Web Interface Design

[PhreaK]

Hi all, I come from a coding (and sound design / music) background but have just recently started getting into the graphic design side of things. The interface design is a concept for a media company I'm putting together that focuses on up to date production practices and clean aesthetics. Additionally, all work is done using open source software but I don't want that to influence the design as one of the underlying messages is that it is usable on a commercial level.

Services that the company will offer are web development (strategy and planning, research and usability, design, construction, maintainence, Search Engine Optimization, email marketing and hosting) and audio production (sound design, composition and production) and will be targeting predominately music industry, community movements and events clients.

In terms of feedback I'm after any comments on the logo (as a component of the design, and as an individual element), the page layout, colour choices and any other insights you may have. Cheers.

EDIT:
Version 3 (latest)

Version 2

Original:
Mock Up.jpg

[jeffross]

Looks pretty good to me! The white text on black background is a stain on the eyes usually, but I think it's fine with the amount of copy you have. Nice job!

So, which Open Source apps did you use to create this?

[zumojuice]

Other that the huge white copy, which I imagine you'll change as you enter it, It's looking really good so far, nice job.

[PhreaK]

Cheers. The large type towards the top will contain a quick one or two sentence teaser / info line. The main content will be 12px and separated into categories in the area below.

In terms of production software, for graphics I use the GIMP for manipulation and layout, Inkscape for vector work and Blender for any 3D needs (not used in this design). For coding I use Bluefish as my IDE and utilize CodeIgniter when I need a solid framework, otherwise its just raw php. In the audio department Ardour is my DAW, JAMin is pretty decent for mastering, and I use pd for manipulation and things there are no words for (which is what makes it so damn funky :) ). All this is then run on UbuntuStudio on a laptop that was build from spare parts I picked up for free.

P.S. a percentage of proceeds from projects the business undertakes is donated back to the open source projects utilized.

[flick]

this, my friends, is a perfect example of where a very nice, potentially compliant site has been completed at no cost in any way. it makes me feel lazy, how about you lot?

[zumojuice]

I think it's the nature of things. You can imagine though that if this were done by a design firm, they'd charge...

[flick]

lol, i was drunk last night when i wrote that. however, what i meant was that the applications he used to make it were all open source and it's still great design, he just had to put a little more effort in than he would if he was using adobe software etc. does that make sense?

[zumojuice]

Yeah I get you now, you drunkard!

[PhreaK]

Originally Posted by flick

he just had to put a little more effort in than he would if he was using adobe software etc

Not necessarily. Rather than invest time (and money) in CS3 I've put my efforts into learning my way around open source solutions, which are now at a point a becoming more than usable on a commercial / professional level. Think about it, major open source projects have hundreds of people working on them and massive communities who add even further to this collective intelligence. This allows them to grow and mature to the users requirements, rather than having the users adapt to the software. Also, due to all the code being available, if a bug is found anyone with a little coding knowledge is able to fix it and submit the changes for inclusion in the main release.



@jumojuice
Of course a design firm would charge for it, however they are charging for their labour and IP, which is more than fair. I am ultimately wanting to use the software on a commercial level, but as I said the business will be making donations back to any software projects it uses. That sort of thing tends to help the world keep turning.

[zumojuice]

It's certainly a interesting way around it. It shows you are certainly adaptable to this kind of software. I'd say not everyone is. The fact is, within most programs, there is a limit to what they can do. With open source, there is no limit because people can add to them. Ok that's a simplistic way of looking at it, because such scope comes from people imagining it, within constraints set by the medium...

The fact is though: Being unbound is not best for all designers. Being able to learn a program and then use it to create, rather than constantly learning a program and hinding the creation process.

Mind you, this is web, something that is a far more progressive field (from the back-end perhaps more than the front)