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I have recently taken over my church's website and right now I am currently working on a new design for the site, and I would like to get input from church goers / designers.
Old/Current Site: http://evergreentn.com/
New Site: http://evergreentn.com/new/
I got a lot of help from Nathan's post on his blog http://sonspring.com/journal/net-magazine-feature
960 Grid System
Textpattern
I think it's a good start, but it would help to see more real or real-ish looking content. It's a bit sparse right now, which makes it hard to tell what would go in the blank areas. Also, I'd add some sort of visual guidelines on this page, so the tabluar data can be digested a bit easier...
http://evergreentn.com/new/about
The footer could stand to gain a bit more padding at the bottom, as it's nearly touching the browser's status bar, making it harder to read the footer's content.
Overall though, I think it's heading in the right direction.
Working with a grid would be a great idea. I think from where you are, you can either go minimalist, or dress it up with some graphical treatment. Either way, make sure there is a strong structure. A bit more breathing space between vertical sections would help too.
I like the start, I'm just not sure where it is heading.
I think a different font might just make the site seem more inviting. When I see Arial, I think of a business, not really a church.
Hi Ryan,
I'm also a fan of Nathan (Thanks for his book on Textpattern as well). I've looked at your new design. At this stage, I can't give out any comments but my advice is to focus on the information architecture and support it with appropriate layout (presentation).
I have also re-developed my church website recently (main: www.stpeterseastlindfield.org.au and youth: www.stpetesyouth.org.au). I'm not good at graphics. (I don't know how to use Photoshop or fireworks as I'm far too old to learn new tricks). When I started, I thought about how I should structure the site so that the content could fall into its place nicely. I also paid attention to the font and color. Again, limited by my technical skills, I coudn't do much. The difference in behaviours of various browsers and versions was also a setback to me. My attention has been distracted to get the site to look consistently (or without errors) on IE6, IE7 & Firefox.
Are you using any content management system for the site? To me, Textpattern is just good enough for the job.
I'm also applying Nathan's grid system on both sites.
Cheers,
Monica (Not a web designer/developer by profession)
Last edited by monicahu (2009-10-17 04:41:39)
Thanks for all your input. The website development was put on hold for a little while, as for they asked me to design our new welcome packets and bulletins.
Les, I am using the 960 Grid System.
Monica, yes I am using Textpattern. I love Textpattern I use for all the websites I do.
Might want to start in Photoshop/Fireworks with Grid 960, they give you a template.
Last edited by RussellBrown (2009-12-02 10:36:25)
Might want to start in Photoshop/Fireworks with Grid 960, they give you a template.
Thanks I started with that from the start. I personally use GIMP, copied the grid from Fireworks to it.
Do you have a comp/mockup of the site? Or are you designing this as you go?