SharkTums Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^I like your version of the pull down menu as it doesn't intrude on the rest of the page as much. Chris, check out www.rccl.com for a pull down menu on a real site that I think works well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double0Kevin Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Personally, I can't stand drop downs. They are temperamental and always like to pop up when you don't intend for them to. I also recall Robb saying less text and more visual. I totally agree with this. TPR's design has always worked, but wasn't always visually pleasing. Need to get rid of the clutter. So far everyone seems to just be rearranging what is already there rather than making something new. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Personally, I can't stand drop downs. They are temperamental and always like to pop up when you don't intend for them to. The stuff in the pull down would only be an extension of what is currently there. So think about it like this - if you like the way the nav bar functions now, you can completely ignore the drop down part and it will still function exactly the same. I also agree that what I'm seeing lately is just a re-arrange of what we already have, instead of people reading into the comments on what has been posted already, and creating something based on those comments and earlier submissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmereStars Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Personally, I can't stand drop downs. They are temperamental and always like to pop up when you don't intend for them to. I also recall Robb saying less text and more visual. I totally agree with this. TPR's design has always worked, but wasn't always visually pleasing. Need to get rid of the clutter. So far everyone seems to just be rearranging what is already there rather than making something new. Just my 2 cents. True, but there's a fine line between making something new and re-arranging. You have to keep in mind that the style should remain the same. It is not a total rebranding. As Robb said, the random/updates/searchbox etc. should remain on the site. Displaying them on the site will always look pretty much te same. I think that a lot of pages that have been created thus far are completely new, but not new enough to go "Thats not TPR" when viewing them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chroniq Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) ^I like your version of the pull down menu as it doesn't intrude on the rest of the page as much. Chris, check out http://www.rccl.com for a pull down menu on a real site that I think works well. As drop downs go, it definitely works. I also like the idea they limited it to only 6 main topics with many subtopics available in the drop down. I personally think 6 is the maximum amount of main topics you should have on a drop down bar. Edit: I'm a fan of almeres drop down box and how it goes horizontal and doesn't block any other graphics when expanded. It's also a cool way of letting people know that once you mouse over an item, it will expand with additional topics (by being expanded by default) Edited January 11, 2012 by Chroniq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Gumball Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I'll get back to this later today, got a nice surprise attack of the stomach flu. And when sick, you get some weird dreams... Mine consisting of layouts for TPR (not good ones mind you, and the dream was on repeat. So if you don't see anything from me over the course of the day, I haven't thrown in the towel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougMJr Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 So I just woke up and got back to working on my design. I eliminated most of the text and used pictures with captions instead. There is some functionality I should explain however. -I was thinking the "More Theme Park Review Updates" section could work almost like a queue. As in it will also swipe, and whatever story goes away will then appear in the "main update" section. A great example of this is within the iTunes store on your Mac or PC. Go there to see exactly what I'm talking about. -The "Parks News..." section would also rotate or scroll. Preferably scroll. -The "random" section would change every minute. Click to Enlarge I also decided to nix harsh borders in favor of a solid black to transparent gradient. This prevents images from bleeding into each other while avoiding harsh lines. Still to be added is the footer and disclamer. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^ It's very busy...I don't quite know where to look. Also not a fan of the icons in the top nav. Over complicating something that should be simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^ My thoughts exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshinmac Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 I like the direction that a lot of these are going but I really prefer to have preview images on the carousel top stories image at the top. I like the way that sites like Gametrailers and IGN handle it but having them on the right kinda like the Apple Itunes store might fit the space better. (EDIT: I like how DougMJr setup the image carousel but the rest is too busy. I also think only two other stories visible alongside the current main image is too few) I really would like to get as far away from having to scroll as possible as well. I honestly am not sure what the best way of handling it would be but I am sure I am not the only one who doesn't scroll on the main page at all. It really is just overwhelming on the eyes. I think maybe a tabbed pane to highlight different sections so you can pick what you care about might be good. I was also thinking a Random Stuff could be in the image carousel to highlight older content but it might also be fun to have something like the google "I'm feeling lucky" button that just takes you to a random story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) The more I look at Apple's Website the more I'd like to go a bit more minimalistic. The advantages that Apple has are.. - Their site doesn't change daily, nor have as much content/information to display as we do. - They have a dedicated team of graphic designers who "design" each update! So there would be great challenges to have TPR look like Apple...BUT....if you can take some of those design ideas and incorporate them into what you are currently working on...post it and let us see what you come up with. --Robb "Anything to make TPR look more OSX and less Windows...the BETTER!" Alvey Edited January 11, 2012 by robbalvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylor Finn Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Two quick things. These are suggestions; some