GDF Forum - HELP!

[Boss Hog]

O.K....my head is completely fried with this whole GDF re-brand/design, the designer in question has created almost 15 designs now and none were ticking the boxes.

In the end to be fair to him we decided on something similar to the current style as he has already exceeded far beyond what we paid him although not getting it quite right.

I am sure posting on here is only going to confuse me further with all your comments but I am completely stuck, so below is what we have so far.......views?

[CYoung]

I like it, I think it'll freshen the place up, but a little same-y in terms of layout - don't know if I mean that in a good or a bad way lol.

See what others think.

Forgot to add: I like the idea of a 'Recent Posts' section

[JMCDesigner]

A lot of other forums seem to revolve around the blue theme, dunno just a thought.

I like the use of white though, looks clean

[Green Sheep Design]

I really like it - it's nice and fresh as people have been saying. I too like the "Latest Threads" plus it's easy to find twitter and RSS buttons. The layout is good, there's nothing wrong with the way it works now so as that old saying goes - if it ain't broke don't fix it!

The blue is nice, but it is used a lot in forums - could you have the functionality to let people choose there own colour? Like they do on the yahoo website for example, then that way everyone will be happy with the colour. Its just an idea.

Personally I'm to too keen on the page curl in the top right corner - I've seen better - no offence. Also are those printer marks part of the design, or am I being a bit stupid? I assume they are since the page curl is inside them, they are a nice touch it gives the site a bit of individuality without going over the top!

Anyway, hope this helps.

Oh and one more thing: I don't really like everything below the 'What's going on' section centre justified, It might look neater left justified.

[dot design]

I like it, the site needs a refresh and this works fine in my opinion.
There are certain constraits to the VBulletin structure and I think that this has handled them well.

Its: cleaner, more contemporary, better use of colour, simple, I like the white space, don't mind the crop marks etc.

The logo is excellent:icon_tongue_smilie:

Sometimes you have to stop fiddling and go with it!

[Katedesign]

Fresher, brighter, cleaner. . . into 2010 with a face-wash! Looks fine to me. . .the CYMK and crops show what we are.

[DougBarned]

Initial reaction:

I like the printer marks! I think getting a strong sense of the subject matter is important. Check out Fudge @ 100% (Layer 1, RGB/16) - they've done this really well IMO

Not keen on the page curl I'm afraid. Also, the bold, blue sub-forum headers don't match the idea and almost make the crop marks feel like an afterthought... Maybe find a way to get these to tie in with the 'design' feel?

Hope I've not confused matters further!

-EDIT-
Oh, and I'd love to see centre registration/crop marks and page info (maybe in the form of breadcrumbs or something, but that would need friendly URLs...)

/Doug

[matobo]

If miner (the name at the bottom of the screen shot) is your designer Boss Hogg, then you are in the right hands - after a few years on the admin scene watching the trends - he is the recognised vB design expert out there to use. ;)

[Boss Hog]

Thanks guys, not having any design experience myself makes this very difficult.

@ Matobo, yes Miner is doing it but coding is more his thing and designing for a design community was never going to be easy.

@ DougBarned, any suggestions for the forum header titles?

How about below with rulers added and the paper curl removed?

[DougBarned]

I'll have a think ;)

I like the rulers - Not sure if they are quite right (will have a second look later) but I like it!

/Doug