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.
I'd start a revolution, if I could get up in the morning.
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