Here are 3 takes, all with small differences. In all three, I've revamped the menu bar, making it much simpler and with fewer categories. I am also keeping the bar on the bottom, but I made the font smaller and took out one of the categories that was redundant.
Take 1: explanatory text is in the yellow bar. The right field is still left blank.
Take 2: explanatory text to the right of the sling picture (I could move the text farther down)
Take 3: explanatory text in yellow bar (as with Take 1), right field has a "featured sling" area. This will change from week to week, or month to month.
On the thumbnails, I like having something (words or image) on the right, but once I clicked on the images and saw them larger, I think #1 works better. Having empty space under the vine sets it off a little bit in a pretty way, and keeps the page from looking too cluttered.
ReplyDeleteNumber 3
ReplyDeleteI love it
It's balanced and user friendly.
Number 1 and 3 are my favorites. Number 2 is confusing, you have to think first about what's the difference between the two menus.
ReplyDeleteKeeping a list to one side is more comfortable.
That beeing said, it's gorgeous.
Anik
I like #3 the best. But I wonder if having the picture in a different shape (other than the circle) would be better, since your main image is also a circle. But it does look lovely all three ways. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like both #1 and #3, but if I had to choose one, I would say #3. The details of the featured sling may draw someone in to look around more.
ReplyDeleteI like take 3. I like having the links at the top and the featured sling is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteI like #3. One of the things that drew me to your slings on your blogspot site was how great they look the way you fold them up, where you can see how the rings match and how beautiful your pleating and decorative stitching are. That's why I think the featured sling is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI could make the featured picture shape a square--I agree, it might be too many circles!
ReplyDeleteI like take 3! Also, I like the circle aspect of the whole thing. I think if you made the picture a square, the whole ambiance of the site would be thrown off.
ReplyDeletePerhaps an oval on 3 would work? I originally liked 1 best, but I, too, really like how beautifully your sewing is showcased in 3. Good work, Rixa.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for #3! Beautiful and functional. If you're feeling that there are too many circles, perhaps...
ReplyDeleteSet the featured sling in a square that has a 1-pixel border in one of your accent colors and leave the interior of the box invisible (i.e. the same color as the background). Does that make sense? Hmm...might have to send an image to you to be clear. I'll work on it...
Definitely #3. It looks much more balanced and professional than the other two. I like the added info in the top bar but they look like they should be links. I would change it to be more sentence structured. Example:
ReplyDelete"Your source for made-to-order ring slings, children's play slings and infant scale slings."
:)
Ok, so I've mocked up a squarish-circlish featured sling section, just in case my last post wasn't clear. You can find the mock-up at http://urbancrunchymama.com/images/rixafeaturedsling.jpg
ReplyDeleteIf you do implement the square box idea, I would recommend making your image and text for this section a lot small than it is now. Otherwise it would compete with the main image for attention.
I agree with greylisa. The placement of the "subtitle" in the yellow bar makes it look like navigation. Her suggestion of turning the subtitle into more of a sentence would definitely work. Or you could play with the placement of the "subtitle" in the header some more.
And yes, you're very brave for let us chime in here. :-)
The link to my mock-up didn't go through last time. Let's try this again.
ReplyDeletehttp://urbancrunchymama.com/images/rixafeaturedsling.jpg
Ack! It happened again! OK, so copy and past the link that I've provided twice now and then add the following after it...
ReplyDeleteg.jpg
urbancrunchymama--love the text box/picture thing! I think I will go with that.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to come up with something on the yellow bar a bit more text-ish and less link-ish.
Did I mention how excited I am to have a proper website finally?
You're gonna hate me for even suggesting this because you've already created so many iterations of this, but...
ReplyDeleteNow that you've pared down the number of links on the left, you can put the vine on the left hand side of the page and actually use it as part of your main navigation bar.
To do this, I would make the vine big enough to accomodate all of the main links on the homepage (excluding sublinks like linen slings, silk slings, batik slings, etc.).
Once you click "down" to the Shop section, the vine expands for the sublinks to appear. This doesn't mean that all of your different slings need a dot. I'm just saying that they are aligned underneath the Shop dot. Oh, dear...do I need to create another mock-up?
Can you tell I'm having fun with this? :-)
UCM--I think I get what you're trying to say, but I don't have the computer skills to know how to do the "pop up" text you're talking about. If you want to do a mock-up, you are more than welcome!
ReplyDeleteBack with another mock-up!
ReplyDeleteYou could easily put the links from the footer into the main navigation. If you want something to "ground" the bottom of the page, then you can leave the green bar there (without text or with a disclaimer or whatever logistical blurb you'd like).
The mock-up..
http://urbancrunchymama.com/images/rixawebsite01.jpg
Oh, I just saw your most recent response. No need to create a pop-up anything. Just make it a static image. Your vine would just look slightly different on every page.
The mock-up link is missing to letters at the end. (But you probably already figured that out.)
ReplyDeletepg
UCM,
ReplyDeleteHere's the link you first tried to post; and is a mini lesson on how to include html, so you don't have to worry about those long URLs getting cut off. :-)
-Kathy
What if you took the #1 but moved the last three menu items from the left (FAQ, gallery, about) to the bottom right? I think the right side needs just a little something...maybe the #2, but with that right side text moved waaaaay down?d
ReplyDeleteNumber 3!! Love it :)
ReplyDeleteI like take 3. I think a featured sling will be great for people visiting the site and is a great way to highlight something new.
ReplyDeleteBritt
I like #3 but with the square box mock up that UCM did.
ReplyDelete