Openpandora Website

[andymangold]

Hello Pandora Community!

I have been following the updates to the Pandora for a long, long time now. I think its really fantastic that this entire project is being done in a sort of "open-source" fashion, with input coming directly from the developers and consumers. I think it will produce a truly great product in the end.

I would love to help in this process, but I unfortunately have nothing to offer in terms of development. I am however a professional web designer and I would like to contribute my skills and experience to the Pandora cause. I believe that openpandora.org is desperately in need of a redesign, especially if it is going to be taken seriously by the outside community.

Anyway, I tried messaging some moderators on the boards here and I looked around for contact information on openpandora.org and i could find none, so if you are an admin or someone with some clout over at openpandora, please email me (andymangold [at] gmail [dot] com)

I would really love the opportunity to help.

 

[grif]

I am just a bit of a noob here, but i am rather happy with the whole design.

But still it could be designed better for a wider gaming community, the home page right now has a feel about it similar to something you get on those bad web hosting services lol.

I am only new, but as far as i can see very little bit helps.

 

[plopperz]

What's wrong with it?
I think it's fine the way it is, nice and simple and looks professional.
It's much better than having a bunch of useless flash shit like every other gaming site nowadays.

Maybe post some of your ideas for the site, so we can get an idea

 

[grif]

What's wrong with it?
I think it's fine the way it is, nice and simple and looks professional.
It's much better than having a bunch of useless flash shit like every other gaming site nowadays.

Maybe post some of your ideas for the site, so we can get an idea

that is true, just look at IGN.... tooo heavy

 

[andymangold]

No, I agree that the site should remain very simple, sites like IGN and flash driven sites these days are far too complex and do not communicate information effectively enough.

As far as problems with the site currently, the first big problem is the layout. The information on the home page is poorly organized, with images for headings (terrible for SEO), drastically varying font sizes for similar information, poor color choice for something in the technology field, and poorly done gradients and tabs that allude to an old 2.0 aesthetic.

I think a simple html & css based layout would really help this site more effectively communicate the most important information to an interested browser.

 

[craigix]

Why don't you show us your alternative layout?

 

[grif]

how about this for an idea, im guessing you have a graphics design program?

Make a web layout (on photoshop or whatever) showing the people at openpandora what your layout roughly will look like, im sure they will tell you if they like the idea.

EDIT: lol craig basically beat me to it.

 

[techrock]

Post your website and portfolio

 

[kloplop321]

Do you mean like front design or server side?

 

[andymangold]

.

Don't get me wrong, the site is not terrible and I do not mean to offend. But the Pandora, while a very unique product, is competing in a market with companies like Sony and Nintendo, who have undoubtedly poured thousands of dollars into their respective websites.

The Internet is Pandora's strongest venue for advertising by FAR and the website is all most people will see concerning the people behind the project. I think it is important that the site be as useful, beautiful, and informational as possible.

This product is unique in that many people from all different walks of life have contributed to make it as good of a product as possible; everyone brings something to the table. I would LOVE to see this be as successful as possible and hopefully it will lead the way for other products conceived and produced in the same manner.

I did not want to post my work originally because I did not want people to think i was trying to spam the boards but here is my stuff:

www.andymangold.com <-- this is my blog and portfolio, started VERY recently and there actually isn't any web based work on there yet

www.bonsaistudios.com <-- this is the web design company myself and a few of my friends and associates started, there you can see some of our web work. be aware most of it is pretty old and our work now is much stronger in my opinion

I have messed around a bit with a few of my ideas, here is one of them. (still very rough)

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs32/f/2008/226...andymangold.jpg

 

[grif]

.

Don't get me wrong, the site is not terrible and I do not mean to offend. But the Pandora, while a very unique product, is competing in a market with companies like Sony and Nintendo, who have undoubtedly poured thousands of dollars into their respective websites.

The Internet is Pandora's strongest venue for advertising by FAR and the website is all most people will see concerning the people behind the project. I think it is important that the site be as useful, beautiful, and informational as possible.

This product is unique in that many people from all different walks of life have contributed to make it as good of a product as possible; everyone brings something to the table. I would LOVE to see this be as successful as possible and hopefully it will lead the way for other products conceived and produced in the same manner.


