I'll echo what Adam says. Honestly, just flipping some logos onto a bootstrap template is almost becoming a cliche these days... but I'm conflicted because it does look a lot better than whatever random crap I'd come up with myself. I'd vote for keeping with bootstrap.
I think one of the problems I have with Aldrin's draft is that it doesn't really convey open source project to me, which typically have simpler and utilitarian websites. I think it is "trying too hard". Take a look at the Accumulo website, which uses bootstrap: http://accumulo.apache.org It just has plain white colors, no pictures, has an easy link to the releases, etc. Another good example of "style" is the difference between mongodb.com (the commercial company formerly known as 10gen) and mongodb.org. Stay away from looking like the .com one, IMO. Who do you want your project to attract? I like to think the apache website should be something that is functional and easy to use without purple and black swooshy things distracting me. My 2 cents! -Don On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 11:13 AM, Adam Taft <[email protected]> wrote: > This isn't a downvote -- I think it indeed looks good. But in terms of > constructive criticism... > > I think the mockup looks like a very generic "bootstrap" site, similar to a > million other bootstrap based sites. I'd personally almost prefer the > existing utilitarian website over a bootstrap theme, simply because it > doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. > > This approach might be an acceptable tradeoff for the project; having the > bootstrap look & feel is obviously a resource savings and available at the > right price point. But the site mockup definitely doesn't distinguish the > Apache NiFi "brand" in anyway. In fact the opposite, the brand gets watered > down with this look. > > As a funny side note, humorously for me, this was the first thought in my > head when I saw the site: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-04-01/ > > Adam > > > On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 7:39 PM, Aldrin Piri <[email protected]> wrote: > > > In partial fulfillment of the goals of NIFI-162, I set some time aside to > > put together something a bit more visually appealing as a face for the > > project. > > > > My work can be found at: https://github.com/apiri/apache-nifi-site > > > > Currently, work focused around the homepage, but similar styles would be > > applied to more content driven pages minus the large headlining sections. > > > > The relevant technology colophon is provided in the README on Github but > is > > primarily driven by Bootstrap, existing image resources included with the > > project and current site, and other "artwork" which I created myself. > > > > I am neither a UX expert nor am I a renowned front end designer, so all > > input is welcome. As a "version 1.1" I would like to adjust the site to > > converge more with the application. Ideas for this are inclusive of > points > > such as bringing the toolbar styling and color scheme from the > application > > to the site. > > > > If this seems like a reasonable path forward and there is sufficient > > support, I can look at the next steps to get this integrated with the > > project, optimization, and integration with the application itself. > > > > To aid in showing the intangibles that can't be seen from an image, I > have > > a copy of this design hosted at http://aldrinpiri.com/apache-nifi/. The > > links are currently nonfunctional as they were taken from the current > site. > > > > Thanks! > > > > --Aldrin > > >
