KimLuster wrote:
I, for one, tend to like the way DD is laid out. It seems easier to navigate that other comic sites I've visited. Other than (maybe) a fresh coat of paint (changing colors and images maybe…), what needs changing?!!

But then, I'm old fashioned myself! ;)

THIS! I agree.

I wish I saw this thread earlier! I'm not a professional web designer but I do know a decent amount of graphic design. I'd be interested in helping the old duck get back on his feet. I'll try my hand at my own mockup and in the meantime, here's some design notes that explains some of my thought process *cough* gripes *cough*. Feedback appreciated.

–

Issue: Too many bright colors (bright yellow, neon green, teal)
Solution: Rebrand the duck color palette. Keep it colorful but easy on the eyes.

Issue: Design feels very dated.
Solution: Limit the number of boxes and borders.

Issue: Design feels very cluttered.
Solution: Add white space / breathing room. Redesign the front page.

Issue: Design reads as kid friendly / aimed at kids
Solution: Decide the target demographic. Limit the amount of colors. Appeal to a wider audience.

Issue: Eye not naturally drawn to content.
Solution: Make content more appealing by enlarging (and adding more) images.

mishi_hime wrote:
I wish I saw this thread earlier! I'm not a professional web designer but I do know a decent amount of graphic design. I'd be interested in helping the old duck get back on his feet. I'll try my hand at my own mockup and in the meantime, here's some design notes that explains some of my thought process *cough* gripes *cough*. Feedback appreciated.

–

Issue: Too many bright colors (bright yellow, neon green, teal)
Solution: Rebrand the duck color palette. Keep it colorful but easy on the eyes.

Issue: Design feels very dated.
Solution: Limit the number of boxes and borders.

Issue: Design feels very cluttered.
Solution: Add white space / breathing room. Redesign the front page.

Issue: Design reads as kid friendly / aimed at kids
Solution: Decide the target demographic. Limit the amount of colors. Appeal to a wider audience.

Issue: Eye not naturally drawn to content.
Solution: Make content more appealing by enlarging (and adding more) images.

That's pretty solid :)

The way we need to approach this is to come up with a look for the main page and then also apply elements to the rest of the pages on the site.

So what works on the front page, like with the control panel placing, the ads, and the top bar links, has to work on other parts of the site too.

Also: a design that's adaptable to different page dimensions.

O hai!
Absolutely LOVE the blog-part of this website though, i dont think it should be gone from the frontpage just maybe re-positioned with the comics in focus?- But still being a part of the page. I think its what makes this website different from other pages since I feel like its such a personal touch to the entire thing.
Also the community shows through these posts, you can see people share ideas and talk about comics, and this makes Duck comics A LOT more interesting than any of the other pages imo.
I got accounts on both tapastic and SJ but i still prefer Duck because i think people in general seem nice and there is more going on (contests, blogs, PODCASTS!).
So despite it being (apparantly) not as popular as the other pages its still a step ahead most because it proves dedication, passion and love for comics in general and isnt just a ‘show’ site to host things on. Its a COMMUNITY with cool comic loving people!
Focus on the strenghts of the webpage and put it into the design.
Just my thoughts about the issue though.
Wish I could help but graphic design is and has always been my weak spot lol.

Udyr wrote:
O hai!
Absolutely LOVE the blog-part of this website though, i dont think it should be gone from the frontpage just maybe re-positioned with the comics in focus?- But still being a part of the page. I think its what makes this website different from other pages since I feel like its such a personal touch to the entire thing.
Also the community shows through these posts, you can see people share ideas and talk about comics, and this makes Duck comics A LOT more interesting than any of the other pages imo.
I got accounts on both tapastic and SJ but i still prefer Duck because i think people in general seem nice and there is more going on (contests, blogs, PODCASTS!).
So despite it being (apparantly) not as popular as the other pages its still a step ahead most because it proves dedication, passion and love for comics in general and isnt just a ‘show’ site to host things on. Its a COMMUNITY with cool comic loving people!
Focus on the strenghts of the webpage and put it into the design.
Just my thoughts about the issue though.
Wish I could help but graphic design is and has always been my weak spot lol.

That's a great vote of confidence ^_^
I agree. I really like what we do with the newsposts. Though we DO need to present them better.

Just dragging this one back up the pile. Do we need a fundraising drive of some kind to get these changes underway, once the design is decided?

Ironscarf wrote:
Just dragging this one back up the pile. Do we need a fundraising drive of some kind to get these changes underway, once the design is decided?

Yes.
But no one gave us a redesign look yet, just a changed look for the front page.

Hi there Everyone!

Oz and I have been working on an updated design for you all! We've overhauled quite a bit so check it out HERE. Some of the exciting features we're looking to introduce include:

• A front page that features even more comics. Featured comics now get more real estate, latest comics are right near the top and now we feature the top 5 comics in the key genres on the site. That's a total of 40 comic spots now.
  

• The forums are more or less the same albeit with a fresh, new skin to match the rest of the site.
  

