SkillSwap Redesign | May 7, 2005

The website for SkillSwap, the peer-to-peer training organisation I run, has been looking tired for a very long time. I have ambitious plans for the site but have neither the time or programming skills to accomplish everything I want to do on my own. As such, the site hasn’t changed since it was created over two years ago, and it really shows. The dated design has been a real thorn in my side the last year, so the other night I knocked up a quick, interim design. It’s very simple and more a re-skin than a redesign. However it should last another 6 months until I can find the time and resources to redesign the site properly.

Screenshot of the new SkillSwap desgin

Posted at May 7, 2005 7:31 PM

Comments

Callum Mcleod said on May 7, 2005 8:25 PM

Looking very nice!

I haven’t seen the previous version, so I don’t know how much of a redesign it is. It should definitely last 6 months at least..

Joen said on May 7, 2005 8:39 PM

Deep saturated greens! I love it.

Very nice.

Jacob Bøtter said on May 7, 2005 9:28 PM

I must admit: That’s one hell of a design. I really love it!

But besides from the visual appearance, what’s with the lack of accessibility Andy?

ID “quote” is just blank, but shows an image full of text? Same thing goes for ID “branding”. But in the header you managed to add some text. Why is that so?

Andrew said on May 7, 2005 9:59 PM

Very, very nice and simple. It is beautifully clean. I absolutely love it, but I hate the text on the sun flower picture. My eyes can’t decided wheter or not it’s the title or if the logo is the title.

Rob McMichael said on May 7, 2005 10:45 PM

That looks great andy, I admire your ability to pick such great colours. I loved the design for your SXSW presentation too!

Tom said on May 8, 2005 9:56 PM

Looks tasty, for some reason the image didnt correctly display in my feedreader.

The :hover on the menu, I would personall make the whole “button” change and not just the text. Perhaps just make it slighly ligher?, personally I think it would feel more clickable. if you catch my drift.

Amit Karmakar said on May 9, 2005 4:37 AM

oh nice Gold and Green, now this should be an Aussie site :P Well done Andy :-)

Marko Dugonjić said on May 9, 2005 10:23 AM

Just a small suggestion regarding a Copyright year: <?php echo (‘Y.’); ?>

Marko Dugonjić said on May 9, 2005 1:04 PM

Oops, that’s
<?php echo date(‘Y.’); ?>
Sorry again!

Andy Budd said on May 9, 2005 4:58 PM

Hi Marko,

I believe the copyright year is supposed to be the year the work was first published rather than the current year. SkillSwap launched in 2003, hence the date. However as the new design is a later addition I guess 2003 - <?php echo date(‘Y.’); ?> would be more inclusive.

Marko Dugonjić said on May 9, 2005 10:44 PM

Yes, you are right and that’s what I meant, but I expressed myself lousy. IMHO, adding current year is much more convenient and it suggests that someone is after the particular web site and that the site isn’t ‘abandoned’. Just a thought…

Mike Rundle said on May 10, 2005 4:09 AM

Andy that design kicks ass. I love when designers say “yeah this is just an interim design until I can nail out the real thing” because good designers’ half-ass designs are still better than 90% of people out there. The nav is mad tight, you did a damn great job.

Leonard said on May 10, 2005 1:08 PM

Love the colour and layout Andy. Well done!

Steve said on May 10, 2005 4:38 PM

Very nice site, how do you get the thin groves in the menu bar?? Trying with fireworks but they are always too fat…

Indranil said on May 10, 2005 6:02 PM

Very well done.
Really a great work. Green really looks niice!

Josh Dura said on May 10, 2005 6:44 PM

This looks great Andy! I really like how vibrant, yet subtle the design is. Very inspirational.

Darryl Ring said on May 10, 2005 11:58 PM

It’s beautiful, Andy! I love the gradient behind the block to the right—I’ve always thought subtle radial gradients look great.

It’s funny, whenever I check a new website design, I always hit Ctrl + Shift + S to turn off styles and see how well it’s done.

Good job!