<div dir="ltr">Wow! Francesco these designs are incredible!<div><br></div><div style>The first one is definitely my favorite, because it has a large header image, a clear title and clear button to download. Just perfect!</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>Would you mind if I gave some feedback? Feel free to disagree or call me out. These just my thoughts :) I'm hoping to get a discussion going.</div><div style><br></div><div style><b>1. The headline needs to <i>sell</i></b></div>
<div style>The headline is often the only part of the website a visitor reads before exiting. So you have one chance to make an impression, capture their attention and make them want to download. </div><div style><br></div>
<div style>For years the go-to tagline for blender has been <i>"Your Own 3d Software". </i>Now, no offense to person who originally thought this up, but I think it fails to sell to the reader. The reason is that it doesn't tell you anything about the software, why it's good or why you should download it. To the reader it makes no sense, because even if you buy 3ds Max it technically is your "own" 3d software too, since you own it. I understand what the headline is <i>trying</i> to say (it's open source so you can do what you want), but it's really not clear. Even after using blender for several years, I still find the headline to be awkward.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>I'd propose a few alternative headlines:</div><div style><ul style><li style>100% Free, Open Source 3D Software</li><li style>Powerful. Fast. 100% Open Source 3D Software.</li><li style>
Free, powerful, 3D software for everyone.</li></ul><div style>Basically, just blunt, straight to the point without any thinking required. "This is what blender is: It's free 3D Software".</div><div style><br>
</div><div style><b>2. Bullet Points</b></div><div style><br></div><div style>Studies readers eyes are naturally drawn to bullet points. It's just an easy format to read. A great place for this would be in the "Features" column.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>example:</div><div style>FEATURES</div><div style><ul style><li style>Powerful 3d Modelling Toolset</li><li style>Realistic integrated render engine</li><li style>Built-in Compositing Suite</li>
<li style>Mind-blowing physics simulation</li></ul><div style>You may find this holds the attention span of the average visitor longer, plus one of those bullet points may be all that is needed to sell them on downloading blender. <i>"Blender has physics simulation? I'm sold!"</i></div>
</div><div style><b><br></b></div><div style><b>3. Tutorials</b><br></div><div style><b><br></b></div><div style>Recent studies have also shown that potential 'customers' are much more likely to purchase a piece of software, if they know that free training is available. (Sorry I can't quote the source, I read it on a marketers blog).</div>
<div style>So it may be worth making one of the columns "Tutorials". And listing bullet point links to G<i>etting started, Making a Character, Making a Tree</i> for example.</div><div style><br></div><div style>
I know that as a tutor, it's hard for me to bring this point up, without the obvious conclusion that I'm trying to cash in on the homepage. But if it would put people at ease, I'd be totally fine with not getting mention. You can link to cgcookie or anyone else. Just make sure it's listed <i>somewhere</i> on the homepage, that there is free tutorials available. I guarantee that if you do, users will be <i>much </i>more inclined to download blender.<br>
</div><div style><br></div><div style>I met a girl here in Korea a few weeks ago who used to use 3ds Max, but switched to Blender because as she said "There's almost no free tutorials for 3ds Max, yet now I can see that blender has heaps! So I'm definitely switching."</div>
<div style><br></div><div style><b>4. Gallery or Demo Reel</b></div><div style>With the average attention span of most readers getting close to that of a cat with ADD, it might be a good idea to post a few more images or a link to the <a href="http://youtu.be/QbzE8jOO7_0">official demoreel</a>. This eye candy will keep viewers attention span longer, and will 'sell' to those visitors who are too lazy to read.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style><b>5. Getting Involved?</b></div><div style>This one may be controversial, but I don't believe that <i>Getting Involved</i> deserves a column on the homepage. I understand that involvement is fundamental to the growth of Blender, but the homepage is a doorway to getting visitors to try blender. </div>
<div style><div><br></div><div>Imagine if churches tried to convert strangers to their religion by saying "Hey! Would like to help us rebuild the church and hand out flyers for us on the street?" They'd get laughed at. </div>
</div><div style><br></div><div style>The average site visitor isn't interested in getting involved. After using blender for a few months, he may be, but first and foremost you need them to click that download button.</div>