• We have overhauled the profile completely adding a whole new section namely awards and badges!
  

• You can search for comics either in the “Recently Updated”, “Popular” or “Spotlight” categories. You'll be able to narrow it down by the genre as well. This will default to “recently updated” to give new comics a chance to be seen.
  

• You'll also get three new templates you can use for your comic to give you a head start! There's the “Basic Blue”, “Eerie Ebony,” and “Sherbet Sorbet”. You'll still be able to put in your own coding if you want to personalise your site.
  

• The logo has been updated as well. It's a slight departure from “The Duck” to “DD Webcomics”. Given the community refers to the site as DD most of the time it seemed fitting to bring that back whilst highlighting what it is we do here. This is out community and we have always been DD! :D

This is your “high level” design for the moment. Once people are happy with it we'll be looking into getting quotes to try and fund the changes as well as ensuring that it is optimised for mobile viewing as well.

Let us know what you think of the redesign. Are there any features you would like to see incorporated that we might have missed?

We'll need to get jpeg versions so people can see them more easily. :D

That is really sweet looking!! Slick with lots of meaty stuff - especially like the addition of Genre rankings!

The new layout looks fantastic! And I also love the Genre Spotlight idea!

I like it a lot. It addresses most of the issues raised and it looks clean and easy to read. If you were coming here for the first time, the logo with the reverse D might leave you guessing at the site's name, but a much better and less confusing first impression with these layouts.

Looks great, love it.

Fresh and clean.

I really do like the way it looks. The layouts very easy on the eyes as well as the colors.

Looks fantastic, really like it! Fresh and clean.
The only issue I found is Publish link and search input - too close to each other, so it looks to me like I have to input search query and then hit Publish :-).
Also I read DD logo as DC for the first time.
Anyway, great work!

These Look great!!!

Nice and sleek design like people are saying, Like the layout, and also I love the logo.

I dunno about the comparison between the logo and DC Comics, on the one hand, maybe, and with that maybe I don't know if DC would send a letter saying it looks too much like theirs, but I still feel it looks significantly different from DC.

What if you specified “DDWebcomics”. And if the ‘Webcomics’ was a little more stylized, since currently it looks like it's using an existing typeface and that may also come into legal trouble. Maybe…

Emma_Clare

The design looks fantastic so far.

Looks good, I'm a huge fan of the blue! Looks a lot cleaner as well.

A decent mobile site would be cool too - that seems to be one advantage tapas/webtoons have in that they have apps/easy to navigate mobile sites. They also have more money to throw around because of their awful premium comic business model, I suppose, but it might be worth exploring.

One editor's pick at the top of the site could be nice, with a really big banner ad + description? I hate to suggest it because the Duck is more egalitarian but the reality is that tapas and webtoons both start you off with a polished comic with a fat backlog as soon as you open up the site. It gives you something to click on right away.

I'd kill for an ultra customisable/searchable tagging system myself - like Ao3 has. I love being able to get very very specific in searches. Discoverability is really important and a lot of the other webcomic sites shove normal creators aside in favour of the premium stuff. Stumbling across hidden gems is a great way to browse in my opinion.

For successful people (unlike me lol) a way to link your patreon could be useful. Unsure of the logistics involved in getting social medias linked up, though.

Obligatory request for a dark mode.

bluecuts34 wrote:
Looks good, I'm a huge fan of the blue! Looks a lot cleaner as well.

A decent mobile site would be cool too - that seems to be one advantage tapas/webtoons have in that they have apps/easy to navigate mobile sites. They also have more money to throw around because of their awful premium comic business model, I suppose, but it might be worth exploring.

One editor's pick at the top of the site could be nice, with a really big banner ad + description? I hate to suggest it because the Duck is more egalitarian but the reality is that tapas and webtoons both start you off with a polished comic with a fat backlog as soon as you open up the site. It gives you something to click on right away.

I'd kill for an ultra customisable/searchable tagging system myself - like Ao3 has. I love being able to get very very specific in searches. Discoverability is really important and a lot of the other webcomic sites shove normal creators aside in favour of the premium stuff. Stumbling across hidden gems is a great way to browse in my opinion.

For successful people (unlike me lol) a way to link your patreon could be useful. Unsure of the logistics involved in getting social medias linked up, though.

Obligatory request for a dark mode.

All great points.
We definitely need a better search system!
Starting out with a polished comic: normally we'd rely on something from the top 10 for that. They're usually popular for a good reason. But some weird ones can sneak in there XD
Great points!

I don’t know much about website designs, but I think this does look good, probably more modern than before

One thing that would be really helpful would be an expansion of the Recently Updated section. As far as i can figure out, there is no way to see that a comic has updated after it falls off that list. If it was 2 or 3 rows, like 20 to 30 comics in the recent updates, that would be gret.

In addition to making it easier for me to spam comments by opening 30+ tabs at a time, it would also encourage more people to post comics here if they get more front page time.
At the very least, can we get a little button or text link that says “more” for each of the sections?

That would be cool