* Home Page for African Tour Site! * in Web Page Design

Held by Steve N

Summary

Status
won
Status Comment
Congratulations to the winner, weshine!
Entries
15
Prize
$600
Details

A closer look at this contest

Created:
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:24:13 +0000
Ends:
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:24:13 +0000
Modified:
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:54:01 +0000
Last Feedback:
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:29:01 +0000
Comments:
33
Designers:
7
Feedback:
86%
Brief Summary

Design a home page from scratch that promotes an African Travel business offering overland camping safaris to luxury game lodges!

The page needs to conjure up the romance and excitement of Africa's exotic destinations and experiences. The term 'Big Five' refers to five of Africa's greatest wild animals - lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino.

The page must be very appealing, exciting, well balanced and designed in a way that will still allow me to optimise the page as much as possible for a moderately fast load time!
For example; being aware not to design too many elements that require slicing of large rectangular sections and lots of large image sizes to display the page correctly in the final HTML code. This is my description of how to achieve a moderately fast load time. :)

Actions

Entries highest rated first

Showing 1 – 15 of 15

Showing 1 – 15 of 15

The following designers have withdrawn all of their submitted designs:

Discussion

  1. User
    Createabit
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:54:27 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for Createabit

    @TechnamrtSolutions, This is not the platform for soliciting work. Either enter the contest or provide this information on the Sitepoint Marketplace.

  2. User
    omniDESIGN
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:01:01 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for omniDESIGN

    P.S. your homepage deserves an eye cancer award.

  3. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:02:14 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi Createabit,
    Thanks for outlining that, I was actually thinking the same thing :)

  4. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:22:10 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi OmniDesign,
    Which homepage are you referring to? I don't believe I have listed any home page for the contest in the brief, so I'm not sure what the relevance is in you stating this?...

    Just to restate the obvious; This is a site where contests are held for new designs, not a dicussion forum to offer sentiments of unrelated jibber. Hope this clarifies any confusion you may have.

  5. User
    qspace
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:41:30 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for qspace

    Hi Steve,
    I think Omni was referring to techmart solutions site not yours :)
    Q

  6. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:02:21 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi Q,
    Oh, I see :)

  7. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:23:08 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi all,
    Is it possible to get an idea of those that plan on submitting a design for the contest? Also, those that have read through the whole brief and digested it, do you need any more clarification?

  8. User
    stem
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:11:20 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for stem

    Hello,
    How about Wire transfer, Western Union or credit card as alternative payment methods?
    Cheers,S

  9. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:19:24 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi S, No only Paypal I'm sorry. I was explicit about that in the brief.

  10. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:18:05 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Just a quick note which will make you all a little happier. I have slightly reduced the design requirements. Please re-read the brief.

  11. User
    omniDESIGN
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:27:23 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for omniDESIGN

    Yes I was referring to the techmart solutions site.
    The brief is great but I think the reason why no one submitted a design so far is that you want a user database, online reservation system, etc.
    Programing that save and reliable is something only big companies can provide.
    Or you decide to use a content management system(CMS) and install some business extensions. A CMS gives the ability to design a frontend without having advanced knowledge of programming and gives you the ability to change the content of your side without any knowledge of programming. But you would need to know which CMS you choose before peoples start designing because no one is acquainted with every CMS. Joomla for example is a very common CMS and it is free! And designers are cheap. So chances would be high to find someone able to design you a joomla template.
    Or you start a new contest and say “design only” and send the psd file to a “you design we code” company afterwards. This would probably give you the most feedback.
    I would love to send in some designs but unfortunately I only have experience with normal html/css coding and Wordpress what isn't really an appropriate CMS for businesses.
    I hope I told you something helpful and sorry if there should be grammar mistakes. English isn't my first language.
    Greetings
    Henning

  12. User
    digitalnature
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:08:22 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for digitalnature

    I dont think he wants the design coded, even tho the contest title is misleading ("dynamic"?). Read the brief more carefully

  13. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:42:52 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hello Omni
    The competition is being held for a DESIGN ONLY! The "Dynamic" word is meant to be a descriptive word for visually exciting, professional and attractive.

    Crikey's, I'm having real trouble accepting that everybody seems to be misinterpreting what I had assumed was a thorough and descriptive brief. It seems like I almost have to go back to "a plain Jane" brief description, which then everybody will most likely misinterpret anyway because there's not enough information provided.

    Nowhere in the brief did I say that I needed a page coded and converted. I have a custom-built CMS system that I use to develop the functionality of the site after the design is completed.

    It is absolutely irrelevant for anybody submitting designs to this contest to be worried about what CMS system the design will end up in, I can make it fit whichever way it is designed. As long as the designer is paying attention to the information I have provided in the brief then that's all you need to worry about.

    I think you are a little confused because most people who do want a site to be designed for a CMS system are working within the constraints of something that is completely locked in. For example, people will most often specify wordpress as the CMS the site will end up in so that designers don't create something that will be completely unattainable to recreate with the dynamic elements.

    I am sorry if I sound little bit frustrated, but I am feeling like nobody reads through the brief that I spent a lot of time and thought constructing, so that I could try and give designers as much useful information as possible.

