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  • Joined: December 30, 2008

Topic: Classic Throwback Design Mock-up

I was thinking about some of the things I missed from the old brickfilms website and photoshopped the current BiM design to come up with this: 

http://i.imgur.com/E4tMLVg.jpg

The idea is to add some "Lego" to the site.  I quite liked the use of illustrated lego pieces which helped determine what kind of update/post any news article was.

I also think the inclusion of a featured film would be highly beneficial.  Note this is not a film of the month, as that would require moderating.  Instead an occasional film (old/new) chosen by a staff member to be featured with a screen shot.  this will help new comers and regulars to watch a "good" film they may or may not have seen.  This lured me into watching my first ever brickfilm.  It can also pose as something for new aspiring brickfilmers to desire to achieve--Having their film featured.

Although it's primitive, I thought having a latest forum post would be nice.  This could be viewed by the public or something that appears following login.

I also moved the search bar to the right so it can be part of the "controls".

Just thoughts of mine, and I made a visual to help aid what I was thinking.  I understand it's not super new/cutting edge, but they were features I really liked from the old site.  mini/lol obviously it would have to be polished and applied properly to fit.

What do people think?

Vandy's Website

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Re: Classic Throwback Design Mock-up

I like the idea of using LEGO pieces to determine what kind of announcement the announcement is, but I have gotten used to the control menu being on the left.

Instead of the illustrated pieces, what about actual LEGO pieces?

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  • Joined: August 14, 2010

Re: Classic Throwback Design Mock-up

As usual, I really like what you've done here, Doug. (Or Vandy, if you'd prefer) mini/tongue

I have a feeling, however, that depicting any actual LEGO elements was taken away from the site years ago to avoid any copyright problems that we could run into with the LEGO Group. But, I still really like that part - perhaps we could do something similar, just, without our own twist to it, or something like that.

As for everything else, I don't see why we shouldn't implement these changes... Perhaps you're on to something there. I'd really like to see things like this be featured in the site redesign guys. *wink, wink*

https://i.imgur.com/Z8VtGae.png
  • Joined: December 26, 2008

Re: Classic Throwback Design Mock-up

I'm glad to see some ideas flowing as we start to map out possible revisions to the site for what is intended to be a redesign coming most likely sometime next year when I have some of my current projects wrapped up.

To be clear, images that look like LEGO elements are fine. The legal problem was with the minifigure design only.

I like the idea of having icons for the articles in a manner similar to that. I intend to redo all the artwork for the site anyway, but I could draw inspiration from some of what's come before for sure. My intention is to give the site, including nearly all graphics, a facelift. But I want to keep it pretty familiar, as opposed to gutting it with a total redesign. The BiM Documentary Kickstarter logo (the freestanding film reel and brick, visible in my signature at the time of writing this post) is a prototype for a new BiM logo, though the art style of it will likely change.

I've always wanted to have a "latest posts" feed of some sort. We didn't do it early on because it was starting to look extremely clunky with so much stuff crammed on the sides. It was an overload. It seems like it looks cleaner without a module containing it, as you've mocked up, though I don't love how that is inconsistent with all the other design elements on the page.

While combining search and controls reduces the number of elements (a plus, given the aforementioned issue of clutter when there are too many modules), I think it makes no sense functionally and is confusing. ie: it visually implies you are searching the controls, whereas its current placement makes it more visually intuitive that you're searching the films (admittedly it also is intended to allow searches of people and the resources).

I personally am not in favor of adding a featured film module, but only because I have an alternative in mind. Basically, the blog would include articles about the latest "featured films," allowing the large, central portion of the page to have content that is more spontaneous and interesting than simply a string of contest announcements. Films given this distinction would be given a permanent badge in the directory and filmography system, and be searchable by that means.

http://i.imgur.com/wcmcdmf.png

Sméagol's Website