Your Vote on a New Look
7:34 pm in audio, text, video by Charles Hodgson
The results are in and the “illustrated design” took two thirds of the votes.
So here’s the illustrated design. You can click on it to see a larger image.
For historical purposes here’s the transcript:
In case you didn’t watch it, the above video lets people know that the GuideGatineau website uses a default format that we had no say in designing.
It certainly is functional but it isn’t very eye-catching. That’s why we’re working on a new look.
It’ll be a few weeks before it’s ready but since GuideGatineau aims to be what Gatineau Park users want it to be we thought it would be a good idea to see what you thought of the options.
Here are the two designs under consideration followed by a poll where you can vote for the one you like best. Each of the thumbnail images clicks to show a full size mockup of what the design might look like.
The one on the left is based on an illustration and we can probably change that with the seasons. The one on the right is more abstract and picks up on what you might see in the park; trees, maps, horizon.
THE POLLS ARE CLOSED ON THIS ONE
I have a favorite but I’m not going to tell you which it is because I want to see what you think.
If poll results pick my favorite I’ll be happy. If the voting is close I get to choose and I’ll still be happy.
If most people like the “other one” I figure it means it’s more attractive to more people. Maybe that’ll mean more people will like the website and so I should still be happy.
I’ll let the poll run for about a week.
Hi Charles,
My preferences goes with the ‘illustrated designs’ because of the blue sky. A sky in this tone holds the biggest attractive force to go and play outdoor. Let us know when we will be able to see which decision you have made.
Thank you for the invitation to contribute.
These differences are purely cosmetic, so both are the same to me. I care more about how easy the site is to use. I care whether my increasing the font size (a must for me with a high-res monitor) keeps the page setup readable, which your beta site does not. The YouTube video overlaps the text on its right, not a really big deal, but certainly a bit annoying. I don’t know whether other glitches occur with increased font size.
(It’s nice to see that some people are skiing already. I hope they’re using rock skis.)
I’m torn… The first is more fun and the second is more representative of all seasons. I like them both. I really liked Daniel’s comments though on the blue sky. He’s right, every time I look at that picture I want to get out and enjoy the great outdoors… and Gatineau Park is an amazing place to enjoy the outdoors!
I like the illustrated design because the colours are significantly better than the depressing “diarhea brown” used in the abstract design; I like the “illustrated” fonts as well. But both these deficiencies could be rectified using an abstract approach — just not THAT abstract approach. Perhaps the latter’s designer was overly influenced by November.
To improve the “illustrated” design, I suggest moving the search box to the very top where it can be more easily found, and shrinking the page footer height (as much as possible). Ideally (in either design) a wider browser window (e.g. high-res monitor) would auto-resize the text box widths so that more is readable without scrolling.
I would like this web form better if it clearly indicated that my (required) email address will remain private. Any why should my email address be mandatory? Would you like people to enter “no@thanks.com”?
I definitely prefer the one on the left with the upbeats blues and greens. Rather than the appearance, though, one thing I am interested in is being able to find old posts easily.
I prefer the Illustration look … bleu and green. Go for it.
D