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It's competition time again! The last competition (for the XPE logo) was a great success and good fun too, so when we decided to redesign TalkGraphics the solution was obvious. So this will give you another chance to test your artistic capabilities and also give TalkGraphics a fresh lick of paint.
In some ways this competition is more complex than the logo design competition, as there are more influencing factors of which to be aware. So please, if you wish to enter, read through the guidelines below. You don't need to create an actual web page design (i.e. in HTML) as just an image mock up is required, but it still helps if you have a general understanding of web design and what is workable when creating a site.
Requirements/things to consider
This is a loose mockup of the design we require:
http://talkgraphics.com/mockup.jpg
We need a header section (this shouldn't be overpowering, remember the emphasis is on the forums themselves). This must work as a variable width (and fit okay in a minimum 800x600 display with no horizontal scrollbars).
We also need a column down the left hand side of the page which will contain various links etc. This shouldn't be too wide (this will probably be a fixed width, but could be variable if the design requires it) and should be a clear way of displaying various sections of information (i.e. links relating to that forum, a featured topic of the week, etc.)
The color scheme used in the forums can be changed (in fact, we encourage it as these are are currently standard Infopop colors). You can also change the page background and even some of the logos – such as the house/tree icon for the forums).
It is important to remember that text must be easily readable, and that the design shouldn't be too heavy on the kilobytes. Excessive JPEGS are a no-no. In fact, JPEGS are probably a no-no anyway in a website design!
Forget the old design/logo/color scheme, you have a clean slate. But do take into account the general forums structure, as we can't change this. We can change colors, and add headers and footers, but that's largely it.
Try to keep it reasonably simple, so that it can be cleanly coded in XHTML.
Please post your submissions as GIFs/JPEGs/PNGs in this thread. It would be helpful to include a chunk of the forums layout in your image in the required colors so we can envisage how the site design will look when implemented. Just post images that are of a reasonable size, they don't need to be the full scale design.
The winner's artwork will need to be supplied to us in Xara X or Corel Xara format, and you agree to let us use the design (modifying it if necessary), for use on TalkGraphics and elsewhere for the purpose of promoting TalkGraphics.
Reward
I think it's fair to say most of you do this for the fun of it anyway, but we will award the winner full boxed copies of all the main Xara products, Xara X, Xara 3D, Webstyle, MenuMaker (CD only), ScreenMaker 3D (CD only), or $300 cash for those that already have the Xara products.
Let the posting commence, and we look forward to seeing your ideas!
Please private message me if you have any questions.
Closing date: entries must be posted by 23:59pm PST on Sunday 15 August 2004.
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It's competition time again! The last competition (for the XPE logo) was a great success and good fun too, so when we decided to redesign TalkGraphics the solution was obvious. So this will give you another chance to test your artistic capabilities and also give TalkGraphics a fresh lick of paint.
In some ways this competition is more complex than the logo design competition, as there are more influencing factors of which to be aware. So please, if you wish to enter, read through the guidelines below. You don't need to create an actual web page design (i.e. in HTML) as just an image mock up is required, but it still helps if you have a general understanding of web design and what is workable when creating a site.
Requirements/things to consider
This is a loose mockup of the design we require:
http://talkgraphics.com/mockup.jpg
We need a header section (this shouldn't be overpowering, remember the emphasis is on the forums themselves). This must work as a variable width (and fit okay in a minimum 800x600 display with no horizontal scrollbars).
We also need a column down the left hand side of the page which will contain various links etc. This shouldn't be too wide (this will probably be a fixed width, but could be variable if the design requires it) and should be a clear way of displaying various sections of information (i.e. links relating to that forum, a featured topic of the week, etc.)
The color scheme used in the forums can be changed (in fact, we encourage it as these are are currently standard Infopop colors). You can also change the page background and even some of the logos – such as the house/tree icon for the forums).
It is important to remember that text must be easily readable, and that the design shouldn't be too heavy on the kilobytes. Excessive JPEGS are a no-no. In fact, JPEGS are probably a no-no anyway in a website design!
Forget the old design/logo/color scheme, you have a clean slate. But do take into account the general forums structure, as we can't change this. We can change colors, and add headers and footers, but that's largely it.
Try to keep it reasonably simple, so that it can be cleanly coded in XHTML.
Please post your submissions as GIFs/JPEGs/PNGs in this thread. It would be helpful to include a chunk of the forums layout in your image in the required colors so we can envisage how the site design will look when implemented. Just post images that are of a reasonable size, they don't need to be the full scale design.
The winner's artwork will need to be supplied to us in Xara X or Corel Xara format, and you agree to let us use the design (modifying it if necessary), for use on TalkGraphics and elsewhere for the purpose of promoting TalkGraphics.
Reward
I think it's fair to say most of you do this for the fun of it anyway, but we will award the winner full boxed copies of all the main Xara products, Xara X, Xara 3D, Webstyle, MenuMaker (CD only), ScreenMaker 3D (CD only), or $300 cash for those that already have the Xara products.
Let the posting commence, and we look forward to seeing your ideas!
Please private message me if you have any questions.
Closing date: entries must be posted by 23:59pm PST on Sunday 15 August 2004.
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Antony,
It will be nice if you post here the exact values of colors to use. It's not very hard to pick them with color picker or to try find them in the HTML codes, but... I think the "official" specs for colors more useful http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Thanks!
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Wow, very cool Antony... http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
Alex... you may choose to change the colors to whatever you dream up... it's an open choice for any and all to be decided by the artist... http://www.talkgraphics.com/images/smilies/smile.gif
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May I strongly suggest Leaving the two shades of grey intact. I do not know how many pictures I have thrown up here using those background shades. Changing the shades will make any gifs look bad. Jaggies after the fact.
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Although I think it is important for the artists to be as free and creative in their concepts as possible, I do think that a little more information might be usefull for allowing that freedom to try different things. Such as a list of all the buttons/links that will be going on the left hand side and the preferred dimensions of them and the sidebar. Just really anything that you need to have happen in order for it to work. I think it would be a shame for the artists to be ignorantly working on a decent design only only for it to be unacceptible because of logistics. But if there's nothing, then that's fine too! take care