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Showdown Series (Season One): Week 1
06. Jul, 2009 by Adii Rockstar in Interactive
Sheesh, it feels good to kickoff the newly, introduced Showdown Series (get the info here) today. We hope that all of you have been just as excitedly awaiting the start of a new, intereactive campaign, which promises to be a whole lot of fun.
So for the very first Showdown ever we are featuring two incredible modifications of The Station, which has been our best-selling theme for the last 3 months. The two designs squaring off today is the elegant DBDA Studio versus the funky YourMentalWealth blog. Let’s get into some critique and reviewing then…
DBDA Studio – Link (David Bailey of DBD+A)
DBDA Studio
So I like these two modifications for two very different reasons. DBDA has gone for a much more minimalist approach with regards to modifying the default styling in The Station and the main modifications are the bright, diverse colour scheme and the featured animation on a modified homepage.
The colour scheme definitely gives one a very cheery feeling when browsing the site, whilst the featured message area – with its animation – makes a great first impression and also adds to the vibrancy of the site as a whole.
Why would we then feature this site if it hasn’t been overly modified? Because this shows that most of our templates are already well-designed and with just a little bit of unique tweakage, you can achieve a fantastic result. Need I say “less is more”?
YourMentalWealth – Link (Developer: Taylor Trask at Strategic Blend)
YourMentalWealth
In stark contradiction to the DBDA site, YourMentalWealth has received a massive overhaul of the default The Station styles. In fact, the new styles are so well executed throughout the whole site, that we needed to look at it very closely to know that it was indeed making use of The Station. Another thing that’s obvious from the modifications, is that a lot of thought has gone into designing something (and implementing that in such a way) that reinforces the overall look / feel of the site.
The (almost sea)-green colour they’ve used is not my favourite, but I feel surprisingly at home whilst browsing the site; so I think Taylor & his team deserve kudo’s for that. I’m also very impressed with the Shopp plugin, which they have integrated on the Shop page.
The Verdict
Overall, these are really impressive modifications and it’s going to be interesting to see which one you think is better. Remember that the winning contestant will get a $50 WooThemes voucher and a brand-spanking new WooThemes T-Shirt; so vote with your head not your heart. Here’s the voting poll then…
NOTICE: Thanks everyone for voting! We really hope you enjoyed the interaction relating to this Showdown. And we’ll be back next week with two new, amazing contests!
And then, the winner of the first ever Showdown is DBDA Studio with a whopping 80% of the votes. Congrats to them!
6 July 2009 at 7:30 am #
DBDA Studio website gets a +1 from me.
6 July 2009 at 7:35 am #
DBDA might win this hands down – that dog is uber cool. But we shouldn’t really judge this by graphics alone
6 July 2009 at 7:38 am #
No indeed not. But maybe the votes will come to the slickness of DBDA vs the extensive modifications of YourMentalWealth!?
6 July 2009 at 7:46 am #
I’m going to have to go with DBDA. It’s simple, clean, and current.
The other site looks like a design that isn’t fully complete, but on the right track. The menu is kind of funny in Chrome and IE. It flickers when you hover on an item, and the tab hover state being larger than the original state is kind of off-putting. That bothers me. It could use some more time tightening up the style.
DBDA’s favicon looks similar to the Joomla one though, but I guess thats too nitpicky. YMH does have friendly URLs, which DBDA does not. Those are a must.
6 July 2009 at 7:47 am #
YMH is supposed to be YMW for Your Mental Wealth. Can’t edit
6 July 2009 at 9:05 am #
The nav issues in IE were a temporary glitch generated from a new plugin we’re using. I just resolved – thanks for the headsup!
6 July 2009 at 8:09 am #
DBDA, hands-down winner.
6 July 2009 at 8:24 am #
I’m vote for YourMentalWealth, really in love with this theme concept.
6 July 2009 at 8:39 am #
My vote goes to YMW.
6 July 2009 at 8:45 am #
I’ll have to go with DBDA for $50, Adii.
True, I’m a fan of the minimalist styling of DBDA, but I’d also have to say that the YMW is a bit too overloaded… as if they tried to cram too much onto the site.
Add to that my own personal bias against Verdana, and it’s an easy vote.
(Not to kiss up too much, here, but it’s a testament to WooThemes that even though the YMW site isn’t following the aesthetic I prefer, in my estimation, it’s still better than 90% of the drivel we see around the web these days!)
6 July 2009 at 8:49 am #
My votes goes to DBDA Studio.
6 July 2009 at 9:36 am #
DBDA +1
6 July 2009 at 10:01 am #
My vote goes to YMW – great look and easy to navigate
6 July 2009 at 10:13 am #
DBDA for me. It’s fresh. The copy and images stand out (especially the dog) and really grab your attention. The white background keeps it crisp. The Mental Wealth site’s color scheme is a lot less engaging and energetic.
You’ve only got a short amount of time to grab and keep people’s interest and DBDA got through to me asap.
6 July 2009 at 11:08 am #
I was going to write the exact same thing, but you’ve said it perfectly. While YMW is nice, it looks dated and there’s too much going on. DBDA provides the user with a clear understanding of what’s most important on the site without even reading any of it’s content. +1 DBDA
6 July 2009 at 10:28 am #
YMW hands down! Imaginative and well conceived.
6 July 2009 at 10:43 am #
Both are nice. The YMW site took both technical AND design skill. Way to bend the rules, guys. Definitely my vote.
6 July 2009 at 10:51 am #
DBDA Hands down.
6 July 2009 at 11:03 am #
YMW I feel that there’s just too much green in the header and eyes are all over the place because of it. First look at the header should lead your eyes to the logo which I feel looks dull.
