Oct 29
New Duoh! dot com has launched
2008 at 04.03 pm posted by Veerle Pieters
Geert and I worked very hard and are very proud to finally announce the launch of the new Duoh! website — our business site. It took us a lot of time to finish it due to the heavy workload of the past couple of months, and the fact that any spare time I could find during the weekends was always spent on writing articles for the blog. Actually, much of the design itself was already finished in November 2007! That was right after I wrote about designs that didn’t make it. From then on, our minds were made up and we both felt that this is what we wanted.
Train of thought
About the designs that didn't make it
At first when we were working on the designs that didn't make it, we thought that adding a lot of illustration style would be the right fit for us, but in the end it resulted in a style that was too "girly." It didn't fit at all. Looking back, I realize I took the wrong road; I just chose the wrong type of illustrations. There was the question, too, of whether to use a white background. The design felt all a bit too pastel colored to me, not strong enough, and so I tried a dark background later on. In the end it felt as if we were a bit stuck with this dark background version. It didn't feel right, as if something was still lacking.
Why this design works for us
White and dark background combined
First I've tried to solve the problem of a dark versus white background by coming up with a design where I use both: white for parts with much of the copy, dark for most of the presentation of work. I can't help it, but when it comes to presenting your work, darker backgrounds just work better for me. The colors pop and create a nice contrast.
Inspired by Swiss graphic design
Geert and I are both inspired by Swiss graphic design and we felt that this would be the right direction for us. On the other hand, it wouldn't be Duoh! if we didn't add our own style to it. Looking at the current design, you see a lot of bright colors and attention to details. Using straight lines and simple forms and shapes gave a Swiss graphic design feel to the whole site, but we added a lot of our own typical style to it. I thought it would be cool if we could achieve a site that just breathes graphic design. When people come to the site the first time I thought it should be obvious what we do without having to read a single word.
During the design process Geert came up with this wonderful idea of using illustration backgrounds to place in the body of the webpage as a surprise. One for each section. Just a nice surprise for people using screens with higher resolutions. This way they get to see some interesting illustration work Instead of a plain background when stretching the window. We added a few other surprises, too, as you may discover.
Quotes from people we admire
Another idea was to work with quotes from people we look up to and who inspire us. You'll find a quote from Paul Rand, "Design is so simple that's why it's so complicated." Can't agree more with that. So strong and so true. Then there is one from Steve Jobs "Stay Hungry. Stay foolish." Isn't that the best advice ever? We always try; it keeps the creative spirit alive. And of course I couldn't resist Jeffrey Zeldman's quote "To hell with bad browsers." I have the same spontaneous reaction whenever I bugfix CSS. :)
The design process
After vertical filing the previous designs (or as you might say, circular filing them—they're trashed!), and idea brainstorming with Geert, I let the Swiss graphic design inspiration enter my mind. I started off with a blank slate. Just our logo, nothing else, not even the colors I picked before. I believe in most cases this is the best option. It's better not to look back. Just clear your mind, fill it up with happy thoughts and start all over.
Choosing colors
I often start by choosing my color palette first, and so I did. Vivid colors work well on a dark background. So I picked a dark brown, very close to the brown I used before, but this time I added some grey to it. This way it felt like a more neutral color than the previous brown and suited our logo well. While playing around with the colors the idea came to mind to create a vertical color bar, a bit like my blog but still different, by using some gradients. Later on I experimented a bit with lines, squared rectangles, layer modes, etc. and I ended up with the composition of the color sidebar.
Dark versus white background
At that stage I tried to figure out how I could use a white background in my design. Our logo needed to be on a white background, so my decision was made. Then came the idea of working with a vertical navigation and sidebar and have all the content on the right on a white background.
The basic grid
I worked out a basic grid — just very basic, because I didn't want to tie myself down yet. Having a grid usually helps me to find patterns and positions for everything while keeping things in balance, but sometimes, if I go too far, it tends to limit my creative thinking a bit — thinking that I need to follow my own strict lines of the grid. The freedom to move things around and experiment usually leads to new ideas. It's a bit like thinking out of the box: no boundaries, only freedom, not thinking about conventions, etc., if you know what I mean.
