Need Examples of 'Natural Webpages'

[WhiteTiger]

Hey, fellow designers...

I'm working on a website for my company, and they want it to look like the brochure...the big guy wants to have a foilage background (leaves), blue sidebar, with green buttons hanging over onto the picture...and a big eaglerock logo (and I do mean BIG) on the main part of the page...

Does anyone know of any sites which use a background w/ leaves?...

Anyone know of any examples where theres a huge logo?...cause, yes, I see from a marketing standpoint that consistancy with the brochure we have, might be important...but on the web its a different story, you can't have all of that stuff...I think it's a horrid idea, and almost refuse to do it...lol...I think it might turn out VERY ugly...c'mon...brown/yellow/red leaves, mixed w/ a bright blue side bar, with 'fern green' buttons......anyone here have any fashon sense, or color coordination?...also, the logo is big, and black, w/ a white eagle outline kind of drifting across...someone help me make this happen without it turning into a disaster... Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[Glowball]

Umm, quit? Just kidding, don't do that... though sometimes we have to do things we don't agree with, I guess. My suggestion is to give them a nice overview of the project and possible issues, do it up in Word in a nice font with bullet points and all that. Then when you're proven right you can look smug.

Possible problems?

- HUGE download times, if a customer needs to wait 20 seconds to see leaves they'll leave (ha)

- Many people turn images off to increase download speeds. What will a graphical site look like without graphics?

- Tell them you'll have to take a class to do the animation (okay, you won't, but they sound like they have no clue so you might as well get a free class out of it).

- Show them the sites that make money, show them your competition and show them sites like Microsoft.com, HP.com, etc. These sites have clean lines and lots of good content. Ask them if there are brochureware sites like they want out there that you could look at, you know, for research. Are they in your same line of business? Why not?

There are a bazillion reasons not to go with heavy graphics for a corporate site, a little research should turn up quite a few of them. Of course, if you're a graphics firm then they might have a point...

 

[KevinFSI]

Glowball is 100% correct. Just to tack onto what he already said. Don't forget, any text whatsoever on a "leafy" background is going to be murder on the eyes.

I agree with him, do what they tell you, and you'll be proven right, and come on, is there any greater satisfaction than making your boss look like an idiot?

As far as helpful sites go, I can't really think of any because as you said, it's a bad idea, but here's one that might give you some direction, and it's so funny you mention it because I literally stumbled across this yesterday...weird huh?

http://www.eurekasprings.com/index.phtm

Kevin
slanek@ssd.fsi.com

 

[secretsquirrel]

i agree with all of the above, but the most important thing you can do is come up with some alternative designs of your own.

you don't want to tell the boss what's wrong with his ideas and not have any alternative suggestions.

you could even suggest your boss has a look at

http://www.coolhomepages.com

and picks out a few sites from there that he/she likes.

 

[WhiteTiger]

Well, the problem is, he wants the site to be 'different'...right now I am in the process of putting together his webpage so he can see exactly the problem...there was another post I made which asked for suggestions not a while back...it had a nice golf strip across the top, fading into white as you went left, and said "Eagle Rock", then the Logo flipped and right next to the wording...just that top left enough legibility for anything underneith...and I had a faded out elevation on the bottom 1/2 of the page, and a list next to it w/ dotted line running down the length of the page...

I have shown him alternate ideas...but my deal is being able for it to be downloaded quickly, not strain the eyes, etc...plus, he's picked some UGLY colors...oh, and did I mention, our office is literally, maroon, teal/green, and our boss also picked our kitchen to be a BRIGHT UGLY yellow?...hmmmm...looks like I'm not going to get out of this one...=)

Anyone know how to do a background and put something over it w/ a 50% transparency?...I would like to do that...it could be something that would help the layout of the page 10x over... Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[cactus1000]

PaintshopPro 7.0 will help you on two counts-- it can do the background with the 50% transparency over it and it also comes with "leaf" images that you can use to create the background.

By the way, I was supposed to do a website eith a "pine forest" background (..sounds of head slamming on desk...).

I gave them this and they loved it:

http://www.law.ucla.edu/students/academicprograms/clinical/arrowheadconference.html

The pine cones and branches are courtesy of Paintshop Pro.

 

[WhiteTiger]

Also, does anyone know how to keep an images ratio, while making it conform to the height or width of the page?...I have to put this huge logo (which looks like junk!) in the middle of the front page. Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[WhiteTiger]

hey hey hey!...I think i got a nice design!...w/ not leaves, but a mountain view...as soon as the front page is complete I'll show you guys...=) Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[KevinFSI]

Cool. Anxious to see it.

BTW, your boss sounds like he/she has absolutely no design sense whatsoever. Certainly not in the area of graphical design, and it sounds like this person is lacking in basic interior design skills as well, but hey, you guys have a kitchen and that's just cool! Kevin
slanek@ssd.fsi.com

 

[WhiteTiger]

ok, heres a short explanation...

