Not a designer-need help

[west4me]

I posted for a job earlier in the forum but it looks like it caused some problems. Not my intention. Since that forum has been locked for deletion I will ask for some help with some ideas.

First off, I am not a designer. I am a teacher. I play around with web site development and one day I came across an open source project for real estate agents. My mother happens to be one so I set out to make her a site. The site is running and she really appreciates the functionality of the site. I however am not happy with the design of the header.

I have tried and tried to make the header match the concept of her business but no such luck. It's just not what she is looking for.
I have attached three versions, the last one is my most recent.

I need help with design ideas. I have tried and tried but I am just not that creative.
Background info:
Site deals with preconstruction (purchasing homes before their built...sell them afterward for profit) and general real estate.
Based in south west Florida.
I like the retro, grunge, or solid blocks of color look.

Any suggestions for what it should look like? Your help is much appreciated.

[retro]

as far as i can tell, your typography seems pretty good. not to say that its perfect, but for a non-designer, youre not that bad. it looks to me as if you're over-designing. Just do a google search for similar websites and look at their banners. in fact they dont even have to be in a similar field. although theres not too much to it, the first one is half decent if you removed the filter off of the text. remember, filters are cheesy, unless you know how to use them subtly.

[west4me]

Thanks for the tip on the filter. I will look around and see what I can come up with. Any other comments or seuggestions are most welcome.

[west4me]

I searched for other sites using google, talk about bad. There is no inspiration there.

[morea]

Of the three you've done, I like the one on the left the best.

I don't think that it was your fault that your other thread was locked... it got a little out of hand. If you are still interested in hiring someone to do the banner, perhaps you should ask them interested parties to pm you and you can work out the terms of the contract.

I generally get some good brainstorming ideas by thinking of concepts that I want to convey, then hitting dictionary.com (http://dictionary.com) or thesaurus.com (http://thesaurus.com) looking everything up, and then brainstorming some more. Maybe that will help? Just an idea! /emoticons/cheers.gif

Power to the Old Schoolers! and btw, if you can't say something nice, shut the hell up.

[west4me]

Thank you, another avenue to look into. I'm new here and I was a little confused by the actions in that thread. I wasn't sure how to handle it. I only responded to one of the people that pm'ed me, not the lowest bid either. They have not resopnded so I thought I would try to get this accomplished on my own. Thanks for the suggestion, keep them coming.

[Kool]

west4me said...
Thank you, another avenue to look into. I'm new here and I was a little confused by the actions in that thread. I wasn't sure how to handle it. I only responded to one of the people that pm'ed me, not the lowest bid either. They have not resopnded so I thought I would try to get this accomplished on my own. Thanks for the suggestion, keep them coming.

Hi west4me, welcome to the forum. Your job thread is not locked. We are going to eliminate that entire section in the near future because of phoney jobs and just because it causes a lot of trouble. There was nothing wrong with your offer though. It was when somebody tried to undercut the price that it got ugly.

Good luck on your banner. If you look around in here both old and new posts you should be able to find a lot of info to help you. /emoticons/cool.gif

Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

[west4me]

Thanks for the info. I thought I had done something wrong. I have been looking around and will continue to do so. This banner is killing me. I just don't know what to do! Why did I ever volunteer to do this?

[Kool]

Sorry bout that, On the subject of web banners I probably know less than you. /emoticons/biggrin.gif

If it helps any at all I really liked the one on the left that you did above. /emoticons/cool.gif

Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?

[west4me]

Thanks, thats the one everyone is leaning toward. I am trying to change the text now. I'll post the results for any comments.

[marthend]

[quote]

morea said...
I generally get some good brainstorming ideas by thinking of concepts that I want to convey, then hitting dictionary.com (http://dictionary.com) or thesaurus.com (http://thesaurus.com) looking everything up, and then brainstorming some more.That's a great suggestion morea! I actually do the same thing and it helps a ton! The less I have to think sometimes, the better off I am!

west4me: for not being a designer, you've done a pretty good job. Of the three that you posted, I, too, like the one on the left that. Since you've already done the site (minus the header), what does that particular header look like on the site? Have you tested the three on the site to see how they look?

[west4me]

I have tested them all. Since I made them all I kind of like them all /emoticons/biggrin.gif
Here is the link if you want to see what the latest one looks like, its the last one listed above. http://naples-bonitaluxuryproperties.com/index.php

Thanks for the input, now if I can just get the text to look right.

Post Edited (west4me) : 1/21/2005 2:34:05 AM GMT

[west4me]

I spent a little more time, I'm liking the the direction its going but I just can't seem to get it right. See it here: http://naples-bonitaluxuryproperties.com/index.php
Suggestions please.

[morea]

I was kind of brainstorming on this on my way to work this morning... what if, instead of using the house on the left the way it is, you made it more transparent as though it were a mirage or a vision of things to come. Or you could remove the image of the house entirely and use a dotted line to outline the house to imply that it is not there yet, but will develop... not sure if I'm thinking along the right lines... what do you think?

and btw, I do like the direction you're taking with this!

Power to the Old Schoolers! and btw, if you can't say something nice, shut the hell up.

[west4me]

Morea, thats great! I had it a little more transparent earlier but I really like the idea of the dotted lines. I will see what I can come up with. Thanks for the suggestion.

[morea]

Great! I'll keep brainstorming - I'll let you know any ideas!

Power to the Old Schoolers! and btw, if you can't say something nice, shut the hell up.

[west4me]

This is what I have now. Something just doesn't feel right. Any suggestions?

[morea]

I like the image a lot... something about the text looks a little off to me.

You might get more feedback posting in 'the Showcase' section though... there are some folks around here who are type gurus.

Power to the Old Schoolers! and btw, if you can't say something nice, shut the hell up.