The sidebar
But my grid worked and helped me just fine. I came up with the idea of having a different sidebar for each section page. These sidebars are the only thing that have been tweaked a few times over the past couple of months. The initial ones were a bit too busy. The thing is, I started with them before I started with the actual content. The problem you have by doing this, is that you can end up with a too overwhelming and busy design. Once I started adding the content, it was as if the sidebars were taking over and got all the attention, and the content was pushed away. So I reworked the sidebars by toning them down so everything was more in balance. From there on I got it all worked out. What took the most time was the initial idea of the sidebar, navigation and content using white, etc. together with, of course, all the illustration work that covers the site.
My design process is never linear
Maybe this sounds like a weird process, starting with one element and not knowing how the rest will follow. This might even sound illogical to some of you, but my design process is just never the same. There isn't one method for me that I can report "this works, or this is how you do it". Most of the time I just follow up the ideas that pop up in my head. They are just never in the same order or have the same logical sense. Sometimes I see the whole picture and the last phase is adding the details. I bet a lot of web designers work this way. A bit like the outside in, just like with CSS styling. For me this isn't always the case; it wasn't the case with this design. My creative thinking path is never linear. Maybe it's just because inspiration often creates chaos in my head. Guess I'll never know because I find it the hardest thing to explain and to figure out :)
The copywriting
Content is king or in our case, is design king? Well, I think both are. What's the use of having a beautiful site without good content, without perfect sentences that express who we are. If you tell your customer that you must have both good design and good content, then you should follow your own advice. And so we did. We didn't have to think twice about who to contact. Carolyn Wood, once interviewed me and we also knew her reputation on the web and through web design friends, and thought she would be the perfect person for the job. Here is what she had to say:
Creating text for a website is pretty much the same process as designing, and it doesn't matter if you are writing for a pharmaceutical company, a cruise line, or a designer—it's just a whole lot more fun with Veerle and Geert. :)
Like a designer, you learn about the company, the intended audience, and what both want to achieve. Here we have an interesting twist: Duoh!'s content and its design are, to a degree, the same thing. People come to see what Duoh! can do, and there it is: powerful, colorful, intelligent, precise design. What then is the role of the text on the Duoh! site? What facts do people need? When do you pop up and speak; when do you stop and let Duoh!'s work speak for itself? And what exactly is the Duoh! voice?
In their first email, they were clear that they didn't want jargon or the usual "markety" approach, such as the standard bio. My reaction? "Perfect!" Geert and Veerle exude joy in their lives, their relationships, and in their work, and at the same time are design professionals. They take their work seriously, but they are real. Somewhere along the way, "professional" became confused with "pretending to be dull, stilted grownups." You won't find that at Duoh! My goal, too, is lively authenticity. This is true when writing for a small, smart, famous design shop or a major corporation. Say what you need to say, then strip away any dead weight, and make it something people want to read — whether they are skimming or seeking more.
You assemble everything you need and start the text version of sketching. Then (you hope) you reach that indefinable moment that many designers have, when inspiration, experience, and problem-solving come together and a creative spark ignites the work. The aim is to deliver an experience that is narrated in a very specific voice, one that clearly reflects the "brand" and subliminally conveys the company's personality, while helping people discover, learn, or get things done. Interwoven with great design work, it all creates an experience that wins the user over.
We discovered that our opinions and work styles were virtually the same. We're into details, we laugh a lot, we work iteratively, we're picky as all get out, we feel confident and "at home" doing what we do, yet we are uncomfortable advertising ourselves in the usual ways. Our similar attitudes quickly built trust, and Duoh! unleashed me and said, "Have fun!" This doesn't mean they accepted everything without question, but we both enjoy collaboration and worked in synch, finessing the details. By the way, thanks to Geert for tolerating all the "girl talk." :)
We haven't met in person yet, but it felt as if Carolyn has known us for years. Working with her was a real pleasure. Sometimes I truly wondered if she was psychic, as if she had a sixth sense. No kidding! Her ability to translate who we are, what we stand for, and our way of thinking is, without a doubt, a true gift. She dances with words like we breathe air. Carolyn did a splendid job. Looking back at all our iChat conversations I see a newborn friendship. :)
One more thing
It took us a very long time to launch, but I do not regret it. We've made some smaller improvements in the past weeks that made a difference. The work you'll find in our portfolio doesn't date back further than 2007 and it only shows the work we wanted to show or can show. I think that's not bad for a two-headed design studio. :) Actually, we sometimes considered ourselves a team of three because we had a secret design guru named Mark Bixby help us out on several occasions with logos and some other work for clients. Mark is a wonderful guy to work with and is as picky and neat in his work as we are. Geert and I always got very excited when Mark showed us his work. The thing is, when you are that good a small studio can't compete when you get an offer too good to refuse and that's exactly what Mark got. It's true, Mark left us for MySpace, oops, sorry, I meant Facebook :D Anyway, Mark, we have a spot reserved for you here, whatever the future brings. ;)
94served
1
I must say Veerle, it has your touch! Very nicely designed, although it seems a bit busy outside the main area, which could distract people a bit too much, but that has probably to do with the artistic approach you wanted for the site. In general however: great job!
