UI / UX Advice
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- n8w
I have been looking at this site for too long and I would love to hear how I could improve he ui/ux based on the following objective:
Provide a way for art directors, designer, etc to find great illustrators.
thanks for taking the time, your input is greatly appreciated
- mg330
I think that's a business objective.
- this needs some IA work really. rewireframing and some content strategy.robotron3k
- robotron3k0
try
pull out the search from the main navigation and put on the left column.
make the "news" section your landing page
That should help show what you're about when people hit your site. There are other suggestions but first take care of these basic ones and see how people use it. we can keep fine tuning as you go along. hope that helps.
- also, rename "news" to "latest work"robotron3k
- good inputn8w
- robotron3k0
big thing also, design patterns. you need to make buttons look like buttons or at least have arrows on them like >. People need to see a difference between what is content and what is a link. Don't be so subtle, people need to be told what to do.
- monospaced0
Honestly, I'd expect a landing page that was about the company and service, and a huge button called "Find a a great illustrator" front and center.
To help in the perception area, I would take a second look at the interface interactions. The animated rollovers are distracting, and the site itself feels templated. The centered type seems generic and un-designed. The color palette seems all over the place too. It's overwhelmingly orange and black at the top, but the rest is gray/purple.
- the illustrations are pretty fucking incredible. It might even be better to have an all white site w/grey text & blue accent.robotron3k
- that way the art really comes through and is front and center.robotron3k
- agreed, and the thumbnails are swamped by the rounded rectangles and massive guttersmonospaced
- it's like the UI is consuming content. Also, artist's names are also very important.monospaced
- thanks all very good input ... I agree the ui needs to be pushed back quite a bitn8w
- robotron3k0
- you should put your content on lockdown so fools like this guy wont swipe your swipe...robotron3k
- doesnotexist0
your aesthetic will have to appeal to your audience at some point for this to be successful.
- cannonball19780
Under search parameters, you have some parameters that are highly subjective, such as styles. These are very important way to match an illustrator to a job, but you need to improve the user's search confidence. One way of doing this is by providing up to three examples of the types of art that would result from the selected parameters before they click search.
Also, I would make search a filter, instead of a "modal tab" as you have it designed. That way the user can ad or remove characteristics to add to or reduce the pile of illustrators that result (like they do in some real estate sites).
- doesnotexist0
maybe look at http://www.trunkarchive.com
- another industry specific site for people looking at photographersdoesnotexist
- good stuff like their clean interface .. I am not a fan of names because it doesn't say much about the work, but the visual search results works really welln8w
- for people looking for a certain type of work, i wouldn't rely on txt explaining what it is. rely on the visual.doesnotexist
- n8w0
@cannonball1978 I think your suggestion of showing a few examples of each style / medium is a great suggestion and I will definitely incorporate that
I think for the most part people have 3 objectives when browsing the site
The want to find a specific type of illustrator
They want to browse illustrators with nothing specific in mind
or they are an illustrator and want to share their newest work- ie see the trunk archive site i've linked abovedoesnotexist
- laurus0
You have to think of your audience's objectives.
Usually, when looking for an illustrator you need to fulfill a specific job for a specific audience, e.g. Editorial/business, Book/ kids, instructional/technical, education, etc.
Style/technique is probably next.
In general, consider making it a community, where the artists can interact with each other and comment and favorite projects. Add rating for people who commissioned a job, to install trust.
Etsy may be a good place to see how a creators' community is done right.