Contest $250 Homepage PSD Design Contest. 5 days. Feedback Given. PayPal Payment. Trusted CH.

Hi everyone,

I am looking for a new forum homepage for my site

www.Dead-Island.com/forums

Code (markup):

. Please note, I am looking for a design for the /forums page and NOT the root domain page.

Dead Island is a game that is coming out next month and is based around surviving on a zombie infested island.

I have a clear idea in mind of what I would like the forum layout to be. Here's an explanation.

I would like the layout / design to be similar to:

http://deadisland.deepsilver.com/deadisland.php

Code (markup):

. Where there is a scenery image in the background ( you can search dead island HD wallpapers and find quite a lot of them ) and then the main forum content area in the middle. Please don't make the design exactly like the official dead island site and also make sure any wallpapers used are HD, scale well and aren't watermarked.

For the main forum content area. I quite like the layout of

http://mmohut.com/forums/

Code (markup):

. Feel free to use the current forum design as a bit of a guideline as well. You can also use it for the content. ( instead of dummy text ).

Colour scheme wise. I would like the forum theme to be a white based theme ( the main forum content area ). With red and grey bars. ( like on the mmohut design ).

Font Titles should be in red and subtext should be in black.

Also please use the forum icons from the current forum.

This contest will end in 5 days, I will provide feedback for EVERY entry. But please give me some time to reply. Payment will be via PayPal. You must deliver the design to me in a neatly layered PSD file with any custom fonts used.
I have held many contests before ( check my itrader ) and hope this is another good one.

Please note that the winner will be required to design a subpage which is just the forum postbit. This should take no more then 10 minutes to do as its based off the design you would have made. The payment for this is included in the $250 reward.
I don't know if this will get many entries because its a forum page design. If there is a low amount of entries, then I hold the right to extend the contest if needed. Although I don't think that will happen.

 

Time permitting I will be entering Great contest!

 

My Entry...



Hope you like it..
Please let me know what you think...
Thanks!

XDexter

 

I'm also participating in the contest. (Please don't judge me by my post count, my older account was compromised).

 

wait my entry pls.

thx

 

xDexter: Thanks for submitting a design. The design isn't quite what I had in mind. I would like to move away from the current header design and have something new and unique. Also the background isn't very noticeable. I would like the background to be able to be seen clearly. ( Full opacity ).
Also with the red, I would like it to look a bit more sleek and web 2.0. Kind of like how on the mmohut forums their green gradient has that nice sleek feel to it.

Try to use that mmohut forum design as more of a guideline, then my current forum design.

Thanks

 

Do you mind if we use different icons for the theme? As your current theme has dark icons while the new one I'm working on (hopefully will be done till tomorrow) is light.

 

Yea sure thats fine, so long as they are relevant to the Dead Island game.

 

This has to be the most awful day of my life. I'm sorry mate, I was working on your theme when the power lines went out and now the PSD file is corrupted. There's no way of getting it back. I still have a thumbnail, if you want to look for yourself. Such a pity.

 

Its a bit hard to tell from the thumbnail, but from what I can see that looks like one awesome design. Really sucks what happened, it definitely would have had a very good chance of winning. If your up to redesigning it, I would really love to see that design.


Also just a note to any designers who are going to enter. I would prefer to have a different header then the one I currently have on my forums. If you could make something quite nice and has a bit of a wow factor ( while still relevant to the game ) you will definitely have a better chance of winning.

 

I will enter this contest in a day or two once I am done finalizing my other project on DP. http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2247663

 

I'll try to redesign the same thing hopefully tomorrow. If you can see, could you point out some of the things you would like me to change? (Only if you can see).

 

From what I can see, maybe try a different header. I would like to move away from the current header I have on the forums and have something new. Need to see the full thing before I can give any more feedback.


Also just to help everyone out a bit. Here are some HD wallpapers that you can use:

http://www.dead-island.com/forums/members/300/albums/dead-island-wallpapers-official/

Code (markup):

 

Hey, I designed it again; with some improvements and changes that I thought would make the theme more stand out. If you want an explanation of "why that is here? and what is there?", I'll be happy to break it down to you.

(Sorry for reduced quality, Imgur decreased it).



The header from the old design is just used as a placeholder. Just to show you the layout and the placement of aspects of theme).
You will see "Dead Island" logo in the content area, again; it's used as a placeholder and is supposed to be replaced by a "name of the forum" custom logo.
"Featured Box" is also used as a placeholder and will be replaced by actual content.

Let me know what you like and what you don't like, so we can work along to improve it according to your needs.

 

Here is my attempt:

 

r4fay94: I love the design. Here's a bit of feedback:

- Could you try a different header. I would like to have a different header then whats currently on the forum. The current forum one doesn't seem to flow very well with the design you made.
- I feel the second Dead Island text may be a bit unnecessary as its already in the header. Would it be possible to do something else with that space?
- Can you make the text for the thread and post count a bit smaller?
- Something like this bar needs to be in the design: http://i.imgur.com/XGi7a.png . This is because of the notifications and such. So maybe a bit of a rework to the header needs to be done? I really like the header on deadisland.com if that gives you an idea of what I am after.

- If your feeling experimental, it would be great to see some other options for different wallpapers in the top. [/url]

JSDesign:

Wow I really like your design. I'm not to fond of the header though and the registration image. Could you maybe play around with some different variations? They need a bit more of a wow factor to them. Also could you make the tree icons a bit smaller and each forum a bit smaller? They look a bit too big at the moment and have quite a bit of empty space. But apart from that the design is great.

 

Glad that you liked the design! Now let's discuss the points you stated.<br>

Like I said above, the header is just used as a placeholder; I just wanted to the placement of the header in the new design. Now that I can see you like the header placement; I'll work on the header design later on today.

I'm gonna think about it. I'll see what useful can I put up there. Perhaps you could give some suggestions? (We have to work together to make a great design).

Sure, I was kinda experimenting with those; I'll resize them to the normal text size.

I think we can replace the second "Dead Island" logo with a small User CP that covers that area. What do you think about it? I think it's a great. And if a user is offline; we can show something different.

Thanks for the link; I'll replace the wallpaper on the top with something different.

So yeah, I'll make the changes later tonight and post them up. Thanks again for liking the design.

 

Its a bit hard to think of what to put in that space. Maybe here's what should be done. Move the login box to the header, make the navigation bar layout kind of like what I currently have on the site and then just shift the forum content up so there is no white space.

 

I've reduced the size of the forums and made the banner and registration bar more interesting. Let me know if you have any more suggestions.

 

Hi, The header and registration image still isn't doing it for me. Really needs a bit more of a wow factor. Maybe try some other variations from that zombie?
Also it would be good if there was a bit more tidiness with the forum content. The titles and descriptions seem to be in different places for each forum. Same with the ( 2 Viewing )
The font on the registration image is a bit hard to read. Could you maybe use the current registration image that I have? I really like that current one.

Thanks