Front page loads, and background pops up...eaglerock logo in bottom right hand corner, and then a blue slightly transparent blue bar comes in with forest green oval buttons...when you go to any of the pages, the bar slides over, fading the background into a hazy blue color, and another slightly transparent box comes up so you can still distinguish the menu bar.

a header as content will be displayed on each page as a horizontal menu system in a heiarchy...(spelling?)...so it should be easy to navigate, and easy to read. Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[WhiteTiger]

P.S. Go to

http://www.eaglerockpropertiesinc.com

to see my previous rendition and site design...boss didn't want it, so it's going to be gone soon...and I'll see if I can put the flash site up later today. Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[WhiteTiger]

ok, now the flash one is up...it is 400k, so you modem users will be a lil bla on it...

But I have it down to 99k now, and thats without spending too much time on optimizing it...the WHOLE site should be about 1mb by the time I'm done probably....and its a big site...=)

go to

http://www.eaglerockpropertiesinc.com/EagleRockFlash.html

Again, it's 400k...but the design of it gets past a lot of technical flaws I had thrown at me.

also, 99k should get a bit smaller too...

What kind of backgroud color should I put around the flash site?...(since you guys are probably more attune to colors)...

It looks ok doesn't it?...I know its a little plain...
How can I spice it up and get interest in our homes? Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[WhiteTiger]

Ahhh...the boss has thwarted me yet again!

Remember the 'yellow kitchen' statement?...

Go to

http://www.eaglerockpropertiesinc.com/EagleRockFlash.html

(400k...WARNING...not optimized)

See the green buttons on the side?...HE WANTS THEM YELLOW WHEN YOU HOVER OVER THEM! Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[Glowball]

You know, it would be nice if you made the green buttons one of the greens in a tree and the yellow rollovers (if you must) a yellow of one of the yellow trees. Just my two cents, but the buttons are big so it might look better if you just had text color change on rollover rather than the whole button.

Also just one opinion of many (I'm sure), but if you're going for a high-end site (looks like high-end homes) then you might want to go out and search for high-end sites that also sell "elite" items and mimic that style. I doubt your boss could argue with that.

I searched all over and can't find an "elite" site that really describes what I mean, but it's usually clean lines and subtle marketing. Something like

http://www.lhw.com/

I guess.

 

[Ineedjava]

Well, I think you may be looking at the design of the website from the wrong perspective.

It is not about having a "leafy" background to satisfy the company leaders. It is about the feeling or message that a "leafy" background is sending to a visitor. If you capture that message in an alternative design format, then you get an A+. It's not an easy job.

Look at the message and feeling this webpage is sending with its well thought out artistic collage of images.

http://www.missionofmercy.org/about_us.php

Be sure to look at the collage closely and notice the colors used, the slicing of the images, the different shapes of images, and the human component. That web page designer gets an A+ and I wish it were me. I'm using it as a study for the web design I'm doing now.

 

[Ineedjava]

Your post mentioned: "also, the logo is big, and black, w/ a white eagle outline kind of drifting across...someone help me make this happen without it turning into a disaster... "

I would integrate the logo only as a somewhat faint watermark image on the homepage. That way, da colors will be muted. I would rather play up the font used in the company's name to provide continuity to the company's other print media, signage and brochures.

 

[Ineedjava]

Well, I just read thru more message here and I saw the link to the EagleRockflash.html.

Here's what I would do. Play up the word "view" in their slogan. Instead of the huge leafy background, create a just a few 3" x 2" window panes (like in your house) with a leafy view being seen thru each window. This way, you will have some white area on the page to enter text. In fact, the text could wrap around each of the window pane images.

The real value is in the artistic imprint we bring to the web page design rather than in the mechanization of creating a web page. Have fun!

 

[WhiteTiger]

Again, the BOSS wants it HIS way...I cannot change it too drastically...

He is an Interior designer...(I think he is one tho)...

I cannot make it clean like I want...
I cannot put windows...
I cannot change colors, or button styles...

You'll see what I have done as soon as I get it uploaded...which will be soon...for anyone who wants to see the swf...e-mail me at amorris@forumarchitecture.com
I can send it to ya to show you what I've been up to...

Boss dont want the 'clean lines' approach...look at eaglerockpropertiesinc.com and you'll see my original 'clean lines approach'...he didn't want it...he wanted it done his way...now, go to

http://www.eaglerockpropertiesinc.com/EagleRockFlash.html

(400k, not optimized yet...) that's his style of design...now tho, when you go over the buttons, they turn a transparent yellow...it doens't look bad once its all together. Regards,
Anthny
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"You say [red]insanity[/red] like it's a BAD THING!"

 

[Glowball]

Well, as long as he's paying you for your educated opinions I guess it doesn't matter if he uses them or not, right? I know it's frustrating having someone telling you how to do your job, no matter what that job is.