Heh, I have to admit that the vaguelly 'steam tech' version a whiles back remains my favorite... but I will admit to a pro steam bias.

I like this version much better than the UFO version though... that one was way too busy.

In regards to the watermarking of your PDFs... Watermarking is my favorite form of PDF protection, as long as it is unobtrusive. I have no problems whatsoever with the watermarking used by DTRPG - but refused to make purchases from them when they used DRM. I agree - this is a much more important item than a new look for the website.

The Auld Grump

One of the things that has been a burr in my saddle about the appearnce is that you have these pages with the product info and fluff, but you can barely see the product. Yeah sure you can seacrh the forums sometimes and get bigger pics and you can DL the wall papers, but I "want it now." I know that bandwidth is a concern but I'd love to see larger higher quality pics of the products on the site or that would pop up a window with the better picture. The movies are great for feel but I want to be able to really see what I'm getting. If you lookat a any product page only like 20% is viewable images and the rest is other stuff. I'd think that the images are what is really gunna sell a product to someone that isn't a current customer.

There's a really cool javascript plugin called lightbox that the BrushThralls are using on their site. It opens the image clicked on in the current window without loading a new page. I wouldn't mind seeing that implemented.

As a web designer my first goal with any site is usability - starting with load times. My main concern with "Eye Candy" is that it tends to slow things down for people with dial-up connections. So most of what I do tends to be with flat colors or simple gradations and limiting the amount of imagery. (This also seems to have become the standard for the current so-called "Web 2.0" designs.)

Eye Candy can also be distracting for readability. On an element-by-element level the components of the forums are very well designed. But if one just scans down through this thread the distraction is obvious with buttons, graphics, and color. On a posting-by-posting basis its not too bad, but its not particularly inviting to read from beginning to end.

I think black on white designs tend to have a certain elegance but avoid it for sites where there is much reading to do since research has shown that white text on a black background gets tiring to read. (I personally found that I tend to read more where text is black-on-white and skim more where text is white-on-black.) It seems however that some of the more prominent web designers have personal sites with light text on dark backgrounds.

One of the things I would definitely like to see is a printer-friendly option such as exists for the "Citizens of the Imperium, " "Metal Express," and "Steve Jackson Games" forums which strip out a lot of the distractions and have light backgrounds. Beside saving ink if one wants to print a thread, this also give an alternative view for those who would prefer a less cluttered format to read.

- http://www.travellerrpg.com/cgi-bin/Tra ... matebb.cgi
- http://www.metal-express.net/forums/default.asp
- http://forums.sjgames.com/

Ad Astra has a simple but nice look:
- http://www.adastragames.com/forums/

The 9 Rules Network site has quite a few visual elements along with a nice clean layout -- I could see the WWG forums easily following a similar approach, keeping visual interest and character but with a cleaner design:
- http://9rules.com/

When my mind becomes too locked in on an approach I like the following sites which showcase web designs and help me to expand/unlock my thinking:
- http://www.webcreme.com/
- http://www.stylegala.com/archive/
- http://www.designmeltdown.com/
- http://www.cssbeauty.com/

... and for fun plus CSS use (an approach to allow viewers to customize what they see):
- http://www.csszengarden.com/

One of the things to keep in mind is that the 9 Rules and gaming sites that I mentioned above are basically information sites. WWG is focused on visually appealing products so there may be some marketing considerations involved that might mitigate a little more towards Eye Candy but I would think that would pertain more to the products side of the site than the forums. On the other hand, there is the "feeling" of the site as a whole to consider.

Sorry about the rambling post but that's my 2-cents. I hope it may be of some use.

My main concern is that while I want to experiment with "minmalist" design concepts I don't want to fall off the deep end into hyper-minimalism. To be perfectly honest I think the big trend with hyper-minimalist web design is a little extremist (but that's just a matter of preference). It's just on the opposite end of the over-the-top eyecandy scale. What I would like to find is balance between the two in order to account for my core demographic that expects a certain level of eyecandy. The products and the concept of the business as a whole require an overall image that is somewhat grounded in eyecandy.

We are afterall living in an age where broadband is increasingly common. I've never been kind to the dial-up user mainly because they are in the very small miniority. Dial-up is quickly becoming the dinosaur that it needs to be so that we can finally get our eyecandy rocks off Of course I am coming from a Canadian perspective here where broadband has been an extremely common feature for many years now compared to the more recent push in the US.

I've always liked the forum design here. Though for color choice I've always found blues & greys to be pleasing and easy on the eys. (Similar to the Travelers Forums listed above).

I second the big picture impact for product pages. Maybe a large image with small insets that take you to:

*Flash Movie presentation - I wouldn't lose this idea. It's a nice feature, and while I prefer it to not load and play everytime I go to the product. I still watch each and every one a few times. And like to show them to folks whom are new to the hobby.

*Photo Spread for product - Either a mini gallery of images to pick from that appear in the larger image above or something similar.

I've never really found your page to be overly busy. But I can appreciate wanting to improve on the concept of a visually appealing, slick & easy to navigate, professional site.

~Floyd

My minor bitch about the homepage is the two black frames either side of the page. I find that this tends to make the page longer than needed. My personal love is pages like Rackham - where Flash is everything. To me its like a really cool interface is the key. Are frames dead? Back in the day sites would have a frames version and a non-frames version. So why not go the flash and non-flash.

