Last week we took a little break since our previous Showdown, but today we’re back with the 6th installment of the first season of the Showdown. Up until now we’ve had wins with big margins, others with much smaller margins and we’ve even seen underdogs beating out the much favoured competition. So what will happen this week? Well, that’s kinda up to what you say and how you vote…
This week, we’re featuring two amazing mods of one of our older themes – Proudfolio – which has been around ever since we re-branded & relaunched as WooThemes last year. I picked both of these modifications – GoInnovate & Move Design – based on the fact that the websites just do not look one bit like the default Proudfolio… Both are also for design agencies, so the quality was kinda expected… We’re expecting a fierce battle however…
GoInnovate – Link
GoInnovate
When I first saw GoInnovate (on BestWebGallery), I was really amazed at how awesome the design was, only thereafter to learn that it was based on ProudFolio, which made the whole design so much cooler.
The design starts off with a stretched and exaggerated header. which clearly sets the tone, brand & identity for the rest of the site. We love how the header is simple and elegant, yet extremely communicative in terms of what GoInnovate can offer you. The banner on the right also adds a nice blend of colour & emphasis to the header section; especially in terms of creating a call-to-action element.
Thereafter, the design stays consistently great and it is evident that GoInnovate spent quite a bit of time on fine-tuning the minor things (especially the typography, which definitely reinforces the elegance & sophistication of their work). The (what looks like from here) grid they have used definitely adds a further touch of class and makes the whole experience of browsing the website, much more pleasurable & usable.
Finally, we’re also very impressed with the custom coding of their portfolio pages. Not many WooTheme modifications we’ve seen really breaks out of the boundaries of the default design, but GoInnovate is definitely on that does just yet.
Move Design – Link
Move Design
Your first impression of the website has to be “Yellow? Ewww…”, right? Well, no – not really. Fact is that a prominent yellow – like Move has used – is not overly common in web design, but they’ve executed it very well, which definitely makes them stick out from the crowd.
We love how the homepage just does not look like anything we designed; in fact clicking through the website, you never get the sense that this is ProudFolio as originally designed by Elliot Jay Stocks. Nope – instead you really get a sense of what the company is all about…
The prominent yellow background and minimalist black-on-white styling, definitely shouts of the Scandinavian design influence (in our opinion anyway) and we think this is great, especially considering that the default theme has quite a bit of grungyness in it. Move’s design is clean and effective; just the way we like our websites! 
We are further fans of the design, because when browsing the inner pages, every design element seems consistent with the brand & identity of the company, which we believe is non-negotiable these days. The design throughout is well supported by photos as well, which definitely adds that little bit of colour to give the design a little more life. Really awesome design!
Note: We’re aware that there is still some placeholder text being displayed on Move’s homepage, but still believe that the design & modification is good enough to be featured here.
Conclusions?
This is a tight one to call, as both have gone through extensive modifications – both in terms of design & functionality. Both designs also exude a level of quality & design consistency which is not always so apparent in modern web design… We’ll thus avoid making any predictions about who’ll turn out as winner this time around… But that totally doesn’t mean that you’re not allowed to vote & comment away…
[polldaddy poll=1883499]
36 Responses to “Showdown Series (Season One): Week 6”
Both very cool, my vote has to go to GoInnovate – really awesome attention to detail and use of texture!
My vote goes to GoInnovate. Great design and excellent customization to the theme.
I think the overall look and feel (of professionaism) really shines through on GoInnovate.
Yellow just doesn’t do it for me!
I’m a fan of the move design. It just feel’s funky. Simple and…. yellow!
GoInnovate hands down.
After just 4 brief comments, I think I’m going to sound like a broken record, but GoInnovate did a masterful job.
Beautiful site. I think you guys were aiming to set the bar just a tad bit higher.
GoInnovate, no contest. Professional, clean, and stylish.
Surely I’ll vote for GoInnovative. There’s no way Move Design can compared to it
Move design. Why? Well simpple . . . I can actually read the text on the page and don’t have to mouse over blocks of text to watch it change colour.
It’s really laughable when I see “web design companies” completely neglect their audiences or use a pre made theme for there own websites.