I agree with everything you said, except the first point (which i underlined + bolded )

I was under the impression that from the start, the pandora project was more of a niche product, aimed at those who love retro gaming (like myself), and/or people who want a pocket sized laptop that can play some games.

As brilliant as it is, its just not for everybody.... but it is for me so thats all i care about.

It would be nice to see the project getting some well deserved publicity though.

EDIT: your design is rather nice, but i dont like it any more or less than what they already have. I suppose it will be up to craig and the others.

 

[andymangold]

.

Don't get me wrong, the site is not terrible and I do not mean to offend. But the Pandora, while a very unique product, is competing in a market with companies like Sony and Nintendo, who have undoubtedly poured thousands of dollars into their respective websites.

The Internet is Pandora's strongest venue for advertising by FAR and the website is all most people will see concerning the people behind the project. I think it is important that the site be as useful, beautiful, and informational as possible.

This product is unique in that many people from all different walks of life have contributed to make it as good of a product as possible; everyone brings something to the table. I would LOVE to see this be as successful as possible and hopefully it will lead the way for other products conceived and produced in the same manner.


I agree with everything you said, except the first point (which i underlined + bolded )

I was under the impression that from the start, the pandora project was more of a niche product, aimed at those who love retro gaming (like myself), and/or people who want a pocket sized laptop that can play some games.

As brilliant as it is, its just not for everybody.... but it is for me so thats all i care about.

It would be nice to see the project getting some well deserved publicity though.

EDIT: your design is rather nice, but i dont like it any more or less than what they already have. I suppose it will be up to craig and the others.


You are definitely right, it is a niche product. But to the uneducated outsiders who don't know much about it, it will be looked at as another pocket gaming system and lumped in with the rest. OpenPandora compares it to the PSP and the DS on the home page of the site right now.

I think any new design should highlight the fact that this IS more of a specialized item, and I would love to see some focus on the fact that this entire project has been approached very differently than anything else.

 

[hotblack]

I don't particularly dislike the current site (although I can see and largely agree with the points andy makes) and must admit I feared something flash heavy or just overly designed. But I've got to say, the mockup looks very nice. Clear, simple, professional easy to read. Nice work IMHO

 

[sindbad]

Your proposed layout is nice and emphasizes what's important, but it seems you plan on making it fixed width. Your bonsai website looks and behaves very badly on my widescreen.

I'll wait for the html+css if you don't mind.

 

[greendots]

I would like to see a cleaner openpandora.org home page too.

 

[Frank Grimes]

I don't really have anything against the current site, although your idea looks really nice. Good work

 

[Pleng]

Not a design flaw as such, but my only gripe with the site (and it's not limited to openpandora, it seems to be a trend of the internet as a whole) is the whole concept of ignoring the news section in favor of a blog.

I mean, people want NEWS. When looking for news on any product I'd head towards the 'news' section of the site only to find nothing there. Diggin deeper you'll normally find the latest news hidden away somewhere in a blog or a forum.

It just seems lazy to me. As well as making it look, to the casual observer, that nothing much has happened recently.

I found the last 'news' post a little short of insulting (imho it roughly translates as: "hardcore fans know where to look for news, don't be so naieve as to think you'd find it in the NEWS section on the front page of the site")

Gripe over.

 

[Racemaniac]

i think a properly maintained site would be a bliss for this project

finding basic information is far harder than it should be.
even a basic, but extremely important thing like when they expect to release it (even though they might not be completely sure yet) is something you have to search for. i had more or less given up hope untill i found a topic on this forum with references to posts by the devs, and there it was stated that the preorders are currently scheduled for 30th september, and the pandora itself thus still this year.
why isn't such information, that will allow people to actually think about buying one/planning it not somewhere prominently on the website, or the wiki that it links to -_-. as long as this is something that will be released "when ready", without any estimate of when, people will just think of it as vaporware, or at least not seriously start considering buying one (unless you're a die hard fan, like most people on this forum ^^)

 

[PoisonedV]

its too simple- i think you are under estimating the audience of the pandora, a more complex layout would be more suited

 

[Kyo]

I like your design, but that's not the pandora's logo.