One site I like at the moment is , like Rackham it give the sense of magic glyphs and living energies. I must say that the home page is fine but its a tad boring for one of the most exciting products in the market. The site should sell the culture of WWG not just the products. The forum sells the culture nicely but the web store doesn't. If I was a first time browser I would love the flash movies (I remember the number of times I run CaveWorks and VillageWorks first time around!) but the rest loses focus. As a buyer I know whats in the set from the forum but blow me if I reading the list of text that I have to scroll down. It looks impressive but I wonder how many really read the lists? As the Bimbo (got to love that name!) pointed out Hi-Rez pics.

I know I love the flash movies but if there was a sexier way of showing the set I would be all for it. Maybe a flash movie showing the concept sketches that morph into the cardstock - the ideas coming to life in front of the viewer. Like watching a movie doc on LotR that shows the plan drawings of a castle then seeing the wire version then the simple render and finally the finished result. Have the viewer feel the magic stiring as the lined drawings "flesh" out into a RL 3D version.

The main thing I want to get across is that you, WWG have to create a culture that the person wants to buy - they want to buy into the culture and the products are their passports.


Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

I want big, beautiful pictures of the products.

I like the artistic vision that went into the Rackham site, but the flash movie is just too damned bandwidth and time intensive. No one likes to be forced into watching a video.
If you are interested in utilizing lightbox, you can see an example of it on my squadrons website www.hs6.navy.mil . Go to the pictures page and click on one of the thumbnails. Lightbox is the javascript that enables the nifty image gallery. I had a blast designing this website, got to build the textures from scratch.
I agree with the comments on reworking the store. My main concern is that it tends to make the average person only purchase 1 item the way it is set up, especially with the kitbashes. You need a mechanism that encourages people to purchase multiple things at the same time. Something like an area underneath the cart that says "patrons that have purchased xxxx also purchased xxxx and xxx and xxxx" with pictures.
Flash movies of products are excellent. Larger pictures of the products would be good for the rotating images.
Use your trademarked worldworks gear logo more. A background of the "golden gears" on black, would make an excellent backdrop for your site, especially with some copper texture pipes and machinery. In fact (as Grump alluded to) the steampunk, Worldworks as a machine for imagination image would suit you well.
Simplify the WIP meter. Too many colors, objects, and words. You are wasting effort by making it more complex than necessary. Reduce the colors and clutter and focus attention on the products that are on the nearer horizon.
Simplify your front end. The front page should do a few simple things for you. Give people an idea of who your company is and what they do, hook their curiosity, and funnel them in a direction of your choosing.
Hope this helps.

ZIp

First, let me reiterate some of the points that have already been brought up:

- The current directory system used for kitbashes and the general categories (fantasy, scifi, etc) sucks badly. Way too much wasted space, for one. It's far easier to glance through Aubrey's kitbash posts than to brave the morass that is the kibash section.

- More content, less fluff on the product pages. An overview picture with all the elements of the set, straight on the product page, might be useful.

- The WIP meter is great, but a little bulky right now. I also don't see any reason this would need to be a flash object. How about a simple imagemap with some javascript to pop up additional info on each item when you hover over it?


And a few that I don't think have been mentioned before:

- Check out . It might provide a good alternative for those people who detest PayPal.

- Any chance of revisiting some of the ideas we were throwing around earlier, regarding product and kitbash linking? E.g. get free access to kitbashes if you already own the relevant set. That would be a great anti-piracy (or rather pro-buying) measure, plus it would allow for more substantial kitbashes.

- The front page is essentially boxes inside boxes inside other boxes. Most of your screen real estate seems to be eaten up by various borders and design elements, instead of actual content.

Just managed to chek out the Rackham site on my home computer.

Yikes! With as much glitz they crammed into it, you'd think they could have made sure that the friggin text actually fits on my screen!

Perfect example of what I would *not* want the WWG store to look like: fancy design at the expense of the actual content.

Thanks all, you guys/galls bring up some really insightful and excellent points. I am certainly glad I asked your opinion on the redesign. For the most part I resoundingly agree with your comments. You've discussed key areas that need to be addressed and offered some new and surprising inspiration.

My biggest challenge will be finding a happy balance between pure utilities and eyecandy. I want a more functional site on a few levels and it is my goal to make things much more clearly defined across the board. I want new visitors to the site to get excited and grasp what it's all about in a very short period of time. Right now everything is "screaming for equal attention" which creates a confusing or overwhelming visitation experience, I plan on addressing that with a more logical information pathway. Payment options, kitbash tweaks are big issues that I am very much motivated to change. At last count we had 107 products (the bulk of that kitbashs but still!), so we are getting into a volume of items that requires a careful reconsideration of how the database functions.

I agree that the Rackham site is a bit too much glam with little actual meaningful content but I do like their general design aesthetic (although it is a bit bloated). Their use of color is fantastic and the detail present within the layouts is really well done and carefully considered. I suppose that is what I was referring to more than anything.

Keep those comments and suggestions flowing. Like I said before, this is a long term project that likely won't be completed until Christmas or perhaps the New Year. We have so much to do with our current production schedule that it is not at the top of the priority list but there are some issues that will need addressing (like watermarking and backend tweaks). I will probably get into some sort of "band-aid" solutions on the Kitbash area as well to better organize that side of the site. Aubrey and I have been talking about those changes.

Thanks again for the feedback and please keep it up!