2
Congratulations on the launch!
Great site. Looks fabulous!
All the best from bonn, germany,
Oliver
3
Congratulations on the new design Veerle, I know how hard it is to finally get happy with a personal website/design.
My first reaction, as that of my colleagues, was something like: “Whoa! *blink* *blink* Whoa…”
It is definitely unique. I love how ‘bold’ it is. The colors, the grid, the sizes of elements, it’s all very bold.
I suspect most people either hate it or love it which is a good thing. I remain undecided: I love the boldness, the uniqueness, but feel the site is slightly lacking in usability: it is not easy to scan text, some elements are not very intuitive (I had to look very hard to discover the ‘pagination’ on your portfolio page for example).
I wonder how other people think of this. Thanks a lot for your write-up (“Designs that did not make it”), very helpful and inspirational.
4
Beautiful and long awaited :D Now enter some contests! :D
5
I like it, but it is a little busy.
6
I love love love all the design elements and the colors but agree with the previous comment… it is extremely busy, I’m pretty confused as to what I’m looking at. It does not seem very organized. I also hate the fact that I have to scroll past that huge header each time I click on a new page. Just a little bit of constructive criticism, please take it lightly. :)
7
Very attractive & fitting to the business perfectly. Color combination and the concept is outstanding! Great work & congrats.
8
Congratulations on the launch, the site looks awesome!
9
Congrats on the new duoh site! Looks great! I’ve always been a big fan of your work. Just started following you on twitter.
Have a good day.
10
Congratulations on the new site, it’s superb.
11
Congratulations, both of you! I absolutely love the energy in the new design. Thanks for the shout out too! :D
12
I like it, I especially like the colours. The only issue I have with it (because it affected me!) is that it needs a HEWGE display to show up properly.
I’m at 1280x800 on my laptop and i still couldn’t see the edge of the background image and so the whole impact of the design was lost.
It was only when I saw your blog post with the scaled down version of it that I looked at it and thought “nice”.
Is it not an oversight to promote your website in this way to potential clients who may have the same issue I have, and not have a massive display (unlike most designers and obviously yourselves)?
Good job though.
13
Thanks for posting the designs that did not make the cut. I love to see where designers start and the steps taken to finish. Makes me feel normal when I struggle over scraping a concept and move on to a new one. Nice work.
14
Wow, I love the look and feel! It’s very unique and new and welcoming! Somehow the graphics on the right side, in the background don’t fit on my little MacBook screen and I don’t see a scroll-bar at the bottom, so this part of your site stays hidden for me…
15
Gorgeous!
Congratulations!
16
Veerle, the new site looks fabulous. You’ve done a great job. And even though it’s a bit busy, as previous commenters said, it also teases and makes me want to discover all pages and don’t miss one detail!
Great work!
17
Just wanted to echo that I love the color palatte. Looking forward to seeing more of your fantastc design in the future. Take care!
18
Congratulations on the launch! The site looks just great! Realy inspiring, sparkling and innovative!
Keep up the good work, you’ve got an extra fan!
19
Great post. I really like reading about process – especially the process used by great designers.
It seems to me that every designer and every project is different (obviously), but there are some things that are consistent for both designers and projects, and remain the same or similar… The order may change during the engagement or design process, but to get the best results you need to have an approach that works in different situations.
My favorite line is, “Most of the time I just follow up the ideas that pop up in my head.” Gosh, that makes me feel so much better about my own ‘process’! Thanks :-)
20
As I mentioned above it’s a little busy… but after going through the site, it really fits who you guys are. (“a little busy”) - Nice work.
21
Great design, very unique. I’m only doubtful about the dark gray background for the main content part: I think that a darker gray, different from the body background, could be a better choice.
however, great work!
22
Very nice looking site, love the use of typography and colour!.
23
Colorfull as ever but a bit busy for my taste.
