don't worry I'll be testing it out at various resolutions and on various browsers and code it in a way that fits well with all of them.

Cheers

 

[ChicoWeb]

ChicoWeb, as for the "static alignment" and "print" like layout, as I've said before it's the concept that matters. At the moment they're just images, not web pages. Once me and my friends have decided then all the CSS, Javascript and PHP fun can begin! Don't worry I'll be testing it out at various resolutions and on various browsers and code it in a way that fits well with all of them.

Cheers

Okay, Well I thought you were creating mockups. If this is a mood board or a concept, I was unaware. Typically when you create mockups you want them to be identical to who the webpage will turn out. But... it already sounds like you know everything you need to know.

 

[Neutral Gamer]

Okay, Well I thought you were creating mockups. If this is a mood board or a concept, I was unaware. Typically when you create mockups you want them to be identical to who the webpage will turn out. But... it already sounds like you know everything you need to know.

Sorry, I should have made it more clear.