Same here - didn't hate it, but it needs a refresh. Would welcome any assistance.
Adam On Apr 13, 2010, at 7:32 AM, Robert Newson wrote: > I second the call to see a mockup. I don't dislike the page as much as > the OP but clearly it could be refreshed. > > B. > > On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 12:24 PM, Paul Davis > <[email protected]> wrote: >> I always quite liked it. >> >> Anyway, this is open sauce as they say. The quickest way to changing >> something like that is to check out the site sources and mock up >> something you think is better. Then submit it to JIRA and we'll ask >> the community for consensus. >> >> HTH, >> Paul Davis >> >> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 7:17 AM, Gregory Tappero <[email protected]> wrote: >>> I dare to say that i agree, it is repelling at first sight. >>> >>> >>> On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 1:12 PM, James Fisher <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>>> Hi all, >>>> >>>> >>>> I've recently fallen head-over-heels in love with CouchDB. However, this >>>> (my first) email will probably be at best, constructively critical, and at >>>> worst, offensive, but: >>>> >>>> Does the CouchDB project have any agreed visual brand identity, or is it >>>> being worked on? I speak mainly of the pages at >>>> http://couchdb.apache.org/. I'm the kind of person that judges a book >>>> by its cover, and it took >>>> consIiderable effort for me to stop my eyes being repelled from that page. >>>> Compare it, for example, with the simple design at http://www.mongodb.org/ >>>> , >>>> where many newbies (like me) to document-oriented DBs will be making an >>>> active comparison. >>>> >>>> CouchDB's slogan is "relax", but that web design gets me all agitated. >>>> There's no room to breathe: logotype squished into a corner, small font, >>>> subheadings imprisoned in dark green cells. No ample footer telling me >>>> I've >>>> reached the end of the page and where I should go next; just a niggardly >>>> copyright notice. Rather than relaxing, the guy on the sofa looks like >>>> he's >>>> trying to squirm as far away from the page as possible. >>>> >>>> The sofa logo I'm not particularly opposed to, but: entirely saturated >>>> primary red? That's the universal visual symbol for "PANIC!". I have this >>>> passage from The Vagina Monologues indelibly imprinted on my memory: >>>> >>>> --- >>>> Then he began to undress me. >>>> >>>> "What are you doing, Bob?" I said. >>>> >>>> "I need to see you," he replied. >>>> >>>> "No need," I said. "Just dive in." >>>> >>>> "I need to see what you look like," he said. >>>> >>>> "But you've seen a red leather couch before," I said. >>>> --- >>>> >>>> ... blech. >>>> >>>> And: who could ever relax on such an angular sofa? >>>> >>>> The index page just doesn't sell it. A needless <h1> "The CouchDB Project" >>>> tells me what I already know from looking at the logotype. The messy >>>> design >>>> schema, which could be a quirky feature (though its appearance on the first >>>> page is questionable), instead sits awkwardly on top of other headers and >>>> squashing text out of the way, with an inappropriate yellow background that >>>> together with the green suggests vomit (oh dear, on my nice new sofa). >>>> There's no big bold text telling me that I should use CouchDB. >>>> >>>> The first paragraph: "Apache CouchDB is a document-oriented database that >>>> can be queried and indexed in a MapReduce fashion using JavaScript. CouchDB >>>> also offers incremental replication with bi-directional conflict detection >>>> and resolution." This jumps into jargon way too soon -- as a prospective >>>> user, the first thing I want to hear is something simple, comforting, and >>>> whetting my appetite: "CouchDB is a new kind of database; it will change >>>> the >>>> way you work; come with me, and I will take you on a tour of its secrets." >>>> >>>> Next, the colour scheme. Red and dark-half-saturated green (I'm not even >>>> sure whether that colour has a name)? Under no system of colour theory is >>>> that an appropriate combination. I suspect it hasn't consciously been >>>> decided upon as a palette -- the red appears nowhere else. >>>> >>>> What's with the needless breadcrumb trail across my entire 2000px-wide >>>> screen? It might be appropriate for a massive site where getting lost is >>>> easier than finding anything, but not here where every page is easily >>>> listed >>>> down the left. >>>> >>>> And the diagonal pinstripe background -- that's so 2003. Nothing else on >>>> the site implies that 45 degree angle. Get rid of it. >>>> >>>> Futon displays a different scheme: red with shades of grey. The slogan, >>>> "relax," sits in a different place to the same slogan in the logotype on >>>> the >>>> website. The text sits under, rather than aside, the sofa logo. The >>>> "contract the sidebar" arrow inexplicably points up rather than to the >>>> right. >>>> >>>> I'm getting into nitty-gritty now, but I hope I've made a point: CouchDB is >>>> surely losing users by pushing them away with bad design. The main slogan, >>>> "relax," I really, really like, but it unfortunately doesn't come across >>>> anywhere. It should. The whole visual design specification should use >>>> this >>>> one word as its starting point. >>>> >>>> I don't just want to criticize. Perhaps I can help -- I have no experience >>>> with Erlang, and I'd be much better suited to PR in this case. AFAICT the >>>> site is hand-written static HTML/CSS, so a redesign is not a massive >>>> undertaking. >>>> >>>> Opinions? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> James Fisher >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Greg Tappero >>> CTO co founder Edoboard >>> http://www.edoboard.com >>> +33 0645764425 >>> >>
