Hi, Following up on the last e-mail, here's a new mockup. I hope it makes the "marketing direction" part clearer...
http://freezedriedwater.com/media/homepage_mockup2-PierreVorhagen.png The icons are still not the right ones, I'm no graphic designer! ;) Good evening, Pierre On Wed, 2010-03-10 at 21:07 +0100, Pierre Vorhagen wrote: > On Wed, 2010-03-10 at 12:06 -0600, Evan Boldt wrote: > > Looks great! > > > > > > I'm not sold on the bottom part - the 'top rated materials' part. It > > doesn't look quite as nice as everything else. I think I want some > > kind of a mixture of the pager at the top with the current design. > > Maybe this time with only one row of materials. > The design of the bottom part can be changed of course, but the idea I'm > trying to get across is that, rather than just show off a series of nice > images, why not present a small selection of "good marketing efforts" > and educate people in marketing at the same time. > Something that says "These materials are good, and this is why: ...", > showing people why and how something is good from a marketing > point-of-view. This would be a joint effort with the marketing team. > Not only would we be a resource for material, but we could then > seriously strive to become Ubuntu's marketing base. > > This is, if you want, the other side of SpreadUbuntu. What we've been > focusing on until now is merely what we used to call the DIY section, > why not extend the reach of SU, and integrate the marketing team in the > effort, to set up an Ubuntu Marketing Blog? As well as maintain the blog > with current and past marketing events, the marketing team would select > a couple of top-rated materials every month, with the branding and image > of Ubuntu in mind. > This way, the top half of the site would be completely dedicated to the > DIY section, and in the bottom half, where the "Top rated materials of > the month" is on the mockup, the marketing team would practically and > effectively set the direction for Ubuntu marketing efforts. > > > I agree with Paolo about using just the verb in the top navigation, > > except I want it made clear that those links are related to materials. > If you want it, then so be it. ;) > Separating the materials-links from the login-links by a slightly > thicker line would probably do the trick... also, see lower down. > > > It would need some kind of label or something that says that all of > > those links pertain to marketing materials. > > I really like having icons. Perhaps we could make white silhouettes > > (cutouts) of icons and use them in that orange row. Maybe even give it > > an inner shadow. > In my opinion, putting icons in the top bar would not fit into the > design of the new branding. > Just the verb is of course better than adding "materials" at the end, > like I suggested in the other e-mail, but honestly, I don't think it > needs anything else. First-timers are immediately going to focus on the > content of the homepage (where the 4 areas of SU are explained) and once > they've understood that, more guidance will only clutter things up imo. > > > The second row of get make translate share looks great, but I think I > > would replace those icons with the current ones. Do we want to turn > > the current icons orange? > Again, why not stay in-line with the new branding? > My suggestion was to make a new set of 4 icons in the same orange style. > (Get, Make, Translate and Share) > > > I like how simple it is, but is there any other information we want on > > the page? It doesn't say anything about what SpreadUbuntu is. I don't > > know if its necessary. The information on that screen makes it pretty > > obvious. > Agreed, the SpreadUbuntu site is a site to spread Ubuntu, the short info > next to the icons explains the rest really... and if there is doubt, why > not add a FAQ rather than go about explaining everything in the menus? > Less is more... ;) > > > I know that canonical is using it in their template and you just took > > their screenshot, but I'm not a fan of the dots. > > Am I the only one? > If we, who want to become the central Ubuntu marketing resource, do not > follow the community guidelines about *branding*, who will? > > We mustn't forget that Spread Ubuntu is before all a site which should > show the way of Ubuntu marketing to the community marketeers. I'm not a > fan of several things either, but when thinking of what SpreadUbuntu > should look like, following the current look and feel set by Canonical > is a top priority. We shouldn't blindly follow them, as Ubuntu still > belongs to the community. But in terms of marketing, I must admit that I > entirely trust a company that focuses every day, during many hours and > also via professional studies, on actually "spreading Ubuntu". > > > > > > On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 9:27 AM, Pierre Vorhagen <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > Hello, > > > > it has been quite a while since I last wrote something to the > > list, but > > I have been following SU developments closely. I have a little > > more time > > on my hands now, which allows me to come back to a couple of > > projects... > > > > I welcomed the change in branding for Ubuntu with great joy > > and > > excitement last week, we are definitely heading in the right > > direction > > with the "light" themes and feeling. Sometimes, less is more! > > > > At this point, I want to show you an image that I found some > > time ago. I > > remembered it whilst reading Evan's email and thinking of > > possible > > changes. > > http://freezedriedwater.com/media/simplicity.png > > This is exactly what Spread Ubuntu must not fall into if we > > want it to > > be a central and productive tool for the community, especially > > with the > > new branding. > > Take Launchpad for instance. The UI is constantly being worked > > on and, > > considering the massive amount of new and old features, the > > interface is > > a slick, clean working space. > > > > > > Instead of replying to every point, trying to make images > > clear, I > > drafted a mockup of what I have in mind on the gimp. > > > > http://freezedriedwater.com/media/homepage_mockup1-PierreVorhagen.png > > > > Remarks: > > - 5 elements in my mockup: > > * Top navigation bar > > * Marketing campaigns scrollable banners (similar to > > ubuntu.com) > > * Explanatory links of the Spread Ubuntu options with > > icons > > * A short monthly choice of well-rated materials, with > > a > > description as to why they're good, and in need of > > translation. > > * Footer -> needs to be modified of course ;) > > > > - The Get/Make/Translate/Share icons would be relevant to > > their meaning, > > and obviously not these ones, but keeping the same style. > > > > - The "Log In" link could be placed next to the "Share > > materials", in > > the top navigation bar, and the appearing links (News, > > Account, Create > > Content and Log Out) would add themselves to the top bar. > > There will > > probably not be enough space, so I suggest removing the word > > "materials" > > behind the links, which is quite redundant in my opinion, > > especially for > > returning visitors that know the concept. > > > > - You will have noticed that right now there is no reserved > > space for a > > small description of SU. This can be added at the right of the > > campaign > > banners I think, since it doesn't need to be long. And "Read > > more..." > > links are great! ;) > > > > - The monthly choice of top-rated materials might enable the > > marketing > > team to somehow draw Ubuntu-related marketing in a specific > > direction, > > reinforcing a unified branding over unrelated local efforts. I > > think > > that it's very important to not just offer an exchange > > platform, but > > also to show the way marketeers should go. To compare with the > > business > > world, marketing is deemed to fail if the marketeers don't > > follow the > > company direction. This is why our role as a link between > > Canonical, the > > marketing team and the marketeers is essential in my opinion. > > > > - If we want to make SU a central marketing resource, and not > > only a > > repository, the campaign banners are important. In the same > > idea, I > > would suggest that we echo the efforts of LoCo's and LUGs on a > > "Spread > > Ubuntu Blog". The posts would appear on the homepage in a > > dedicated > > "Marketing Ubuntu " box (which can be under or next to the > > top-rated > > box). It's very gratifying to see one's efforts relayed on a > > somewhat > > "official" Ubuntu site. > > > > > > I have not yet drafted anything about the materials node, but > > I think > > that with the sidebar disappearing, there will be enough space > > to > > "un-clutter" everything a little bit, and stay in-line with > > the new > > "light" theme. This e-mail already got way too long anyway... > > > > Wishing you a nice day, > > Pierre > > > > > > > > On Tue, 2010-03-09 at 01:38 +0000, Evan Boldt wrote: > > > SpreadUbuntu is participating in the new Ubuntu branding. We > > want to > > > start some discussion about the new layouts, design, and > > logo. > > > > > > Please take a look at this wiki page: > > > > > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/Brand > > > > > > Some things to discuss: > > > New Logo > > > Check out the current versions. See what you can make out of > > it. There > > > is a source file on the wiki. > > > > > > Navigation > > > Where should the navigation be placed? > > > > > > The 'primary' navigation (get, make, translate, and share) > > is on the > > > left (top for the home page). To match the other websites, > > it should be > > > moved to the orange bar at the top, yet the logos and > > descriptions are > > > still desirable. What would be the best way to keep them? > > > > > > Where should secondary navigation be placed? Currently it is > > on the left > > > side only for logged in users. If the primary is moved to > > the top, the > > > secondary will be the only thing occupying the left sidebar, > > which would > > > be a weird transition from not logged in to logged in. > > > > > > Front Page > > > What improvements can be made to the home page? Is there any > > information > > > it needs? > > > > > > Is the current layout ideal? Nearly no visitor clicks any of > > the 'top > > > rated materials'. Instead, they go for a 'media' or click > > 'get > > > materials'. > > > > > > Font > > > Browsers with support for @font-face are growing large > > enough that we > > > can pick whatever font we want. Do we want to use something > > like > > > Liberation Sans for all text? > > > > > > Materials Node > > > This is the layout you see when you click on a material you > > want, and > > > you are given the option to download images or source. It > > displays > > > information about the material. How can this be brought to > > the new > > > style? > > > > > > Please make some mockups of what you want to see happen, and > > add it to > > > the wiki at the top in the appropriate section. > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~spreadubuntu > > Post to : [email protected] > > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~spreadubuntu > > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~spreadubuntu Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~spreadubuntu More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