24
It’s a little frustrating not being capable to see the entire background image. I’m at 1280x1024.
Anyway I love the “status” message and the design details.
A note about the menu: the text images on the “hover” state seems to move a little. I’m not sure about this issue, maybe I’m just too tired :P
25
Looks great! although not having my browser window open to a full screen i lose the quotes on the right. I’m on a 20in imac
26
I-stand-in-awe!
Possible the most beautiful website ever, built by a Belgian web bureau. It’s magnificent!
27
We have been amazed at the wonderful response to the new site. So many people have twittered their thumbs up on the site, and seen a WOW factor. Thanks to everyone for the great comments we see everywhere.
I had kind of expected that a few comments might say: too busy, too bold, colorful,... It’s different from any other site out there, so it’s going to challenge you and that’s what we wanted. We don’t want to be a grey mouse and choose the ‘safe road’ and create a design that will be well liked by everybody. That’s just not us. If everybody does the same and nobody experiments there isn’t any progress.
28
Hey Veerle,
I Must admit, when i first saw the page my first reaction was that i didn’t particularly. like it. and I think thats because of how wide the site is, but as I looked more and browsed it, it grew on me. Nice work :-)
29
Wow, stunning! At first I thought it was a bit busy, but after browsing a while it is very refreshing! Great job Veerle!
30
Veerle, congrats on the site, it’s so very you.
*wispers* Psst, in your logo questionnaire there are some questions in Dutch in the beginning though file is marked EN.
31
Hey Veerle,
I have always had a true admiration for most of your work, tutorials and writings. I also really appreciate teh fact that you were trying to be out of the box on the site. I think you succeeded there for sure.
My only critiques of the site however would be that I did in fact find it to be not as usable as it could be, after browsing it for a bit. I think maybe a certain amount of convention could really enhance the user experience and help to not make it as overwhelming.
I hope that is well received, because I think you are one of the better designers on web, and love the softer / welcoming style you bring your projects!
32
I just LOVE the new site, it’s so you!
33
busy but very beautiful
it feels like about 5 sites pulled apart and all the good bits combined into one. lots of lovely graphical touches although as mentioned previously its not the most intuitive and user friendly. But then again, a designers sites main goal is the design elements after all.
Brilliantly built and coded though. Great work!
34
Wow Veerle! Beautiful and fantastic! I see why it took as long as it did. Great work!
35
Veerle gefeliciteerd met jullie prachtige site! Veel mooie details. Succes!
36
“WOW”, Beautiful and Inspiring.
37
Love the duoh! site. Looks fantastic on my 1920x1200 monitor. Keep it up!
38
It’s too decorated.
“STAY YO” and “STAY FOO” (I can see just *that* much on 1440px laptop screen) feels silly.
39
Don’t know how to feel on this one…On the one hand you have these really bright,vibrant colours and cool illustrations. There’s all sorts of interesting shapes and it really isn’t something you’ve seen before.
Then there’s the other, getting to the homepage is a bit of a visual barrage, you don’t know where to look or what to expect? I mean there’s breaking the rules but usually they’re replaced with some sort of order.
It’s just…weird. There’s so many cool/awesome elements but not enough cohesion.
Make of this what you will :/
40
Hi,
i like it! however, isn’t the steve jobs quote “stay HUNGRY, stay foolish”?
41
Love the new site just one question what made you decide on using expression engine?
42
The colour scheme works very well. Dark backgrounds allow bolder colour schemes to leap out and it has worked well. Didn’t get an opportunity to comment on an illustrator thread, but thanks!
43
This is one of the very few designs that made me go, “Woah.”
It is almost too busy, but forget about that—it’s too damn cool for me to care.
What font is that in the navigation? I’m loving it.
44
As always, beautiful work Veerle (and Geert!). The site perfectly exudes yours and Geert’s character, charm, skills and attention to detail.
45
It would help if you had a “back to top” button or that the nav can move with the scrolling ? Does help. But BRAVO on the rest ! Looks brilliant !
46
okay you have 31 other comments like this but I just have to say this.
THAT LAYOUT IS FLIPPIN FANTASTIC, WHERE YOU GOT THE TALENT TO CODE IT… I DON’T KNOW!
But it is amazing, seriously.
Maybe you could do some XHTML tutorials lol. :P
47
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed going through every page on Duoh![!] Simply beautiful. Even the favicon shows your character. Amazing and definitely inspiring to young designers like myself.