You kidding? GoInnovate of course. Stevo is right, this is not a contest. At least not a balanced one.
More Vote 4 GoInnovate
As much as I like GoInnovate I do feel like I have seen it before. As well as the vibrant yellow, the polaroid dropping effect is great on Move and it would make the starting point of a great online CV/ portfolio for a non-designer.
My vote is going for Move
GoInnovate gets my vote. Very stylish!
Unfortunately, this was an easy pick. GoInnovate gets my vote. MoveDesign looks nice but the design is way too simple for a design company.
GoInnovate, yet!
Golnnovate hands down.
Well, I’m having a hard time deciding, and it’s not for the obvious reason. I’m finding things to prevent me from voting for either of them.
While both have beautiful, clean design, GoInnovate holds back too much on the main page — I need to see some samples of their work to get me excited. And Move Design, while beautiful, is simply not ready to be shown in a contest. They need more time to populate the site, and then my guess is that their website will be extremely effective.
So I’m going to hold my vote, and watch how this one shakes out over the week.
i would choose the LEEDS WEB DESIGN (goinnovate). the design is simple. but i like the MOVE DESIGN on their slideshow. its very cool.
so the winner is?
Goinnovate.
Makes me drool.
I’m jealous.
Even their contact form is pretty.
LOVE the attention to details and typography.
Call me strange..but I don’t find these two designs to be that great to be included in the showcase. Anyways.. that’s just my strange preference.
You are strange
My vote goes to GoInnovate.
Sorry but so called ‘designers’ who claim in large letters “beautiful hand built, impressive websites” and “We make websites for a living & it´s what we are good at – Honestly!!” has to be some kind of sick joke doesnt it?
They cant even design their own website from scratch? Something is VERY wrong with that.
I think they have designed their website from scratch, but based the functionality of it on our default Proudfolio theme. So I don’t see anything wrong with that; they’re admitting to being better designers, than developers. Nothing wrong with that, is there?
Agreed 100%
Why are they less “designers” for using WP and a theme as their jumping off point? It’s like calling a carpenter bad because he doesn’t grow his own wood!
jill
Actually a more fitting comparison would be the difference between a programmer and a script kiddie.
One does the work the other just fiddles with someone elses work which is not a problem until the script kiddie starts telling everyone he is a programmer.
I have no issue with designers using backends like wordpress, what i do have issue with is someone who claims to be a designer using someone elses design and fiddling with it a bit.
I dont see any mention on their site that “We take other peoples great designs, and modify them a bit – Honestly!”
Sour grapes?
I think this might be the hardest showdown I have seen yet. I love both these templates, they are both beautiful in their own way. No matter what Bob (without even a link to his website, coward) says. My vote is for goinnovate for the overall smoothness and beautiful flow. MOVE’s content balance seems a bit off now and then, and I kind of didn’t like the repeating images on the cover page.
I missed the repeating images on the homepage as well (the first time anyway) and that’s actual still dummy content (hence our note that MOVE’s design doesn’t seem 100% complete yet). But overall, I also think that we’ve got two amazing designs and it may not be the hardest Showdown to date, but the results should be interesting.
I vote for GoInnovate! Very Simple and Professional.
I vote for GoInnovate, simple and creative design.
i gota say that golnnovate has my vote this showdown, dont realy like the yellow background on move design.
For the purpose (target audience: design agencies) – Move WINS.
Simplicity with an ability to look cool and not distract from your portfolio.
GoInnovate is simply too busy.
Go Innovate by far, clean awesome looking site.
Too bad I only realise just now that the MOVE site was featured here, in a Woo Showdown, since I’m the one who did the theming on that project;-)
I’m a bit confused though, since the link in the Showcase section is pointing to:
http://integrateddesign.dk/
- which is indeed the site/theme I did, based on Proudfolio.
But, in this Showdown, the link points to:
http://www.movedesign.dk/
- which is some new site they’re currently working on, without me. A site which as of writing, is far from finished, with placeholder text and messy margin problems here and there. And I don’t know if that one is based on Proudfolio at all, coded from scratch or whatever…
Just to clear up any misunderstandings;-)
Oliver