Challenge #2: Judging
Becky: Do they have a catchphrase or something we can steal from Survivor? Never mind, hey everyone we’re back with the second round of judging! The next challenge will be posted soon, so get your Notepad ready.
Sarai: This is theeeeee Internet Police Challenge!
/Ryan Seacrest
No? No. Okay.
Name: Kaylee
Website: Reliquesce
Screenshot of Layout: Kaylee’s Entry
Becky: I like this one because it’s simple and easy on the eyes. All the links are there and it’s got a cute logo. What more can you ask for?
Sarai: I agree, I like that she played with the logo, and the navigation placement. I love the boxed look as well.
Name: Ramsha
Website: Crystal Chaos
Screenshot of Layout: Ramsha’s Entry
Becky: This one isn’t my favourite one out of the bunch. The script font, the missing links, the lack of a real colour scheme… well I just don’t like it.
Sarai: I think she took a risk, but it was a little out of the box for my taste. I would’ve loved to see some color, I think it would have really helped out with this design. I do like that she played around with the search form, but again, there is something missing. Also, most of the Google links aren’t included, and that might be a factor in accessibility.
Becky: I really agree with you, perhaps a different font (the script fonts just aren’t professional and are usually overdone) and the addition of some colour would have been nice, even if it was just in the links. I also dislike the grey background, it looks grungy and dirty to me whereas a lighter grey or white would’ve gotten her that nice clean look that Google is famous for. She also forgot that a lot of people browse using screenreaders or their keyboards, they need those extra links because if it’s all buried down in a menu then they have trouble accessing it.
Name: Jacky
Website: Dubious.nu
Screenshot of Layout: Jacky’s Entry
Becky: I have to say I don’t really like it. The navigation is nice, definitely, but the logo and search box leave a lot to be desired. It all looks unbalanced and the pixels on the button look weird, like it was unintentional. And the top navigation doesn’t really seem to fit in with the main content area.
Sarai: I actually liked this one, except for the pixel-ish images. I liked the search bar and the navigation styling at the top. I do feel the logo is a bit bland. I would’ve done something to spruce it up more, maybe a subtle gradient or really light drop shadow.
Becky: I’m not a huge fan of rounded corners or web 2.0, so that might explain a lot :P, but the logo is what really bugged me because I think it is what threw everything off balance.
Name: Raina
Website: Lemon Lime
Screenshot of Layout: Raina’s Entry
Becky: It was nice, but it didn’t really fit Google. Like at all. Image rollovers, it’s bulky and I just can’t imagine this as being Google.
Sarai: I agree, it was a little “bulky”. Google is notorious for its simplicity. Maybe if there weren’t actual rollovers involved and such a big logo image? I do appreciate the fact that she took some time, though. Not that the others didn’t, but. Yeah.
Name: Anne
Website: Aurorean
Screenshot of Layout: Anne’s Entry
Becky: Last but not least is Anne’s entry. I actually really liked this one, but I thought she didn’t really deviate from the current Google homepage.
Sarai: I was hoping to see Google as other people would have done it, and this seems a bit too close to Google’s actual homepage. Well executed, but not exactly creative.
Becky: So that’s it for entries, I suppose we should annoucnce the winner, eh?
Sarai: We (although we did argue about it) thought Kaylee was the winner of this challenge, although it was a very tough choice. All of your entries were creative and aesthetically pleasing, so this was a hard one for us.
Becky: And by argued she means that she whined and offered me bribes (weaves mostly) until I agreed…. but it wasn’t that hard to convince me that Kaylee was the definite winner. We decided to vote out Ramsha because hers was the least Google-like of the bunch with the script font, missing links and lack of a colour scheme. We’d like to thank everyone for particpating so far and keep an eye out for the next challenge!
Sarai: It should be posted tomorrow. Thank you for voting and participating! It means a lot.
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I think Kaylee was a good choice for the winner. Raina’s entry was personally my favorite, but as you said, it was a little too complex for google.
Britney · Feb 15, 09:26 PM · · Permalink