48
I think the new design looks great and love the illustrations. My comment is about the About page: the bottom half of it seems to be a bit too Veerle-centric which may make it seem that Duoh isn’t an ‘equal’ partnership.
49
Big and Bold just like a Barolo or Zinfandel! You have made a big splash! Congratulations.
50
As you said, Veerle, the site is different to most of all other sites out there, so it is challenging. And I love the design on it. Nice colors, well-chosen fonts, good contrast, eye-friendly design.
But I too want to give a comment on the “surprise” thing - on my 1280x1024 screen the background image on the right side is cut off exactly on the wrong place; because I see there is something like a quote (some [fragments of] letters appear), but I can’t read it. And one thing I hate is, when I am unable to read information that was placed there to be read. As it is a background image, the browser does not allow to scroll - I only can “view background image” with a right click, but that is not the behaviour you wanted, isn’t it?
I have to have a second look on it on bigger screens, but my first impression on my first glimpse was just being exactly 10cm in front of a huge cinema screen, not being able to see all of the action because my viewing angle is so limited, and all I can see is just a bit too big to be realistic.
Forcing the user to scroll is also something I do not like most, but I have to do it on the front page to reach the “beauty and brains” section and the news section below the 3 column graphics. That added up to my dwarf-feeling.
I hope I was able to give a good summary on my first impressions - because the first impression counts so much, especially when focusing on visual things.
51
Ah there it is. congrats! It’s different, it’s in your face, it’s almost mindblowing and it is great!
Love the colors and the details. I will feature it in our “webdesign treffers” this week.
Thanks.
52
Jealousy has a new friend… Simply stunning work!
53
congraduations to you,veerle! I must accept that your design makes your site standout among others！I love it,by the way,I am coming back from the mess and tough work! that’s wonderful!
54
I fell in love with this site. Amazing work! Amazing!
55
Hey Veerle! Hear this ... I read a lot of the comments because I had mixed feelings and wanted to know if I was the only one.
First impression? To busy!!! I didn’t know where to look, had to search for the navigation, everything seemed soooo cluttered. It really was like entering a jungle.
So then I read the comments to see if I was the only one wanting to hack the site and put it offline and I noticed there were other people struggling too.
But! This is not the end of the story mate!
A lot of people complained about the resolution, not be able to read text on the background, ... Now, I noticed that my browser window wasn’t set to full screen. And since I have a 1600 x 1200 resolution, guess what? The website looks amazing! Not cluttered at all! Very, very nice! Well done!
Conclusion. At first I really found the site was trash and thought that maybe I was expecting to much.
But changing the resolution made me think totally different.
So IMO you love it or hate it but you will definitely love it when you have a high resolution because depending on your resolution you somehow (weird huh?) get a totally different experience.
56
Vey well done you two! Congrats!
57
Very cool design, I love it !
58
“too busy” isn’t really constructive criticism. it’s a shallow and dismissive critique that has no place in this discussion. veerle deserves better than that.
59
Awesome!
You did it again.
60
That’s true. I used busy too. So I’ll explain a bit more.
The difference between screen resolutions is that with a big screen you have the main content and most graphic elements left. The right side of the screen works as a counter weight, it balances everything out so you get a peaceful overview.
With a smaller screen resolution you loose the simple right side of the screen, leaving you with all this visuals and colors. That makes me loose overview and direction.
Hope I’ve been clearer now ;)
61
Sure, it’s aesthetically pleasing. But from a usability perspective, to navigate is one of the worst I have ever had to misfortune to come across.
62
Christopher Brown said:
I’m having a hard time understanding these kind of comments that doesn’t have any value. If you are saying that usability is hard, explain yourself what exactly is wrong so that we see you at least have the creditably to make these remarks. The navigation is immediately in eyesight and navigating the news and portfolio is done by these big buttons. How this doesn’t work is beyond my comprehension. This is a portfolio site so it’s ok to experiment a bit. If it was a client site this would be another story. I’m just glad that somebody is at least trying to be somewhat different and inspiring us a long the way.
63
Beautiful colors! I like the design and layout too.
64
Congratulations! It’s been a long time coming… I love the new design and you can see the inspirations. About the only question I have is why you chose to put the “Powered by Expression Engine” logo up under your menu, as opposed to down lower by the “Hosted by EngineHosting” logo. Don’t get me wrong, I love EE and use it to power my own site… just wondering why you felt the need to draw away from your own design and business.
