Handbag Store Website - Opinions Needed!

nickynoodles

Junior Member
Hi,

I'm new to the forums, so I should probably say hello to you all first. I'm Nick and I'm not a professional designer, more of a freelance developer who tries to make sites look reasonable. :)

I'm currently working on a site for my wife's new business, an online handbag store. Obviously the target market is 20-50 year old women with disposable income. We wanted something quite richly coloured but not loud, not stark greys, not too girly.

I'm ok with some parts of the design so far, and could use some input on others. I think the main content of the pages is looking ok, but I'm not 100% sure about the header, left nav and background...

- Is the purple background too much?
- The logo was done by an agency, any thoughts about the motif or the font?
- Do the left and top navs work ok together?

Any input very much welcomed.

Thanks,

Nick

Here are the mockups:

http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp2.png - Product list view
http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp3.png - Product detail view

------------------------------------
2nd Attempt

http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp8a.png
http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp9.png
 
hi and welcome,

the layout looks quite professional in my opinion, though most of the accent colours are a bit flat and ms word looking; have a look on: COLOURlovers :: Palettes or similar site for inspiration.

My main concern would be the logo tbh - it's really not that good at all I would get a refund.

Good company name as it's something women will remember and word of mouth will work well with.
 
Can't say I like the logo or the colours either.

Personally the first colours that came to my mind were more toward the dark browns and blacks etc which you get with leather, whether that can work with the overall idea of the site is another matter but it might be worth looking into.
 
Thanks very much for the input guys. I realised that the design was looking a bit flat because the of the background not being dark or light enough.

I've tried a darker background and also attempted to improve and simplify the logo. I've changed the accent colours, but they're not quite there yet. It all feels like an improvement to me anyway.

Will keep tweaking, further input appreciated :)

http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp8a.png

http://www.bagstobehold.co.uk/comp9.png
 
Thanks Charles. I think I'm happy enough with that logo now. I'll maybe try a few more fonts, but that font, 'Schoko' was the clearest brush-draw font I could find.

Just need to finalise the palette and the background colour now and I think it will be looking good enough to leave it.
 
Hi Nick,

Glad you could make it along to the forums :)
Site layout is looking good, nice and clean, I think the identity and overall branding could be better.

Have you thought about making the background a little more fashion based? Think TopShop.com
Also with the logo I think a more in-fashion typeface would give a stronger impact, so something like Georgia italic...

bags.png



HTH,
Greg
 
Hi Greg,

Thanks for the input. Getting a few opinions on here has definitely helped.

I managed to find a serif typeface that I like and hopefully fits better. I'm ok with the result anyway, I think it's looking much stronger. (Font is Accent Graphic)

Almost there now. Just need to try a few more backgrounds. :)


logo.png
 
The font you've used is 'sans-serif' but it does look pretty nice....
Much better than the original type

EDIT: damn you becky
 
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