[Design] Homepage illustration

[Aaron Wolf]

I don't want to get too distracted from the core focus on implementing a
functional site, but I just wanted to share my thoughts briefly.

In
https://github.com/mray/Snowdrift-Design/blob/master/mray%20website%20mockups%20/older%20exports/export.png

There's just so much LIFE, sense of engagement that the current final
draft is missing. That first draft is too hard to tell what is going on
with the paths that go side to side and back into the picture. But there
are three elements I really like:

* the more high piled snow that makes it seem a little more substantial
* the twin pines that are both aesthetically nice, engaging, and nice
metaphor of the classic co-op twin pines
* the vague shadowed sense of stuff off in the distance left to the
imagination

In comparison,
https://github.com/mray/Snowdrift-Design/blob/master/mray%20website%20mockups%20/export30/landing.png

Is clear, focused, tons of improvements. However, everything is a bit
flat now. It doesn't show a snowDRIFT, it just shows fallen snow. A
drift is when the snow piles up because the wind has made it all pile up
more. I miss the slight sense of piled up snow and more substantial
obstacle.

The landscape overall feels like barren wasteland. We're in the tundra,
in some desolate town in Siberia. This could be solved if we had more
shadowed distant buildings and such off in the far distance, a whole
potential destination that people can imagine getting to eventually. And
I want more trees, lots of trees, I want the sense that I'm in a
temperate area with trees, like where people actually live, not in the
tundra. It just needs distant forests, and bring back the twin pines.
It's very common to have trees along a street. Some sense of that will
actually *frame* the focus rather than distract from it.

Again:

* more trees in distance and throughout landscape, esp. the twin pines
on each side
* more fuzzy destination with more houses (not a couple who lives in the
tundra, but regular folks in a social setting)
* slightly improved sense of snow having piled up, lots to clear

I think these elements would really solidify the image.

Best,
Aaron

-- 
Aaron Wolf Snowdrift.coop 
___
Design mailing list
Design@lists.snowdrift.coop
https://lists.snowdrift.coop/mailman/listinfo/design

Re: [Design] Homepage illustration

[Jonathan Roberts]

One more thought. I do like what's being communicated in the new
summary...just wish it was in that more dynamic format. I also like that
the dynamic format explains why this is different in the "before" sentence.

"Before, publicly funded creative projects have been primarily proprietary:
owned and controlled by an individual, despite being made possible by the
public. Now, the community is taking over, funding sustainable, freely
licensed projects that continue to serve and be shared by us all."

Ya...I really like alliteration. The more I have of it, the more I want.

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 2:45 PM, Jonathan Roberts  wrote:

> Four thoughts from a previously silent watcher...
>
> First, have there been more thoughts about the catchphrase at the top? How
> about "Funding a cooperative culture" - I like the alliteration, and I like
> the sort of subtle subversive suggestion that the current culture is
> somehow not cooperative...
>
> Second, I agree about the graphics; the first one is so exciting! And I
> don't think it's too confusing. I think it just needs some playing with
> colors; the snowdrift can appear to be a mountain in the background, rather
> than a drift in the foreground, which makes the shadow on the ground seem
> like a sloppy editing mistake or something. I think some slight tweaking of
> colors or perspective would clear it up though.
>
> Third, I prefer the summary under "a matching patronage system funding a
> free culture"  to the new one. The reason is similar to the graphic; this
> explanation is dynamic and dramatic, where as the new one is relatively
> static. I like that the new one is concise, but it just isn't very fun to
> read...which is, like it or not, going to be important to getting people to
> engage with this. I would change the "with snowdrift.coop" to simply
> "Now," which I think makes it really exciting; Beforebut NOW! The rest
> of the language could be cleaned up, but I really like that language,
> rather than the relatively pedantic "here's who we are and here's what we
> do" of the new one.
>
> Fourth, (and this is the least strong reaction of these four), I like that
> the pic of the "network effect" is just right there on the home page; the
> reason is that the first thought I had upon hearing this idea was "how is
> this different than kickstarter?" The most immediate, obvious and relevant
> reason is the network effect. The deeper and more important reasons are
> hard to explain with a simple info graphic, but this one sort of gives the
> viewer an immediate "here's why you should stay on this site and check out
> more rather than just heading over to kickstarter.
>
> -Jon
>
> On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 1:33 PM, Aaron Wolf  wrote:
>
>> I don't want to get too distracted from the core focus on implementing a
>> functional site, but I just wanted to share my thoughts briefly.
>>
>> In
>>
>> https://github.com/mray/Snowdrift-Design/blob/master/mray%20website%20mockups%20/older%20exports/export.png
>>
>> There's just so much LIFE, sense of engagement that the current final
>> draft is missing. That first draft is too hard to tell what is going on
>> with the paths that go side to side and back into the picture. But there
>> are three elements I really like:
>>
>> * the more high piled snow that makes it seem a little more substantial
>> * the twin pines that are both aesthetically nice, engaging, and nice
>> metaphor of the classic co-op twin pines
>> * the vague shadowed sense of stuff off in the distance left to the
>> imagination
>>
>> In comparison,
>>
>> https://github.com/mray/Snowdrift-Design/blob/master/mray%20website%20mockups%20/export30/landing.png
>>
>> Is clear, focused, tons of improvements. However, everything is a bit
>> flat now. It doesn't show a snowDRIFT, it just shows fallen snow. A
>> drift is when the snow piles up because the wind has made it all pile up
>> more. I miss the slight sense of piled up snow and more substantial
>> obstacle.
>>
>> The landscape overall feels like barren wasteland. We're in the tundra,
>> in some desolate town in Siberia. This could be solved if we had more
>> shadowed distant buildings and such off in the far distance, a whole
>> potential destination that people can imagine getting to eventually. And
>> I want more trees, lots of trees, I want the sense that I'm in a
>> temperate area with trees, like where people actually live, not in the
>> tundra. It just needs distant forests, and bring back the twin pines.
>> It's very common to have trees along a street. Some sense of that will
>> actually *frame* the focus rather than distract from it.
>>
>> Again:
>>
>> * more trees in distance and throughout landscape, esp. the twin pines
>> on each side
>> * more fuzzy destination with more houses (not a couple who lives in the
>> tundra, but regular folks in a social setting)
>> * slightly improved sense of snow having piled up, lots to clear
>>
>> I think these 

