Starcraft 2 isn’t the most visually impress site ever made, and to be honest, there’s nothing really flashy or bleeding edge about it. But it’s simple, and works really well.

1) They want to sell copies of the game. Home page offers multiple ways to purchase the game NOW, and doesn’t confuse the customer with other paths. Those options are the primary funnels they want you to go through. Notice how to even continue to the community site, you must click a much smaller and out of the way button on the top.

2) The “secondary” homepage is set up like a portal. One of Starcraft’s strengths has always been it’s community. And this design is set to capitalize on that strength.

3) This layout also enables easy updates (that can happen extremely often) and searchable content.

4) The design is consistent with the brand.

Overall, I like it. What do you think about it?

This site holds a special place in my heart, as it’s one of the first video game based social media projects I was fortunate enough to work on.  I love the little pre-rendered pieces, and the fact that it declares the reviews as soon as you reach the homepage. I even like the way the flags frame the content centered inside.

One thing I am gonna knock on it is not using the iconic characters on the homepage. The fanbase completely fell in love in Momohime and Kongiku.

But overall, cool site. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments below. Or say “Hi” if we talked when the game released.

Muramasa The Demon Blade
Muramasa Wallpapers
Muramasa on Facebook (my old social media baby!)

So I’ve been working on H&L Trim, and this is the third (or is it forth) web design I’ve gone through. I’m not a big fan of having to split the Call to Actions so far apart, but the client is determined to have the business separated visually (the original request was to have a staircase), so I think we’ve made a good compromise.

There’s a lot I would have like to do different with this mockup, from the way it displays the features of each section, to how there isn’t an inclusion of current members of the site. But still, I’m happy with it. What do you think? I’m open to criticism.

Sites like this is why flash isn’t going away. Is this going to rank well in SEO? No. But it’s not meant to. Sites like this are an EXPERIENCE.
On top of the great visual presentation, it makes wonderful use of social media, by bringing fans into the experience, by using THEIR submissions and votes as content. There’s also Facebook and Twitter integration, if you’ve heard of those tiny social platforms.

Check it out before this site goes away. And here’s to a good fight on July 3rd!

116.ufc.com

I know, the ripped paper thing has been done to death. as has wood backgrounds, but this still looks good! And something else that Paul has to really well, and I don’t know if this is on purpose or not, but to push free iMacs on the homepage of his site is definitely a big draw. Can you really get a free iMac? I don’t know? But he has added a list of winners from both the U.S. and the U.K., and has subliminally told us to trust him.

So maybe I’m more inspired by his content strategy, rather than the design itself. But at the end of the day, i remember him as the guy who designed the cool ripped paper/wood site that had the free imacs, and that means he’s stuck in my memory, which is good. He’s escaped being just another designer’s site. Great job. Now if he’d only put some of his actual work on the home page….

http://www.paul-wallas.co.uk

I’m just a sucker for this kind of look. What about you?

http://www.thegreetingfarm.com

This site for Spreads (an app for the IPad) is great! The popping of the paper is something that i haven’t seen pulled off to well in the past. Is it an effective site? Visually, yes. Business wise, eh. The sign up is aaaaaaaall the way at the bottom, but damn if I don’t like the simplicity and creativeness of this design.

http://www.spreadsapp.com/

A “coming soon” page? People still do those? Why yes, of course! One reason is to age your url for Google. The older your url, the more points google gives it, so why would you wait until the day your site is going like to purchase it?

Secondly, this company already has already been around, and people do currently look for it online. The alternative option is to do nothing, and let potential customers to either find somebody ELSE to work with, or allow them to see that H & L does have a web presence, and at least have a lead generation opportunity.

OK, now that all of that is done with, let’s look at the design. Does it say “Construction”? Yup. Does it say “professional”? I think so. Does it say, “under construction”? Nope, I should probably put that in there.;) Anyways, feel free to critique it or input your own ideas on it. Hopefully, it’ll only hep to make a better design.:)

I work with Touchdown Jacksonville with their overall social media strategy, and we realized we needed a facebook landing tab to give potential new fans a better idea of what to expect from the facebook community. Here’s what ended up being designed and developed.