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#145 2008-09-11 02:01:23
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#146 2008-09-11 05:43:08
Re: TxP.com home page
renobird wrote:
Wow. This has become such a “horse by committee”.
Actually, not to a dangerous extent. Matthew Smith does the design with whatever inspiration and contributions he deems appropriate. Given that he operates a collection of influences by trade, I’m quite confident that he would know how to handle this.
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#147 2008-09-11 07:50:45
Re: TxP.com home page
I agree on the horse by committee statement, though I think it has afflicted the content efforts more than the design effort so far.
Jakob wrote:
I like it! (more than other suggestions up to now).
Els wrote:
I agree 100%!
I agree too, but let us all not forget (Ed.), as far as .com designs go (what we can safely call “mockups”), there’s only been two (to my knowledge): Dave’s and zero’s. It wouldn’t be right to compare a mockup against a wireframe, or a mockup with another mockup of a different animal (e.g., wiki). The nice thing about both mockups so far is they are extrapolations of wireframe contributions (Azhou’s, Matthieu’s and Mine), of which two are themselves iterations. In reflection, that seems not to be quite so “horse by committee.”
A style guide for color and font characteristics is a bit different in that this should be compared across different animals to ensure a consistent baseline look. Other design elements not so much. For example, I wouldn’t use all the horizontal lines in Dave’s design for the wiki; there’s no reason for that in a wiki where the objective is to write and read clearly. (Nor, personally, do I think there’s much reason for it in .com, but that’s not my call.) I have since gone with Georgia headers in my wiki styles (now being savvy of wet’s style guide), keeping sans-serif in normal text, and it does look nice. (I think all-Georgia is interesting, but considering we need some consistency in an integrated way, it’s not the best choice in this case.)
Speaking of making calls…
wet wrote:
Matthew Smith does the design with whatever inspiration and contributions he deems appropriate.
That, people, is a clear message that says there is a mechanism here (at least in this instance). I for one am happy for that even if it means other good ideas take a backseat. Pressure’s on, Matthieu.
Last edited by Destry (2008-09-11 11:24:05)
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#148 2008-09-11 10:05:11
Re: TxP.com home page
It wouldn’t be right to compare a mockup against a wireframe
Sure, I was just expressing enthusiasm for what I saw :-) There’s no great criticism of other proposals implied, just what it says. Feedback and enthusiasm is just that. When the wireframes are fleshed out, they too will elucidate more of an emotional response.
BTW: Destry, can you please change the “it” you have linked to? I know you meant well by linking but I was referring to nemoorange’s proposal.
TXP Builders – finely-crafted code, design and txp
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#149 2008-09-11 11:18:31
Re: TxP.com home page
Oops! Terribly sorry, Jakob. Indeed, that was incorrectly linked. In fact so was the “Dave’s” link further in. * sigh * You are correct, I only linked it at all to make it more understood what your quote was mentioning. I guess it backfired.
I totally understand and agree with your enthusiasm. I like Dave’s demo too. Truly. I simply constructed that post badly. My apologies. In fact, I wasn’t really speaking directly to you or Els, only using your statements as context for my more general message, which is that not much (tangibly graphically speaking) has been shared, in fact. I guess I could have said that without any quoting. :)
Sorry for the confusion.
On a diff note: I’ve been thinking what I said about Dave’s horizontal lines not belonging in a wiki, and now I’m having doubts. I don’t think so in the body copy, no, but it could work okay as divisions in the peripheral areas. We’ll see how things go. I might throw another wiki mock together paralleling Dave’s idea just for fun. “Might” being a very weighty word there. :)
Last edited by Destry (2008-09-11 12:29:37)
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#150 2008-09-11 13:45:08
Re: TxP.com home page
folks,
my appologies.
I hadn’t received any updates to this post and thought it was still dormant. I’m catching up on it today.
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
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#151 2008-09-11 14:14:36
Re: TxP.com home page
HOLY CRAP!
I missed a lot. Again apologies.
Destry is garnering great ideas from other writers in the forum, but is still handling the main work of putting together a wireframe/content. I am not entirely sure of where the content/layout has landed in order for me to work out a second iteration. For what its worth, Destry’s original comments and those that ensued about my original comp are spot on. I’m not married to any design. My job as designer is not to KNOW ALL and snog with my designs, but to facilitate content and function to form, and make it match and engage the current brand (hopefully giving it wings).
what I need to design a second round if someone’s willing to make a handy list (pullleeeasse!)
- Link to present content
- Link to Destry’s preferred layout
- Any must read posts that will effect the design (typographical choices, inspiration, tone, audience, etc)
Thanks!
Matthew
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
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#152 2008-09-11 15:33:01
Re: TxP.com home page
So what you need, then, is a summary in graphic brief form. :)
Well here’s the summary anyway…
- Content: The only two links you need to know are site map (for orientation) and more presently home. Content is not yet finalized in either location, but that’s where it will be, not here in this thread.
- My wireframe is close; both Dave and zero’s renditions of the home page seem more or less based on it. I think we need to consolidate and assess the ideas given since then to help lead the home page content details, but we need to find a compromise because there’s a point where enough is enough on the debating and not everybody is going to see their two cents or you might as well put the whole website on the home page. (Remember “horse by design”).
- Last point…I guess wet’s Txp Relaunch page is again the official place on those details (and people need to update/lock it accordingly).
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#153 2008-09-11 15:48:37
Re: TxP.com home page
Matthew,
Glad to see you (figuratively of course). I’m looking forward to seeing the next version.
destry wrote
but we need to find a compromise because there’s a point where enough is enough on the debating and not everybody is going to see their two cents or you might as well put the whole website on the home page.
Exactly.
- )
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#154 2008-09-11 15:54:54
Re: TxP.com home page
squaredeye wrote:
Any must read posts that will effect the design (typographical choices, inspiration, tone, audience, etc)
Other than the ones on the wiki that pretty much cover the whole tone/audience thing, the mock-up by nemoorange and fallout thereafter pretty much sums up the typography and how people see the bits gelling.
fwiw, I’m leaning towards a more paper-publication serif / sans-serif split between headers and content because it conveys classic ‘print’ and ‘text’ ideals to me. I think that’s what we’re building on; the fact that Textpattern is about the writing and the content. I’ve been told that online copy tends to be solely sans-serif, which may explain why a serif font for the copy stands out and instils the words ‘high quality’ & ‘authoritative’ in my head. Maybe it’s just me!
Last edited by Bloke (2008-09-11 15:56:22)
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Txp Builders – finely-crafted code, design and Txp
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#155 2008-09-11 16:31:34
Re: TxP.com home page
bloke,
very good. I am gathering that.
One thought is that while serif fonts too speak to high quality, they also speak to antiquity, which can be problematic when one is looking for a quality CMS that they expect not to BE a publication, but to help them publish.
Sans-serif typography always has the quality of being less obtrusive and “getting out of the way” as helvetica is famous/infamous for. These things need to be taken into account when producing a site for a product that is technologically solid, and ought to “get out of the way” so that users can do whatever they want with it. A serif font MAY communicate too strongly for this?
Matthew
- I am Squared Eye and I
am launchinghave launched Pattern Tap
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#156 2008-09-11 16:37:16
Re: TxP.com home page
Serif fonts like Georgia look great – much better than a sans-serif font. I personally like David DeSandro (nemoorange) mockup the best so far. Its clean, simple and elegant, just like TXP.
However, I do agree with Bloke that a Georgia (or similar) header with a classic sans-serif font for body copy is also nice.
Taking a look at the homepage copy text now….
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