Official LetsRun.com Redesign Contest Thread- Follow it live and comment here

#2

#6

#17

but they all don't look that much better/different then it does now. Save your money.

Actually having 30 designers do spec work for free with the hopes of getting 2 g's is actually a ridiculous bargain. Try pulling that with an actual design firm or web development company and see what they say...

Creative Director wrote:

They all stink. Letsrun, here's some professional advice: DON'T REDESIGN THROUGH THIS METHOD. You're asking for sub par work, please don't do that to the best running website.

I had to laugh at this post as their work certainly can't be worse than what we've currently got.

Our plan is to provide the designers some feedback and then maybe in 4 or so days, eliminate a ton of them and focus on the final few. I can eliminate them with a click of a button.

-Robert

PS. A lot of the one's you guys are talking about are basically the same one - #17 and 25 are all done by h2orius who has done a good job.

In a few days, we'll probably narrow it down to one per designer - the one we like best as it will make it easier for us to decide.

Discount Joe wrote:

Actually having 30 designers do spec work for free with the hopes of getting 2 g's is actually a ridiculous bargain. Try pulling that with an actual design firm or web development company and see what they say...

Alright this is the issue, every designer participating on this contest is not going to fully devote their time and energy to create a quality design. How could they when pay is not guaranteed? They'll probably spend a couple of hours on it and moved on to the next project.

If Rojo wants to go with mediocre then that's fine. My only gripe is that Letsrun is one of the best running websites out there. We all know this. With it's devoted fan base, Letsrun has the potential to be much more--for both the fans and the owners.

Don't forget that letsrun didn't need a bunch of dancing baloney (gifs, streaming media and other needless graphics) to become great. Most letsrunners seem to have a specific culture of needing minimal accouterments. Our websites should be the same. If you like a lot of extra cr*p then go to runnersworld.com.

At letsrun most visitors want to find a quick link to the message board. It needs to be at the top of the screen.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of visitors are using laptops and blackberries, so they don't want to have to scroll too much up and down or side to side to navigate the page.

I favor #3 which is closest to the original design.

Extends work,36, #32 and #28 all appeal first off. Go for over all look first apply pick of litter innovations next.

Agree 2 grand + site fee is money well spent.

#38 is great. The new logo looks modern but very true to the old one's simplicity. Enough news space and no clutter. Don't know about the tags cloud; never used one personally, but it looks great.

#19 is good too... it keeps things compact. No need for the designs with two pages worth of scrolling news and other features that never change around here.

The best of all the designs is still JP Gary's, the #2 design at the bottom of this page:

http://www.letsrun.com/2009/finalround.php

Here it is on its own page:

http://pixelpopulater.com/projects/letsrun/

The logo looks great, and the colored columns on both sides reduce the feel of being overwhelmed by text. It doesn't quite follow the rules as far as integrating ads, but I think you should be starting with this as your template.

I really like the concept of this content for a site like this. It's only fitting that the users who power such a community-driven site have some input into its layout.

One thing the bro's have done really well since day one is make this site about the people who frequent it, why stop now?

Also, I think a lot of the designs are legitimately solid, and although Wejo and Robert are capable of redesigning it themselves, $2k is a good deal for all, as it saves them a great deal of time and ensures that the new layout will go over well.

Just my $0.02

#9 is easily the best besides current look

you coulda saved 2k wrote:

The best of all the designs is still JP Gary's, the #2 design at the bottom of this page:

http://www.letsrun.com/2009/finalround.php

Here it is on its own page:

http://pixelpopulater.com/projects/letsrun/

The logo looks great, and the colored columns on both sides reduce the feel of being overwhelmed by text. It doesn't quite follow the rules as far as integrating ads, but I think you should be starting with this as your template.

i agree. letsrun has to maintain its yellow oval.

I like #17.

If you're keeping the LetsRun name, an apostrophe might be worth considering in the word Let's -- a conjuction of let us.

Personally I like 54, easy on the eyes but packed with content

**conjunction

Just checked again... 83 is good

72 and company are good as well

I like nuber 43. It still looks like the current site but just cleaner which seems to be the whole point.

This might be a dumb question, but how do you make a thumbnail image of a Word document. I made a design with Microsoft Word, but I'm not sure how to convert that page to an image to upload on that website.