VacantReady Design Comps - 1 & 2
Chris · February 18, 2007
Design elements are important when building an online brand and we wanted to be very thoughtful about what message we are conveying to our members through the design of the VacantReady.com site. Most importantly, we wanted the site to achieve a certain “look & feel” with our design that speaks directly to our hotelier community.
Before I sat down with Susie at Hop Studios, she had emailed me some questions (below) to kick off our chat about the look & feel of VacantReady. Trying to visualize design elements that represent who we are seemed like a daunting task but Susie expertly guided the conversation. She’s a pro.
- what tone should the design set? What unspoken (i.e. visual and non-textual) message do you want to send with the look of your site?
- are there images that leap to mind as being representative of your site’s focus? we talked about in our initial meeting, for instance, about pillows with mints on them.
- is there any work already done that will simply be reformatted into the new site? for instance, a logo you’re been using on business cards, a tagline you have in mind...are there specific colors or logos that should be used?
- are there web sites that are examples of what you’re looking for (or wanting to avoid)? close your eyes. do you have a mental image of what your web site looks like. describe it!
We pondered the above questions and came up with a list of items that we agreed would be important in guiding the look of the VacantReady site. We wanted to be fresh and different, and easily identifiable as hospitality related. We also wanted the make sure that the site is clean and “useable” with straight forward navigation so that everyone can find what they’re searching for. Personally, I wanted the site to look great as well.
Here was some of our short-hand:
- in terms of color, we want to use fresh, exciting colors, not “corporate colors”; mentioned using a very current “avant-garde” web 2.0 palette. specifically mentioned liking pink
- vacantready is about is about people not brands
- for the logo/header: illustrated style perhaps a person (male/female androgynous; neutral ethnicity) wearing a fashionable but professional suit and a name tag. vacantready.com might show in name tag.
Susie came up with two design “comps” for us to choose from. One version (Design #1) speaks to the design and “vision” elements we discussed. The other design offers some contrast for discsussion.
We loved Design Comp #1. You will be able to see it LIVE in March.
