* $100 Famous Contest - 48hr Web Design: Helicopters 1 *

Hey Guys!

It's oneawesomeguy again with one of my Famous contests! Please read the rules section.

ABOUT ME:
I have been hosting contests here on DP for two years. I have hosted dozens of contests (usually about once or twice a month). I always comment on every design, announce a winner, and I always pay.
Check out my post history: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/search.php?do=finduser&u=160715&starteronly=1
Check out my iTrader: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/itrader.php?u=160715

WEBSITE DETAILS:
This website is for a helicopter company that shoots video footage for film and TV.
Current website: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2385260/heli1-site.html
Website wireframe: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2385260/heli1-wireframe.jpg
Theme ideas: 1) white Twinstar helicopter (this is a specific type of helicopter), 2) CSI Miami (do not infringe on copyrights), 3) beaches, 4) South Florida
Palette to use: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2385260/Palette1.png
Additional colour to use: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2385260/ColourPink.png
Other Possible Colours: blue, white, green, orange, yellow

CONTEST DETAILS:
1. Submit web design entries for 48 hours from the time stamp on this post. Revisions on entries can be made after the 48 hours are up.
2. To be fair: No entries via PM and no late entries, please.
3. Once 48 hours is up, I will review all designs thoroughly and give my thoughts/opinions on every single design. This usually takes me 2-3 days (but sometimes takes longer as I may require a response from someone else, please be patient).
4. I will allow revisions to be made for 24 hours to give everyone a chance to win.
5. Winner provides .PSD (or .XCF for GIMP users) file and fonts used. I will send $100 via PayPal and give honest iTrader.

RULES:
By submitting an entry, you agree to the following:
1. You must create the designs yourself. No templates. You must not use any images you do not have the right to use.
2. If you use watermarks, it must say "Sample" (for consistency). Do not let watermarks affect your design. I recommend not using them.
3. You agree to let me use a representation of your design. If you do not win, you keep all rights and your design will not be made into a website. Feel free to remove it from this contest.
4. By accepting the winnings, winner agrees to transfer me full rights to that design and you agree that you will not use the winning design for anything else.

The 48 hour deadline will be enforced as long as there are at least five entries. One person can submit as many entries as he or she wants.

SUGGESTIONS:
1. For images, check out iStockPhoto or similar sites and use their free comps. Only pay for the images if you win (Note: No istockphoto logos on the winning design sent to me).
2. For colour combinations, check out colourlovers.com--an awesome website!

Thanks, good luck, and have fun!

-Christopher

P.S. If you would like to be notified about my contests, send me a PM and I will notify you next time!

 

I disagree with the no watermarks rule, because although you may be a trustworthy CH, there are other people who can steal the design if it isn't protected.

The one about allowing you to use the design doesn't say 'if you win', it just says you can use it when we submit (without being paid), which is a strange rule..

 

Will submit later.

 

Hey Hecky,

Thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate people giving me feedback on my contests. I did change the rules for this contest to try to fix a few things. My changes did not seem to be clear enough so I changed them again after reading your recommendations.

The rule about allowing me to use the design was not there so I can make a website for all the entries here including the ones I did not pay for. It is so I can show all the designs to people to get their feedback. Also, some website list the alternative designs that were considered. If that is the case, you are fully credited. I will never make a website from a design I did not pay for. I have rewritten the rules again to clear this up and to make sure it is clear that you maintain all rights.

I changed my rule to 'no watermarks' for this contest as I was annoyed at all the people who would not follow my watermark rules from previous contests. The previous rule was that you could use watermarks as long as they say "Sample". I changed it back as you have valid concerns.

My thoughts on watermarks and people stealing your hard work (from my photography experience): I feel as if your watermark is so obtrusive that it will prevent people from copying your work, it is going to affect the design. If the watermark is just a small bit of text in the corner, people can easily remove it or crop it out. Unfortunately, any time you put something online, there are going to be malicious people trying to steal your work. There is not much we can do about this.

What I recommend for this contest: When the contest is over, immediately remove your design from this contest so nobody else has access to it. How you can do this: Host your image on another server (Dropbox is my favourite for this purpose).

Please let me know what you think of the new rules. After the first person submits an entry, I will no longer change the rules to keep things fair.


vtopaloff: Great, looking forward to your entry!

 

Im in....wait for my entry please =D

 

Could you provide some picture of "TwinStar helicopter" because I cant find free on internet.

 

You can use any image on the current websiteany image on the current website. There are photos of the helicopter on the home page, helicopters page, and equipment page. You can also search istockphoto.com (or similar) for picture of helicopters and match them with the same model as the one on the website. Twinstar is a very common brand/model from what I understand. If the picture is from far away, it will not matter as much. Good luck!

chemicalinck: Looking forward to your entry!

