In the last 3 months since we first launched the Showdown, you guys & girls submitted more than 3000 votes and almost 500 comments on the 9 weekly battles that place. For us, this has been a massively successful (and rewarding experience) and we’ve definitely seen how the Showdown has positively affected the quality of contributions to the Showcase.
All good things however come to an end and today we’re officially closing the first season of the Showdown. As a Season Finale we’ve decided to host one more battle featuring the 9 winning contestants from the previous 9 Showdown Weeks. As a recap, here are all the winners…
High quality stuff that, right? We’d like to congratulate all of these websites and their designers / developers again for a job really well done! And then…
Here’s a final voting poll, where you can pick & choose your favourite winning modification from the first season… Who do you think deserves most to walk away as the ultimate winner of the Showdown’s 1st Season?
[polldaddy poll=1991526]
Thanks to everyone that has voted & commented during the 1st season. We’ll be back with a bigger & better Showdown in the 2nd Season; so stay tuned!
43 Responses to “Showdown: The Best of the First Season”
What a difficult choice – so many excellent designs.
I think overall, Tut Candy gets my vote for a combination of a great design (especially the header graphic) and some great content.
I like DBDA Studio the best. Very clean without the clutters.
btw..do they win anything?
Yep, the winner of the Season Finale can expect a little extra prize… We’re just undecided still over what that should be!
Tut Candy for me as well mainly because I love the header graphic!
I don’t think that the week 8 is a original design…
http://demo.gavickpro.serwery.pl/joomla15/may2009/
But is a good port to wordpress.
It is actually… Check this comment –> http://www.woothemes.com/2009/08/showdown-series-season-one-week-8/#comment-24457
The Joomla template is designed by the same designer: http://www.woothemes.com/2009/08/showdown-series-season-one-week-8/#comment-24457
Yeah, I’ve copped some flack for that! haha.
I plan to change the background as at the time I launched the site I was under the pump from my sponsors to get it up and running in time for the first World Tour events this season…. so it was a bit rushed.
Actually its not really a ‘port’ to WP as I didn’t do any of the coding of this joomla template, just the graphics and layout etc. More of a WP makeover using the graphics I’d already created. In my opinion there’s much more versatility using Aperture theme on WP rather than joomla!
Sorry, didn’t know about that…
That way is a great makeover in worpdress! Nice work.
Sarah Stanley all the way…..
That’s noble of you!
Why not vote for one of your own sites?
Although I’m going to blatantly vote for myself, I think my other favourites are ‘Tut Candy’ for their insanely cool 3D text logo and ‘Kirstin Pauk’ for such a clean site with such an elegant portfolio page … great work guys!
Hehe… Remember that no presidential candidate (in any country) has EVER voted for the opposition… And if they did, they’re stupid.
ilove AUS120
My favourite has got to be Kirsten Pauk’s blog – I love that blue background and the great attention to detail displayed throughout the site. It’s a true testament to his amazing skills.
My second choice would be Go Innovate, which is simply gorgeous.
Yep, it is definitely evident from both those designs that they were handcrafted by the designers / website owners themselves, as the attention to detail is simply fantastic.
Sarah Stanley Inspired looks professional, really inspired, girl site, clean, full color, and so AWESOME!
Thanks so very much!!
All the guys&girls show me that how wonderful it’s to useful a woo theme. Great job, everyone!
This is most definitely the sole purpose of both our Showcase and the Showdown; we want to show everyone who easy it is to use our themes and to create wonderful, unique websites using our themes as a starting point!
Shouldn’t there be a prize for the developer of the winning site? Like a free year’s wooclub subscription? It’s in your interest for “the best of the best” to keep working with WooThemes and making awesome stuff right?
I voted for GoInnovate – love that site.
Indeed… We’ll definitely be giving them a little prize…
Just need to finalize the details thereof!
hehehehe totally I take my hat off to the original designer/dev/s if we ever meet the beers are on me
HUGE thanks to the woo crew.
[Jedi mind trick]
YOU WILL VOTE FOR TUTCANDY hahahaha
nah good luck everyone
These aren’t the droids you are looking for … vote for AUS120.com
Go TutCandy!!! Love that site. I hope it wins. Go Che!!!
wow good to see my Jedi Mind trick still works
lol
Go: Go Innovate. The best of the best.
To my surprise, I love TUT Candy. I normally like cleaner, calmer sites, but TUT Candy is so damn delicious it makes me want to click everywhere to see what new treat I’ll discover.
I like the clean look of DBDA’s site. Also their sophisticated use of color. The site catches the eye and is inviting.
Guys do you want to kill me ?
Its a hell difficult to chose the best between them.
Personally, WhatFest, Kristin Pauk and Tut Candy are my fav ones.
I have to waste time thinking what to vode.. err !? :/
My vote goes for DBDA. Their design is the cleanest. They have a handle on the value of simplicity in design.
Sara Stanley rocks!
DBDA gets my vote. The clean look, colors and layout makes for some functional art.
My vote is for Sarah Stanley Inspired.. Like the previous comments, it’s a very professional site, and she is very cool in person too
Should all of us be jealous that you’ve actually got to meet Sarah?
Hehe… Thanks for voting!
My hand is ready to sign autographs:) lol!!
Sarah Stanley inspires a lot of people to do more and be more.
I can’t think of anyone more inspiring than Sarah Stanley!!!
Sarah Stanley Inspired tops the list for me. @sarahstanley and @cleverdaisies did one heck of a job!
These are certainly all very nice designs and serve their topics well. I do love the eye-catching header on Tut Candy, but I think that overall the Sarah Stanley is the best. It’s more subtle than some, but it really seems to have more personality (which matches that of its subject, Sarah Stanley herself).
The theme is definitely feminine with the stitching around the box borders and also very playful with the swirls and connections to the various circular “buttons” of different colors and sizes–very creative there. The designer also created a nice sense of texture on the page, which is seldom found on websites.
While the colors are more subtle, the shades of blue, green, and orange feel really fresh and natural, and they help convey a “healthy, happy” feeling for the site, which is what it’s all about. They just kind of feel “right”.
And I like the surprise at the bottom with the unusual footer that ties it all together. A lot more thought was put into that than we normally get, and it really ties it all together. My compliments to Sarah for what she is doing here, and to the designer–great job branding Sarah really well, and giving an “inspiration” blog, that personal, human feel that it needs.
Just a great site. Smooth, clean, interesting. DBDA definitely gets my vote.
Maybe next time you should only let members of the forums vote. I think Sarah Stanley has a lot of friends. There’s a lot of great sites here for such a landslide victory.
high fives Sarah… and tks again woo crew