Furmeets UK Update!

[slycat]

Today, I've been doing a bit of tweaking on the Furmeets UK site to make it more attractive. I started by putting the border around the body of the site and putting a grey background in to make the body stand out more. Then I felt that I could do more improvements and asked on Twitter what suggestions people had. One fellow tweeter suggested making it more "Web 2.0", so I decided to start with making a new logo.

I searched for some modern & free fonts and ended up with a font called Tondo which was nice and rounded, though the lower case S looked weird so I had to use a capital S shrunk down which is why it's not as fat as the other letters. I wanted a contrast from the rounded lettering for the UK and so used a font called Grunge Serifia. After finding suitable effects in Fireworks for the lettering, I think the new logo looks pretty neat.

Next thing I did was change the CSS so the links aren't underlined until hovered over. I've done it on other sites but hadn't done it here until now. Helps make the site look a lot cleaner. Then I reduced the number of meets displayed in the list to 10 to make space for a rather funky "Add It!" button which I also made in Fireworks. The old add link wasn't that obvious, so I doubt anyone will miss it now. The final thing I did was replace the names of the groups which have logos with a thumbnail of the logo. It certainly helps make the site look less text heavy but still functional.

In all, I'm very pleased with the new look of the site. I just need to go through the other pages to help give the site a uniform look. Other things I need to do include validation on the add meet page and probably captcha or something to ensure that it's better protected against potential spammers. Further things could be done to help the look of the page. I've not been happy with the position of the meet list on the front page but not too sure where else it can go. Obviously I'm keen to hear any opinions on the new site and any suggestions for further improvements :)

Comments

[bungle-bear.livejournal.com]

I like the main page having both the sidebar with the upcoming meets and also the map detailing their location - it's simplistic yet effective - if you want further information you just click the dates, or for further-in-future meets just select the meet option at the top. All in all very straightforward and enjoyable :-)

I feel there's a little bit too much white, but then again I can't think immediately on how to suggest improving on that - if you went down the route of enclosing the logo it would become boxy like some kind of 90' web banner :-p So I'm a little lost... perhaps a fade-into the grey from the white... the fading starting approx 1" from either side of the logo? :-)

[bungle-bear.livejournal.com]

Then again.. fading effects are also kinda last-century.... hmmph! :-/ I'm stuck for ideas then, I will suggest something more appropriate after alcohol... that always makes me more creative! :D

[slycat.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, gradients are supposed to be the in thing now aren't they? Hmm, will have a think. Thanks again for the positive feedback tho :)

[whitepaw.livejournal.com]

Do you mean something like a drop shadow on the logo?

[bungle-bear.livejournal.com]

Nope, although that is something to possibly consider... :-)

[orona-red.livejournal.com]

Very Web 2.0 :O

[slycat.livejournal.com]

See, considering you make proper sites, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic :P

[orona-red.livejournal.com]

I'm a good web programmer, but a shitty web designer. It's very pretty! I couldn't do that.

[slycat.livejournal.com]

Ah, cool. Glad you like it :)

It's not easy picking colours being colour-blind which is why my sites normally end up in greyscale.

[orona-red.livejournal.com]

This Colour Scheme Designer is very useful for picking complementary colours... It can also simulate what colours look like for colourblind people, but I guess that's not of any use to you. XD

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

It'd be helpful to tag information with a date, possibly even highlighting it if it's sufficiently old - BrightonFurs, f'rex, shows no future meets, but that might simply mean they tend to give little notice, or that there's no fur in Brighton. I suppose a link or two where further information might be found, such as a group's own site, or a section on a forum somewhere, wouldn't be a horrible idea, either.

Nice look, anyway - clean, uncluttered, and not dependent on any specific browser, nor even Flash.