6 July 2009 at 11:23 am #
YMW was definitely more creative with their hack but I think they got away from the cleanliness of the theme with some of their modifications.
DBDA got my vote.
6 July 2009 at 11:38 am #
DBDA Studio is my choice! Awesome!
6 July 2009 at 11:41 am #
DBDA -10, dropdowns don’t work in IE8.
6 July 2009 at 11:52 am #
That’s a little harsh, don’t you think? None of us *really* love IE, do we?
6 July 2009 at 12:42 pm #
dbda Studio definitely. Nicely done.
6 July 2009 at 12:56 pm #
I vote for DBDA!!!
6 July 2009 at 12:56 pm #
DBDA. Nice work!
6 July 2009 at 1:07 pm #
DBDA is a little simple, but simple is nice these days!
6 July 2009 at 3:32 pm #
the clean and clutterless space above the navigation bar and around the logo,
the overall organization and presentation of the site,
wins our vote,
Congratulations to DBDA Studio!!! Woo Hoo
James Blond
Freemium.pl
6 July 2009 at 11:24 pm #
I shouldn’t have looked at these two sites with this blazing headache. But I did. The DBDA site is a cool balm while the YMW simply aggravates the pain behind the eyes.
I voted based on presentation of the site: colors, textures.
In short, the DBDA site felt like a well presented gourmet meal while the YMW felt like a pie in the face.
After browsing each site I must give props to a well designed layout to YMW. If there was less ‘action/contast’ in the colours and textures I would have voted for it instead of the DBDA site.
7 July 2009 at 2:36 am #
YMW’s green color scheme was a turn-off. Trying to simulate the color of money was not the way to go here. Instead, I would suggest using stark white as the background with dark navy blue for borders, fonts, text and some headers.
Add to that mix a few accents of a gold color on some headers and as the outer background color, I think as a whole that would have packed a lot more punch. Navy blue, white and gold signify wealth and class. This website is dedicated to your financial wealth. The doctors promoting this philosophy need to be positioned as wealthy and wise. Using the colors of navy blue, white and gold would have imbued these doctors with a certain cache. Instead, positioned against that putrid green, they look quite ordinary and lackluster.
7 July 2009 at 3:43 am #
Interesting thoughts on the colour scheme. I’m sure very informative to the more amateur web designers. Give your web design’s colour palette some serious thought!
7 July 2009 at 3:40 am #
DBDA gets my vote. Yes, the YMW site has a lot of customizations and edits, but the design/style is just NOT my cup of tea.
7 July 2009 at 3:44 am #
Seems like the common feedback here. YMW = Great layout but needs some TLC in design/style
8 July 2009 at 1:15 pm #
I think the big thing here is a site is only as good as the assets and color scheme (which can be driven by the client).
Imagery aside, the functionality of the YMW site is hands down superior to the DBDA site.
7 July 2009 at 4:17 am #
Definitely DBDA. Looks superb.
Any chance of sharing how DBDA did the animation? Not sure I’ve seen a plugin with such good animation. Whatever the case, suggest WooThemes incorporate such an option into some of its themes… .
Cheers
Richard
7 July 2009 at 6:30 am #
Both are great.. but +1 to DBDA !
7 July 2009 at 9:31 am #
DBDA. I like it a lot because it’s clean and minimal. Especially for the type of business that they are promoting. Our firm does the same type work and I have definitely learned a few things from a quick visit to their site.
Thanks for hosting the showdown WooThemes! You guys rock!
7 July 2009 at 11:14 am #
I think YMW is a great design, and they’ve definitely put their personal touch on the theme. I think the DBDA site is better from a graphical standpoint, but the depth of content on the YMW site is impressive, and in the seo world content is king.
Tough vote for different reasons – graphically the DBDA site is better, but I’m giving the nod to YMW for the depth of content and the organization, and inclusion of videos.
9 July 2009 at 11:37 am #
Firstly, let me shout out a big “Thank You” to Woo Themes for creating some really fantastic WP themes–they’ve changed the way I’m thinking about my business (which is a BIG deal!) Secondly, thanks to everyone who voted and provided feedback. Mostly, though I want to say thanks to Tyler Trask at Strategic Blend. This is, in a sense, a mismatched contest in that Tyler’s site design is for a client, and as such it has to serve the client’s needs and wants, and stay faithful to their branding. My site is for my business, so I’m serving myself essentially (which if you are a designer can have its own set of hurdles). The contest was a little bit “apples vs. oranges,” but I think the dialog is great. In fact, I have a suggestion: it would be truly helpful if there was a specific place in the Support Forums where designers could enter their site designs for (polite and respectful) peer review, especially as many of us here primarily work alone. This could be a fantastic resource and really add to the community spirit.
A few people have asked about the Flash Banner on my home page. Here’s the code (thanks to some help from the Woo Ninjas!):
We just replaced the code in the featured-tabs.php with this (changing the urls/file names to match the flash file). I used Swf N’ Slide to build the flash animation.
Cheers!
9 July 2009 at 11:44 am #
Code got cut from the post… Please do a search in the forums for: “Replacing Featured Tabber with Flash Banner in the Station”
9 July 2009 at 1:08 pm #
Jeez, I’m wordy today! But, I had also meant to say in my first post that the Your Mental Wealth site has some great design and layout ideas that I’d like to incorporate into some sites I’m planning for my clients, and it made me think about some of the missed marketing opportunities on my own site. So, kudos again to the YMW site!
9 July 2009 at 3:19 pm #
Sweet looks like I picked the winner.