ICFL’s New Clothes «

15 Responses to “ICFL’s New Clothes”

ejhildreth, on January 25th, 2008 at 9:30 pm Said:

When it comes to the ICFL site, I am really tired of seeing blue. I would much rather have some new, fresh, updated colors that blend together smoothly than that of one primary color that overwhelms the page.
Peggy, on January 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm Said:

I’d really like to see some photos incorporated into the main page–maybe a rotating collection, tastefully understated, of course.
Richard, on January 25th, 2008 at 9:44 pm Said:

I’m more concerned about contrasts - as my eyes get older I have a harder time distinguishing light on light and dark on dark. I leave all the color selections to the artist in my family (which explains the chile red and turtle green walls). I love vibrant, alive colors!

My hope is that we don’t over-think and over-plan this thing rather we make a dynamic, responsive, and meaningful place for people to drop in, look around, find something useful, and move on.
Crystal Moerles, on January 25th, 2008 at 9:57 pm Said:

Too much blue and I love blue. Is there a way to emphasis the tabs at the top. I know that I usually don’t look at the top of the page. I focus more on the middle and left sides.
Gina, on January 25th, 2008 at 10:14 pm Said:

Some first-impressions:

* Very blue. Blue is okay, but that’s a lot of blue. If it were all shades of green, I’d be saying “that’s a lot of green.” My eyes prefer something more subtle.

* In terms of general layout, I like it.

* Good idea with the pictures, Peggy. I think a place for a photo somewhere is good. I’m thinking something randomly brough in from our Flickr account to keep it fresh… and personal. Some real-life people; photos including staff could go a long way toward expressing the personality of ICFL.

* The ICFL logo looks squished. It might be coloring and I acknowledge that we’re looking at a mock-up, so the finished product might not have the squishy feel. But, just in case, the logo looks like it’s squished between two sumo wrestlers on an airplane: Uncomfortably narrowed and unable to breathe.

* I like the “about us” box. I hope that it gets changed up once in a while for more “fresh”ness.

* What size with the text be? I don’t care for a long debate over font sizes, colors, or whatever. My point is that the text in the main part of the page (not the titles) is the same size as the text in the footer. Consider our audience [okay, consider me] that can be a burden asking our customers to read that much text in such a small size. Yes, I realize the image is smaller than real life, but I’m looking comparatively to the footer text. I also acknowledge that, again, we’re looking at a skin and real life might have a different experience.

* It’s pretty. It’s definitely got a more fresh design to it. Can’t wait to see more of the framework.
mchlsamuelson, on January 25th, 2008 at 10:46 pm Said:

Yeah, we’ve been monochrome blue in our design for years… would much rather see a dynamic color palette similar to, say… this site we’re on right here.

Photos, too. Would like to see one static “design” photo to set an ambiance for the site, and then would prefer we rely on photos/graphics added in our content (which will be easy to do in the new site) rather than bringing a Flickr widget in on every page as that can really make a site sluggish. A Flickr widget on the community and/or events pages would be nice though.

mlsamuelson
Erin, on January 28th, 2008 at 2:59 pm Said:

Nice layout

Too blue - my screen glowed!

Agree with Michael’s suggestion of a dynamic color palette and all the other suggestions for photos

I’m trying to keep all our customers in mind when I view this and feel that tab heading terms are clear. I had to think a bit about the difference between programs and services, but couldn’t come up with better terms!

Thanks for the opportunity to comment

Erin
mchlsamuelson, on January 28th, 2008 at 4:15 pm Said:

It should be pointed out that none of the content - even tab names should be considered as reflective of what we’ll have in the new site. This mockup is simply about color and layout.

We’ve been working with the focus group and content committee to hammer out the details regarding the navigation terms, etc.

Michael Samuelson
Laurel, on January 28th, 2008 at 4:26 pm Said:

I don’t think that there is enough contrast. The blue on blue is very hard to see, I would like a cleaner easier to see screen. The header at the top is really eye catching to me. I even like the new Drupal test site “skin”. I love the idea of tabs at the top and I think the new format is great.
Charlotte, on January 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm Said:

I also have difficulty with blue. Glad to see there are others. Very difficult to read.

As for the layout, I like the tabs at the top of the page and highlighted items underneath. I know we must have the Rights information, but does it need to take up a quarter of the screen?
Charlie, on January 28th, 2008 at 6:07 pm Said:

ejhildreth - This was e-mailed to me directly from Charlie Bolles, but I wanted the content to visible all in one place, so posting it here:

Thanks for allowing me to comment on the new skin. Personally, I am not that crazy about the blue since it seems to be the default for many other large web and computer applications. See Outlook 2007, for example. However, I do understand that can be a personal preference and we cannot please everyone.

I know that my vision problems are in the minority but, I would caution the use of white type on the paler blue backgrounds. For example, I had to blow up the size to 200% before I could make out the “read more” in the “about us” box , whereas the black type was easily readable at 100%.

I guess what I am saying is that the contrast between the background and the type should not be forgotten when one is considering ease of use.

I am not too concerned about the overall design, since once again I do not believe that everyone’s preference can be met. I do like the overall look and feel as far as I can tell at this stage.

If you have any questions about my comments don’t hesitate to ask.

Charlie
Shirley, on January 28th, 2008 at 6:09 pm Said:

ejhildreth - This was e-mailed to me directly from Shirley Hanson, but I wanted the content to visible all in one place, so posting it here:

Thanks for opening this up for comments! I will reiterate my thoughts that there is way too much blue — making it look very dense and difficult to read. I like lots of white space. I like the tabs and the blog categories.

Shirley
Tami, on January 29th, 2008 at 8:21 pm Said:

I’m not a fan of the many blues, either, I think the colors are much too “buttoned all the way up” corporate. I know we want to stay professional, but I would like to be professional in a fresh, modern way, and I hate to always say fun, but more fun. Hip! I wish the feel came across as a little more welcoming, easier on the eyes, and maybe, just maybe, the tie loosened a little bit!! Thanks!
maryreadsalot, on January 30th, 2008 at 9:37 pm Said:

TOO BLUE!!!! Let’s try another color and a little warm and fuzzy not so cold and flat
Anne Abrams, on February 5th, 2008 at 10:43 pm Said:

I would like to see the skin have an open, uncluttered feel. The more white space, the better. With our web 2.0 approach, people should be able to find anything they need without having to “drill down”–unless they want to! The less “bureaucratic” the better I’ll like it!

Warm colors are good too. I love the look of this C3 page.

aa