65
I have to say, it’s a masterpiece! It really is cool, and I love the illustrations on the background, they are fabulous!
Also, I think the design is very colourful, despite the fact of a dark and white background.
Really GREAT work :D
66
Gefeliciteerd, Veerle!
‘k Had er lang naar uitgekeken, en ik moet er nog wat aan wennen…
67
Well it definitely has your influence! I think it’s a great design but maybe a bit too much here and there.
I see very much colors and shapes which might distract visitors from the content.
On the other hand. It’s as unique as it can be! I like that! Well done!
68
Hello Veerle, congratulations with the launch of your new site. I looks very nice, but it can be quite hard to read everything.
Goodluck!
69
To be honest with you when I first saw the new site, I didn’t really like it ...
It’s not because of the design itself, it has more to do with who you are. The site is you, but not you at the same time. The colors are your colors, so are the details, even the fonts are so like you. I think I’m having a problem with the rectangular shapes on the left and on the right. I find it hard to match them with your other friendly, open and round shaped designs.
But then again it’s not your personal site. It’s the site of your company. And not to forget: Geert is also a part of that. So maybe these shapes represent him. It’s kind of hard for me to tell since I don’t know what he’s like.
After a 2nd look (on a smaller screen) I have to agree with what has already been said. I can really identify with Martijn.
Overall I like the new site, and I think that it will do more than succeed at your purposes.
Either way it’s a huge improvement.
Keep up the good work :)
70
Love the new web site. From reading your blog these past several months I think the new site reflects your personality and style completely. I also like the friendly tone of the content. Well done and best of luck to you both!
Wendy
71
First impression, wow! amazing!!!
It’s beautiful and different! Congratulations!
72
Very impressive design. I’m a french webdesigner and I’m really fan of your work. I will try to make an analysis on my blog about the redesign of Duoh. There afe numbers of very interesting subtleties. Except the question of the design, I found some specificities in the XHTML coding and originalities in the manner of render the different pages. Your work is a great source of inspiration for me. I like the fact that your work causes debate and it’s what we want all around the web :) Respect for your job !
73
I absolutely love your work and found this article extremely indulging. What I would like to know on top of this is the actual design process, are the elements all created in Photoshop, Illustrator or both? What size artboard did you start off with (the default ones 800 x 600 e.g. aren’t very representative of the browser window size)? Once it was all created was it exported out from Illustrator or photoshop in slices or as a whole?
Do you have an article on this already? I would really love it if you could answer these questions, get down to the nitty gritty.
74
Good and refreshing design but I have a few remarks.
1) Why did you use empty span tags in your navigation?
2) I like the fact that you used the “skip to content” link to be complaint to the WAI standards, but why didn’t put it above the logo tag?
Next to that I really loved digging into the site. Especially the following items:
a) Your 404 pages
b) The print stylesheet
c) The wide screen backgrounds for high resolutions.
75
Slee said:
Because I like it very much and it lets me be creative without messing with my code or limiting me. This blog and duoh.com are running on the same EE install via the multiple site manager. My blog was the testing ground and EE past that without a hiccup.
Michael Pitra said:
The work has priority over the news section since it is a portfolio site. People usually scan instead of reading so the visuals are the first eye-catchers to set a first impression, which is important if you are selling graphic design services imho.
Shad said:
The reason why is because of the fact that Ellislab (creators of EE) are clients of mine and I wanted to show visitors that you can create inspiring sites with EE without being a programmer. My intention was that as many people as possible saw that. In previous iterations it was down at the bottom and after thinking about I put it back so that it doesn’t distract from the navigation.
Iestyn Lloyd said:
I’m first recovering from launching the site and now catching up on client work :) I’ll will talk about the creation later, but writing of your process and explaining why you did this and that takes up a lot of time and preparation. Keep an eye out for that in near future.
denbuzze said:
That has an accessibility reason, in case somebody turns off images so that you still can use the navigation.
I’ve put it there because I thought people would like to jump to the content immediately skipping all navigation including the logo because that’s a home link.
@all: Thanks for the comments and feedback so far. I’ve tweaked some things already but will write a separate post about that.
76
The Design is SO SIMPLE that why its so complicated…
77
Veerle said:
I thought that one can have many subdoamins running on EE…. ie one license for example.com, my.example.com, your.example.com etc. no need for multiple site manager. but i could be wrong :-)
just looked at your site agin on my mac book pro 15” and it looks great. the navigation links are prominent. I see you moved the EE logos to the bottom.-left.
