Starting a News Site. Just not sure about the design

Discussion in 'Websites' started by MysteryLeo, Oct 16, 2010.

  1. #1
    So my buddy and I got really interested in news and how to better stay informed. We decided to start building site for topics we're interested in.

    http://celeb.rawsignal.com/

    We're pretty technical, and that's part of the fun of the project honestly. However, we're not sure if the design and layout is any good. We were going for a clean look that focuses on the news at hand.

    Our old design looked like a link farm and was awful. We're hoping this is better, but not sure. What do you all think? Also, are there any examples of sites and layouts that have a better and more usable design look and feel?

    Thanks for helping some n00bs
     
    MysteryLeo, Oct 16, 2010 IP
  2. mypartner

    mypartner Peon

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    #2
    good design, but Why not you buy celebrawsignal.com ?
     
    mypartner, Oct 16, 2010 IP
  3. MysteryLeo

    MysteryLeo Peon

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    #3
    Because, we're still in stealth mode right now. When we actually release, we won't be using that domain anymore. That's just a holding place for us to demo, have friends and family use it, have our beta users use it, and to get advice from designers like you!
     
    MysteryLeo, Oct 19, 2010 IP
  4. sanr716

    sanr716 Peon

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    #4
    jus another website ..notin much impressive
     
    sanr716, Oct 19, 2010 IP
  5. kunamekosaja

    kunamekosaja Active Member

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    #5
    need more pic,,, so boring read article with less of pic...
     
    kunamekosaja, Oct 19, 2010 IP
  6. cjcpoker

    cjcpoker Peon

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    #6
    I think it would work better if the news was more targeted. It seems like this will have a hard time ranking against the actual news sites unless the categories are more specific.
     
    cjcpoker, Oct 19, 2010 IP
  7. MysteryLeo

    MysteryLeo Peon

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    #7
    i'm not sure if you're just being mean, but i did get something out of what you said.

    we're not just another news website. we try to algo rank the news for you, but i guess that's not clear. i can take that into consideration.
     
    MysteryLeo, Oct 26, 2010 IP
  8. MysteryLeo

    MysteryLeo Peon

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    #8
    yeah. found a bug. can you try now. better?
     
    MysteryLeo, Oct 26, 2010 IP
  9. Beatleboy62

    Beatleboy62 Peon

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    #9
    The only thing I can recomend is making your logo bigger, or something to make it stand out a bit more.
     
    Beatleboy62, Oct 26, 2010 IP
  10. xtempore

    xtempore Greenhorn

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    #10
    I think it looks good. Nice clean design, not overburdened with excess "fluff". I agree with Beatleboy62 though, the logo needs work. Branding!
     
    xtempore, Oct 26, 2010 IP
  11. delima15

    delima15 Peon

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    #11
    good looking, very informative.
     
    delima15, Oct 26, 2010 IP
  12. MysteryLeo

    MysteryLeo Peon

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    #12
    Beatleboy - make what bigger?

    xtempore - thanks. we try to keep it simple. I feel like a word got filtered out of your response. the ____ needs work?

    delima15 - yeah we're still tweaking the algo to "tell the story" better, so it'll be more informative
     
    MysteryLeo, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  13. MysteryLeo

    MysteryLeo Peon

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    #13
    Hey Guys -

    I added some email and permalink buttons. I need to create a way to let people share, but I get the feeling things may be getting a little crowded.

    Is it crowded or not?
    http://celeb.rawsignal.com/

    If it is any tips on how to uncrowd? Much appreciated.
     
    MysteryLeo, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  14. alexurotaru

    alexurotaru Active Member

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    #14
    Hey guys! The site looks good but it's always room for improvement :) . Someone said before me that the logo should be bigger ; I tend to agree but not only the logo. The whole header section should be bigger so that it stands out a little more. Say ...40% wider so that it can tell the story that your side is about news and news aggregation.

    I like the roll-over effect on each article section but I do think that each article should be a little more differentiated from one another. I'll give you an example from a romanian sports website that I like (design-wise ... mind the soft pron :p) : http://www.prosport.ro/. See the clear demarcation between each article? In this particular case the space is created right from the background , but I do think that you can add a CSS rule somewhere to create small border for each thumb on your site. I realize that it might go against your whole design idea , but you asked if we had any suggestions on how to make it look less crowded...

    Also a small icon set to social media sites like Facebook , Twitter on each preview could also work IMHO.

    Anyhow , nice work so far. Hope you have a good run with it.
     
    alexurotaru, Nov 13, 2010 IP
  15. monip

    monip Peon

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    #15
    Nice design. Like it a lot!
     
    monip, Nov 27, 2010 IP
  16. |-:Bharat:-|

    |-:Bharat:-| Well-Known Member

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    #16
    Impressive site you have there.
     
    |-:Bharat:-|, Nov 28, 2010 IP
  17. ContentVisionz

    ContentVisionz Peon

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    #17
    very nice one buddy
     
    ContentVisionz, Nov 29, 2010 IP
  18. ssalinks

    ssalinks Peon

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    #18
    you site is neat and clean but i would suggest to cut down the page length
     
    ssalinks, Nov 29, 2010 IP
  19. Balur

    Balur Peon

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    #19
    Nice celebrity news website.

    You can add celebrity pictures in header.
     
    Balur, Nov 30, 2010 IP
  20. Frooz

    Frooz Peon

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    #20
    I think you must use a different color for your theme with a few celebrity's images on the header. Maybe red and black? The social bookmarking icons are better on the right top from your header...
     
    Frooz, Dec 1, 2010 IP