of them have been brought up. These are things that most interest me. 1. I also don’t want many links on the main page. For frequent users, it can get a bit boring to see the same updates day after day and watch them “work their way down” the page. And for new users, it can be a bit overbearing. I like the scrolling feature. You can keep exploring if you want to, sort of. 2. I think it would be sorta cool to have a spot for the most replied to forum of the day, like the most busy one, either somewhere separate on the page or as part of the drop down option for the forum with the forum topics. Just so you could see more of what is going on in the forum from the main page. It could attract more viewers. Note- I kinda see after writing the second one that usually the most popular forum topic is a link for the updates…. So I don’t know if it would be practical or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 At this point, I'm stilling liking this design the best... I would like both AngryGumball, and other people as well, to take a stab and refining this a bit more. Take into account everything Elissa & I've send and pointed to examples over the past few pages. See what you can come up with. I feel that any more submissions that give us another variations on the "current lists of updates" we see on the front page is just wasting time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKR Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^This one is very usable, minimalistic and offers all that I want. The only thing I don't like from it is the menu bar. Maybe with a discrete line or separator... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^ I agree. I'm not a fan of the menu bar either. I'd love to see what this looks like with another menu bar, like the one on the Apple page, or the one that was posted a page or two back with the horizontal drop down menu options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster-Lab Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 This is the next thing. I hope not so amateurisch as the last one. this is just a start though. This is sort of my way of making a minimalistic website my design of the TPR homepage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^I think you missed a lot of key elements that Robb and I had said we wanted. - Bigger main picture up top - Facebook Feed - Video of the day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 I like you're outside the box thinking, and my reference to the Apple page. That you kind of nailed. What doesn't work with this is the problems I noted that we needed a solution to, where a design like Apple's page doesn't work for us, more notebly that have a lot more content/information to get across. Honestly, I *like* the minimalist approach. I just wish something like this would work for TPR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 "Minimalist" doesn't necessarily convey the "fun" aspect that TPR represents either. I love Apple's site, but it's really more of an overall "functionality" vibe. Combining the two is certainly difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenshinmac Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Hey Robb I think a more minimalist design can absolutely work. This site has always been more about the images and video than the text so putting the pictures for a story foremost would be a great way to go. To keep things clean you could have story descriptors appear only when hovering over the image. It could look like a trip scrapbook when you first get to the site. I think the main thing is should the site scream clean and organized or insane and fun. I mean with the addition of CSS 3d Transforms to many browsers you could really go crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDoglips Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Allrighty. This game sounds fun. This one is outside the bizzox! And also functionally appeasing to all of the content you wish to incorporate onto the front page. I hope it's up to snuff. I haven't gone over it with a fine tooth comb so there are probably some alignment issues, but...enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeboy23 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 ^ Now thats what I had in the back of my head. Everything so far has been way too similar to the old where there really wouldn't need to be a re-design. I like the choice of using a different background color. My suggestion as Robb has said earlier, I wouldn't keep posting just to post. Give them something that you think is your best work, it really looks like your posting just to say "look how hard I'm working, choose mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 The color scheme is a pretty far departure from the current site. Not sure how I feel about the columns, as some columns will have one item and some will have a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoCo Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) "Minimalist" doesn't necessarily convey the "fun" aspect that TPR represents either. I love Apple's site, but it's really more of an overall "functionality" vibe. Combining the two is certainly difficult. Agreed. From a pure design standpoint, I understand the desire to upgrade the homepage look. And there are a lot of interesting solutions for various details in much of the work so far. But I'm finding I gravitate towards the designs that keep the "Wow, look at all the great content, and look how much fun people are having here!" mojo. The pictures tell a lot of story, but the text that goes with them ("It's All About Shock Wave! If you are a Schwarzkopf roller coaster fan, you do not want to miss this report!") is part of what I enjoy about the current home page. So I hope the eventual choice doesn't strip away too much of that. (Then again, I'll keep coming no matter what it looks like, so whatever.) Two cents. Mine. Edited January 11, 2012 by RoCo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Allrighty. This game sounds fun. This one is outside the bizzox! And also functionally appeasing to all of the content you wish to incorporate onto the front page. I hope it's up to snuff. I haven't gone over it with a fine tooth comb so there are probably some alignment issues, but...enjoy! One one major flaw I see, is the white background. In the 17 year history of TPR, we have never had a white background. In my initial comments I said that the front page and the park index should look like it comes from the same "family." The Park Index has a black background. To be honest, the layout and everything seems "fine", but I think the blatant disregard for following some of the instructions we set forth is making me not want to even give it a second look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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