PS congratulations to Geert…. i’m sure he was of some help ;-)
78
I see that your company site was delayed due in part to the blog, so I wanted to say that I appreciate all the time and effort that you have put into this blog. I have learned a lot and although I don’t comment often, I do stop by regularly to read your wonderfully helpful posts. Thank you so much for that, and congrats on the new site - it’s lovely.
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Thanks for the post Veerle, very interesting. I also think it would be great if you could do a post some time about the creation of the site, like maybe a guide for creating EE sites as a designer.
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The site looks awesome. It really changed the rules in an effective manner. Its different!!! :)
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amazing site man. quite an inspiration
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Veerle, thank you for your very pictorial description of the design process: I’d like more variety in design in our event industry, in particular in the visualization of the presentation systems (banner, displays, rollups).
But we are probably not change, because we stay with the taste of the business customer very careful.
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Great site! Also really happy to see MooTools behind it - make a nice change from seeing jQuery everywhere!
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Veerle,
The new “Duoh” is beautiful, but when I compare it to what it was before, it seems now it lost that “business” look. Do you think that choosing this design will be a risk to your sales? To be more detailed, before it was more edgy, sharp and sheik, now its has a fun, cheerful and sort of “bloggy” look. Please take this as positive criticism, all of your work I have seen including new Duoh design is fabulous, and I have been following Duoh and your blog for almost four years now.
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Congrats at the duoh site Veerle! I love it. I find it a bit busy though, but hearing (reading) your thoughts of why you did some stuff, I can only say….WOW.
It is truely something different then others and some Veerle’s!
I also like the questionmarks :)
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Hi Veerle
I like your website. I love the bubbly happy feel you have incorporated into your design! i know how hard it is to develop designs for your own image. I do agree with the comments regarding busy parts in places however.
Good luck with your business.
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It’s brilliant. Well done! I love the illustration of you two! And the pencils! I do not find it too busy, or hard to navigate. BUT… the side illustrations are so good that it’s a crime to hide them for everyone with smaller screens! (Web content should be accessible to all, no?) Can you add scrollbars? Or make them clickable with a link to the full image? I would love to see them all! Fantastic! Bravo!
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The site looks amazing, great work.
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Hi Veerle,
Been too busy to comment, but I have looked at your new site now a couple of times. It is very striking, and as others have said, unique and different. I felt like I was exploring a gallery of modern artwork with all of the illustrations. I really like the bands of color that look like folded ribbons on the homepage, those were most interesting. Yes, I remember your other post where you asked for feedback, and I think that you definitely needed the white space for your content/presentation, and logo, etc. and the dark background is a nice contrast to your colorful illustrations.
I thought everything was so huge when I first looked at it, but am now getting used to it. My screen resolution is set relatively low, so that is reason why I don’t see all of the right-hand side of it. I think when you click to go to each page, the text shows up right at eye level at the top of the screen beneath the logo, so that seems to work very well, even though it is so large. I love how you have overlapped the side bar images with the white content section in the center, and the neat curve at the very bottom left of each page.
Yep, I think it is totally unique and different and the color and so forth really grabs your attention. I like how you have so much going on at different points all up and down the page. The background color doesn’t exactly look grey to me though, on my browser however. It seems to have some redish/pinkish tones in it, but the contrast is definitely a plus!
Thought the quotes were a great idea, too. It is always good to see new, bold and different designs like this - it does allow you to envision new things, and see that there are no limits to what design can be!
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I realised how to see all the backgrounds on a small screen. Of course! Just zoom out in the browser!
I made a series of reduced screenshots as I love the website’s design so much. I hope you don’t mind me showing all the background designs Veerle! Well they are reduced!
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The new site is an attractive and interesting design if a bit unexpected. I think it’s partially due to the interim page setting the tone for a site with a clean white background. I feel the dark background takes away from the muted colors used in the Duoh! branding. A great design nonetheless.
The site concepts that got rejected are brilliant (no surprise since all your work is so)! Thank you for sharing.
Best…
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As you say: good UI is invisible ;)
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Marc Bijl said:
Yes indeed on a site with content like CNN for example. However it is ok to experiment and try to be different/innovate on a portfolio site since that’s your sandbox to do it in ;)
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