[Bf-webcontent] blender.org upgrade - Design

Tue Jun 11 06:10:05 CEST 2013

Wow! Francesco these designs are incredible!

The first one is definitely my favorite, because it has a large header
image, a clear title and clear button to download. Just perfect!

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.

*1. The headline needs to sell*
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.

For years the go-to tagline for blender has been *"Your Own 3d Software". *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 *trying* 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.

I'd propose a few alternative headlines:

   - 100% Free, Open Source 3D Software
   - Powerful. Fast. 100% Open Source 3D Software.
   - Free, powerful, 3D software for everyone.

Basically, just blunt, straight to the point without any thinking required.
"This is what blender is: It's free 3D Software".

*2. Bullet Points*

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.

example:
FEATURES

   - Powerful 3d Modelling Toolset
   - Realistic integrated render engine
   - Built-in Compositing Suite
   - Mind-blowing physics simulation

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. *"Blender has physics simulation? I'm sold!"*
*
*
*3. Tutorials*
*
*
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).
So it may be worth making one of the columns "Tutorials". And listing
bullet point links to G*etting started, Making a Character, Making a Tree* for
example.

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 *
somewhere* on the homepage, that there is free tutorials available. I
guarantee that if you do, users will be *much *more inclined to download
blender.

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."

*4. Gallery or Demo Reel*
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 official demoreel <http://youtu.be/QbzE8jOO7_0>. This eye candy will
keep viewers attention span longer, and will 'sell' to those visitors who
are too lazy to read.

*5. Getting Involved?*
This one may be controversial, but I don't believe that *Getting
Involved*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.

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.

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.
I feel that 'Getting Involved' would be better suited to a link in the
footer.

*6. Those banners*
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.

*Pros!*
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 :)
The Larger Header: Awesome way to captivate the viewer and get them to
download blender. Love it!
The Top Nav Bar: Clean, simple and beautiful. Very modern and easy to read.
The Download Button: The most important part of the site is finally the
focal point! I love how easy it is to see :)

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.

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 :)

Thanks!

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 1:42 AM, PabloVazquez.org <venomgfx at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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.
>
> On the browser support side, we're aiming for recent webkit + gecko. Plus
> IE10+ since ~10% of the visits still use that browser.
>
> --
> Pablo Vazquez
> CG Artist - Blender Foundation Certified Trainer
> Twitter: @venomgfx <http://twitter.com/venomgfx>
> Blender Network: blendernetwork.org/pablovazquez
> Email: contact at pablovazquez.org
> Website: pablovazquez.org <http://www.pablovazquez.org>
>
>
> On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 12:03 PM, Peter Carrero <peter.carrero at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Looks beautiful! The new design has a much cleaner look and follows the
>> "mostly flat" design that is the new[er] trend these days.
>>
>> 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)
>>
>> -Peter
>> "Non sibi, sed civitas."
>> --
>> "The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the
>> status quo."
>> Seth Godin
>> --
>> “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.”
>> Joseph Campbell
>>
>>
>> On Jun 10, 2013, at 10:19, Francesco Siddi <francesco.siddi at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Hello everyone,
>> > we are finally able to share some images from the work in progress
>> > website. Comments and feedback are welcome.
>> > During the week we will be able to start content migration, so who has
>> > given availability will be contacted for further planning.
>> >
>> > Btw, all images used in the carousel and banners are placeholders.
>> >
>> > http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53262
>> > http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53263
>> > http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=53264
>> >
>> > Francesco and Pablo
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Bf-webcontent mailing list
>> > Bf-webcontent at blender.org
>> > http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-webcontent
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>
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-- 
Regards,
Andrew Price
http://www.blenderguru.com
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