 

Here is my first attempt:
http://i50.tinypic.com/25z027o.jpg

Your feedback would appreciated.
Note that the helicopter images are ones found on the internet and customized. The images on their site are a bit pixelated. If a higher res image of their actual helicopter exists, I could easily edit it to fit the layout... providing of course they like the design.

 

http://i45.tinypic.com/30m7ng0.png

Just a random tryout. Im getting a little rusty I guess

 

Here is the Web Design: Click Here

Feedback would be great!!!

 

Here is mine: Click me
The header is worked at 1920 px width.

I will purchase the picture if i win.

 

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/6580/samplezv.jpg

 

Here's mine entry:
http://i46.tinypic.com/287ergw.jpg

I have used all the colors you wanted and created the site based on your sketch. If you want me to add or change anything, just say so

Regards.

 

Hey guys,

I love what I am seeing so far. Here are some general comments:

This company is based out of Florida so we want to make sure prominent locations around Miami, South Beach, etc. are shown. Maybe something similar to this website with three spots for pictures: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2385260/heli1-site-2.html

Don't be afraid to try something different from my wireframe and colour scheme. Just be sure to use the same menu items. I always tell people to let their creativity out in my contests. Usually, the most creative designs win even if they do not follow my strict instructions.

Now some specific comments:

MmmDesign: I'm not sure what you mean by 'pictures you found on the Internet'. Just make sure you have the right to use the images in my contests. I do like the image of the big helicopter and the other helicopter in the background. The colour combination is okay. You don't need to stick to the colours I picked in my OP if you think something else may work better. I liked the phone number at the top, the menu at the left, and the footer. The main content felt a little bit plain with just text. Overall, nice job!

Xavier_3D: Thanks for your entry. Great seeing you again! I really liked having the logo in the top left and bottom right. It adds balance to the page. The logo itself was a little bit quirky though. Maybe make the text fit in together more while keeping the words separate (does that even make sense?)? I really liked your random "reliable" in the left. Maybe on each page, I could add a different word. I really liked that. Final note: The company is actually a helicopter filming company, not a company where people ride helicopters. I got the opposite impression. Overall, your work was pretty good. Don't beat yourself up! I liked it!

chemicalinck: Your design is currently my favourite though it could use some changes. I really like how professional the whole design is. I really like the background with the picture of the ocean (how would that work for larger monitors?). I am not keen on the project gallery or services tabs at the bottom. If you do something similar to onlyvidiu's design with bigger images, it may look better. Finally, though I do like your main picture, there are a couple of problems with it: the helicopter is red, the mountain background is not really applicable to this company, and the helicopter has a crain at the bottom (it is very small, but you can see it). I said a lot of things, but I really liked your design. My favourite part was how professional and corporate it looked.

onlyvidiu: Great design. You are surely at the top of my list. My favourite thing from your design was your portfolio/credits section at the bottom with pictures of recent works. I felt as the colour scheme I chose did not match your design too well. Actually, maybe my colour scheme is horrible because I did not like it much in any of the designs I really really like that your head can work with monitors up to 1920px wide. This is really important and something I sometimes forget about until I need to code a website. My suggestion for your design would be to make it a little more corporate-looking. Great job.

good designer: Your actual link is broken. I liked the blue and the clouds in the background. I did not like the little helicopters in the menu bar. I thought that was a little bit cheesy The main picture of the helicopter is really nice, but I would really like to see pictures of white helicopters in beach settings. Overall your design is great. I really like the little box at the bottom of your content. Nice job!

Anterr: Thanks for using all my colours. My recommendation now is to not use my colours. Sorry. It seems like the colours I picked do not look corporate enough for what I was trying to achieve with this design. Maybe add more blue? I loved your main image as it is. If the image had a beach background, it would have been perfect. I really liked your design as a whole and liked how it looked like the original wireframe, but it is missing something. It need something else. Just some random design effects or pictures to give the page a little more dimension would do wonders for your design. Great job and I hope to see a revision from you!


Less than 22 Hours Remaining
After the 22 hours are up, those who submitted entries will still have time to make revisions.

 

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/9043/sample2t.jpg

 

I will post my revision tomorrow

 

After reading your comments, I will submit a total re-design.
Also note that the photos I used in my design are from royalty free stock sites and I have full rights to them I just couldn't find an all white helicopter anywhere so I had to change a red one to a white one.

 

my entry

 

It's kind of half finished, not sure what I think of it. Please let me know what you think and I'll decide whether to continue or not.

 

good designer, bizzard, and Hecky I like your designs. I will post full comments a little later. Hecky, please continue if you have the time. I like what I am seeing so far.