    I hope this helps.
    Steve

  14. User
    coloursofinternet
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:57:23 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for coloursofinternet

    Expect my entry soon :)

  15. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:50:04 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Ok, Will keep an eye out.

  16. User
    Veereign
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:11:29 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for Veereign

    Hi steve, i have given my entry....do give me feedback, thanks!
    Veereign

  17. User
    weshine
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:34:06 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for weshine

    I'll be working on an entry too. Thanks.

  18. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:42:39 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Veereign, feedback given. weshine, I will be on the lookout out. :)

  19. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sat, 19 Jul 2008 08:41:42 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Could I suggest that everybody just have a quick read through the design brief again. There are some small suggestions and phrase rewording I have added to try and help any confusion people may be having. look forward to the designs.
    Steve

  20. User
    weshine
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:54:29 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for weshine

    Couple of quick questions.

    1. "An easily identifiable competition entry form graphic container ( this will link to the entry form page)."
    —— What is this element? Or what would the verbiage be for the competition?

    2. "Somewhere on the home page there will also need to be a container for banner advertising."
    —— Is this intended for selling advertising space, or is this self-promotion (trip specials) etc.?

    3. "We will also require 6 small graphical icons to match the overall page design to place into heading elements."
    —— Can you give me an example of what you are thinking here?

    Thanks.

  21. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:01:27 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi weshine,

    1. As a guide, this element could be an enticing graphic to invite people to fill out a competition entry form. We may hyperlink the entire graphic or a button inside the competition graphic, depending on what design presentation you use. The wording could be something like: Enter Our Competition, here>>. As to the size of the graphic container, the wit could be around 200 pixels and a height about 60 pixels. But again this is not a hard set size, I would like the designer to use their imagination and possibly group elements down or across the page that have the same type of functionality on the site.for example, the newsletter subscriber, register here, and competition entry elements could have a similar type of styling. Again, you could refer to kumuka.com to see how secondary promotional elements are presented on the page. You may also want to click through an inner page of the website to see some presentation variation.
    2. The banner advertising container could be for internal self-promotion or for advertising external Web sites. So both.

    3. The icons will be small graphics to use for different container titles on various pages throughout the website. For example, three of the icons will be used as significant graphical identifiers on the top three container areas of the tours page PDF that came with the brief (ie: trip facts, trip highlights, countries visited). But I need to get the main page design sorted out before get the designer to create these.

    It is hard to explain all of the specifics that I have in my head and conveyed it in a way so that everyone will be able to understand it in text.

    I do hope this helps.

  22. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sun, 20 Jul 2008 12:20:37 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi everyone, thank you for your submissions so far.
    It's late here on Sunday night and I have given some thoughtful feedback to those who have submitted, and I will not be available again until Monday afternoon. Will give more feedback tomorrow :)

  23. User
    smrr110
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:19:49 +0000
    Avatar
    Avatar for smrr110

    Hi,

    Will try to submit my design soon as per your brief .

    Thanks

    M. Rizvi

  24. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:36:38 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Some quick updates,
    I forgot to include a "Contact Us" nav button after "register" in the main navigation. Will also include this in the brief now.

    Could you also note that the main navigation will need to be designed to expand vertically as more navigation items are added in the future.

    All the best.

  25. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:42:00 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work so far. The designs are all looking very good.

  26. User
    Alexel
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:53:17 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for Alexel

    I will upload something soon

  27. User
    Alexel
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:30:20 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for Alexel

    @Weshine: I am sorry that I've used the same picture like You. I haven't realize that until my design was almost done. I've tried to look another one that represent Safari within SXC but I couldn't find anything that fits. I know that our designs have nothing similar (except that picture), but I just wanted to mention that it wasn't my intention to copy anything from Your design. BTW Great design...
    Cheers.

  28. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:00:30 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Hi everyone,

    A big thank you for all that entered the contest and I appreciate the time that you have all taken to come up with your version of our brief.

    We are in the process of working through entries and we will make a decision as soon as possible.

    Warm regards
    Steve

  29. User
    Alexel
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:53:48 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for Alexel

    Weshine, Rosiee, good luck. Great designs...

  30. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:00:20 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    A big Thank You to all 7 designers for taking the time to design and enter this contest (and to the two who pulled out for whichever reason). I commend you for your efforts and hope you win your fair share of contests real soon. See you again in another contest.

    I would like to congratulate weshine for being chosen as the winning submission.

    And thank you for your supportive words to your fellow designers above Alexel, that is very good spirited of you :) I do hope you win another yourself real soon.

    Warm Regards
    Steve

  31. User
    rosiee007
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:11:04 +0000
    Badge
    Designer
    Avatar
    Avatar for rosiee007

    @ Alexel: Thanks for the best wishes.It's always great whena fellow designer commens your design.:-)

    @ Weshine: Many Congrats! Great design.:-)

    @ Contest Holder: Thanks Steve for hosting such a great contest. Hope to see you around :-)

  32. User
    Steve N
    Actions
    Comment Date
    Tue, 29 Jul 2008 10:32:17 +0000
    Badge
    Contest Holder
    Avatar
    Avatar for Steve N

    Thanks rosiee. and you also...