<div style>I feel that 'Getting Involved' would be better suited to a link in the footer.</div><div style><br></div><div style><b>6. Those banners</b></div><div style>Perhaps others disagree, but I think the random placement of banners underneath the columns, are off-putting. From a glance they look like adverts, which as anyone knows is a site turn off. It may signal to the viewer that blender is dying, and so they're doing whatever they can to make money.<br>
</div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><b>Pros!</b></div><div style>The Footer: The links at the bottom are clean, to the point and addition of social media buttons, shows that blender is keeping up with the trends :)</div>
<div style>The Larger Header: Awesome way to captivate the viewer and get them to download blender. Love it!</div><div style>The Top Nav Bar: Clean, simple and beautiful. Very modern and easy to read.</div><div style>The Download Button: The most important part of the site is finally the focal point! I love how easy it is to see :)</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>Anyway, those are just my thoughts. Again, please feel free to get a discussion going if you disagree with anything or you have more to add.</div><div style><br></div><div style>Overall, I just want to say I really, really, really appreciate all the effort that Francesco and everyone else has put into this re-design. It's well overdue to so a big kudos for stepping up to the plate :)</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>Thanks!</div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div><div style><br></div></div><div style>
<br></div><div style><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 1:42 AM, PabloVazquez.org <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:venomgfx@gmail.com" target="_blank">venomgfx@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Yes! Site responsiveness is thought of from the beginning. Since it needs lots of manual tweaks for different screen sizes, full support will take place over time once more (and more variety) of content is added to test it properly.<div>
<br></div><div>On the browser support side, we're aiming for recent webkit + gecko. Plus IE10+ since ~10% of the visits still use that browser.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr">
--<br>Pablo Vazquez<br>CG Artist - Blender Foundation Certified Trainer <br>Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/venomgfx" target="_blank">@venomgfx</a> <br>Blender Network: <a href="http://blendernetwork.org/pablovazquez" target="_blank">blendernetwork.org/pablovazquez</a> <div>
Email: <a href="mailto:contact@pablovazquez.org" target="_blank">contact@pablovazquez.org</a> <br>Website: <a href="http://www.pablovazquez.org" target="_blank">pablovazquez.org</a></div></div></div><div><div class="h5">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:03 PM, Peter Carrero <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:peter.carrero@gmail.com" target="_blank">peter.carrero@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Looks beautiful! The new design has a much cleaner look and follows the "mostly flat" design that is the new[er] trend these days.<br>
<br>
Any thought on this stage to do a "mobile first" or "responsive" initiative yet? I think I missed some of the discussions, but is there a doc outlining what the objectives of the site are and what the content strategy will be? (In my experience, those things can influence design choices)<br>
<br>
-Peter<br>
"Non sibi, sed civitas."<br>
--<br>
"The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo."<br>
Seth Godin<br>
--<br>
“You have to be willing to give up the life you've planned for in order to live the life that's waiting for you.”<br>
Joseph Campbell<br>
<div><div><br>
<br>
On Jun 10, 2013, at 10:19, Francesco Siddi <<a href="mailto:francesco.siddi@gmail.com" target="_blank">francesco.siddi@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> Hello everyone,<br>
> we are finally able to share some images from the work in progress<br>
> website. Comments and feedback are welcome.<br>
> During the week we will be able to start content migration, so who has<br>
> given availability will be contacted for further planning.<br>
><br>
> Btw, all images used in the carousel and banners are placeholders.<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53262" target="_blank">http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53262</a><br>
> <a href="http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53263" target="_blank">http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53263</a><br>
> <a href="http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53264" target="_blank">http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53264</a><br>
><br>
> Francesco and Pablo<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Regards,<br>Andrew Price<br><a href="http://www.blenderguru.com" target="_blank">http://www.blenderguru.com</a><br><div style="display:inline"></div>
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