Re: [Design] Homepage illustration

[Stephen Michel]

I think there's a very, very delicate balance that we want to strike.

I agree that the home page is too stark for my liking. There's a 
disconnect between "Join us in setting the world free!" and the looks 
on the faces of Mimi and Eunice. I agree there's not much sense of a 
snow *drift* and that the latest draft fails to convey a sense of 
"There's all this snow, but if we can move it aside we've got this 
awesome neighborhood."


At the same time, I think the draft Aaron linked is not 
"professional-feeling" enough. This is a crowdfunding site. If we come 
across looking like somebody's hobby project, people will not put any 
money into their accounts. The most recent version is much better on 
this front. I think, in both versions, the header font is to our 
significant detriment (particularly the search bar). I would prefer 
something a little cleaner. While there's often very little inherent 
value in following the industry, and due to our nature I think it may 
be beneficial to stand out a little bit, I also think in this 
particular area we could take some queues from other crowdfunding 
sites, which almost exclusively feature a clean sans font for their 
headers. I'm not sure if it would look better if we got rid of the bold.


I think there's a balance to be found between the new and the old. I 
definitely want to bring back the feeling of "there's life, under the 
snow."


~Stephen

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 5:59 PM, Jonathan Roberts 
 wrote:
One more thought. I do like what's being communicated in the new 
summary...just wish it was in that more dynamic format. I also like 
that the dynamic format explains why this is different in the 
"before" sentence.


"Before, publicly funded creative projects have been primarily 
proprietary: owned and controlled by an individual, despite being 
made possible by the public. Now, the community is taking over, 
funding sustainable, freely licensed projects that continue to serve 
and be shared by us all."


Ya...I really like alliteration. The more I have of it, the more I 
want.


On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 2:45 PM, Jonathan Roberts 
 wrote:

Four thoughts from a previously silent watcher...

First, have there been more thoughts about the catchphrase at the 
top? How about "Funding a cooperative culture" - I like the 
alliteration, and I like the sort of subtle subversive suggestion 
that the current culture is somehow not cooperative...


Second, I agree about the graphics; the first one is so exciting! 
And I don't think it's too confusing. I think it just needs some 
playing with colors; the snowdrift can appear to be a mountain in 
the background, rather than a drift in the foreground, which makes 
the shadow on the ground seem like a sloppy editing mistake or 
something. I think some slight tweaking of colors or perspective 
would clear it up though.


Third, I prefer the summary under "a matching patronage system 
funding a free culture"  to the new one. The reason is similar to 
the graphic; this explanation is dynamic and dramatic, where as the 
new one is relatively static. I like that the new one is concise, 
but it just isn't very fun to read...which is, like it or not, going 
to be important to getting people to engage with this. I would 
change the "with snowdrift.coop" to simply "Now," which I think 
makes it really exciting; Beforebut NOW! The rest of the 
language could be cleaned up, but I really like that language, 
rather than the relatively pedantic "here's who we are and here's 
what we do" of the new one.


Fourth, (and this is the least strong reaction of these four), I 
like that the pic of the "network effect" is just right there on the 
home page; the reason is that the first thought I had upon hearing 
this idea was "how is this different than kickstarter?" The most 
immediate, obvious and relevant reason is the network effect. The 
deeper and more important reasons are hard to explain with a simple 
info graphic, but this one sort of gives the viewer an immediate 
"here's why you should stay on this site and check out more rather 
than just heading over to kickstarter.


-Jon

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 1:33 PM, Aaron Wolf  
wrote:
I don't want to get too distracted from the core focus on 
implementing a

functional site, but I just wanted to share my thoughts briefly.

In
https://github.com/mray/Snowdrift-Design/blob/master/mray%20website%20mockups%20/older%20exports/export.png

There's just so much LIFE, sense of engagement that the current 
final
draft is missing. That first draft is too hard to tell what is 
going on
with the paths that go side to side and back into the picture. But 
there

are three elements I really like:

* the more high piled snow that makes it seem a little more 
substantial
* the twin pines that are both aesthetically nice, engaging, and 
nice

metaphor of the classic co-op twin pines
* the vague shadowed sense of stuff off in