Hi,

OK this was incredibly difficult. Both designs were worthy in their own right of winning, but only one can. I've decided on #14 for the following reasons:

Firstly, I prefer the logo. #23 I think did several things better than #14, including the navigation, useability and use of whitespace, but one of the key things I needed out of the design was a solid branding, and I feel that Pavots logo and use of colours is slightly stronger. For what it's worth, when I opened this up to everyone I know for their feedback, opinion was split almost exactly down the middle.

It was so hard to split the two designs though, and feel incredibly bad that someone has to lose given the amount of work put into it.

cheers

Alan

More general feedback - made it about #13 but will put it here. Not sure about the primary navigation on both entries, and whether this is ultimately useful in a web application. So long as there is breadcrumb back to the dashboard at all times, I think that would suffice, as otherwise it may confuse the user. That said I am open to debate on this one if you feel strongly about it! :o)

Actually, some general feedback aimed at both #8 and #12 - I can't help wondering if horizontally grouped icons would work better. I'd be interested to see how that works - even if it means losing the text alongside, or putting it below / above etc. Just a thought that has come to me. I think users conceptually group horizontally better than they do vertically, given that's how we read.

Just to let you know right now I do not have a design I am definitely leaning towards - I am honestly 50-50 between #8 and #12. I am very impressed indeed with both, and wouldn't hesitate to use either. Congrats all round! :o)

Hi all,

Just to let you know that the contest closes mid morning Friday Australian time, and I shall be deciding over the weekend. I'll announce the winner at the very latest first thing Monday morning Australian time.

Good luck everyone, and thanks for the great effort put in so far! :o)

cheers

Alan

Hi,

Actually I've made the decision to extend the contest by 1 day only - the reason being is if I didn't, There is a fair chance I won't be at a PC before the deadline close, and would like to give feedback to all entries to be fair to everyone putting in the effort on this.

I will be around from mid to late morning tomorrow for further feedback if required.

Hope this suits everyone involved!

cheers

Alan

No plans at all to close this early - remember I am on Australian time so will only be around to answer questions / give feedback for the next few hours though..

cheers

Alan

The purpose of the contest is to come up with the theme of the CMS - it should all be in the brief.

Thanks

Alan

Hi,

I'm not planning to at this stage, however if you submit a control panel page only, and it looks like it is as good if not better than the current designs, then I might give a couple of extra days. I'm new to this so I'm not quite sure what the 'right thing to do' is. I want to be fair to everyone.

cheers

Alan