Mmm. I've never been a fan of comic site designs that don't present the latest page as pretty much the first thing you see when coming to the site. On the other hand it seems to work well for Penny Arcade, so...
Don't worry, the latest comic will still have a home on the front page. But, as it is even now, the 'comic' shown on the homepage is only representational, enticing the reader to click through to get the full page. That won't change at all. I'm just setting aside less space for that representational image, in order to make room for the newer (and more frequently updated) blog area above 'the fold'.
3. Nicole
July 9, 2010 9:05 AM
I prefer the large Ellie masthead to an ad, but at the same time, it could be nicer to have the ad at the top and not at the sides. I'm pretty flexible. I think the single frame for the comic is a good idea as long as people know to click through for a whole lot more. :)
I'm not keen on having ads anywhere on the front page. I find it distracting and incongruous when you've got this beautiful 'Victorian' page design. Perhaps you could relegate ads to the internal pages, while simply having a nicely styled text list of sponsors on the front page. Please keep the large banner because your typography is so detailed & elegant, and Ellie and Henry look so cute up there.
Besides that, I like the idea of having a small thumbnail or teaser image representing the newest installment on the front page. This suits the less-frequent 'large page' update schedule, and it seems to work well for sites like Dresden Codak. Hey, it's even a preset layout option on newer versions of ComicPress.
5. Meg
July 15, 2010 8:50 PM
I really like both. As someone who plans to purchase ad space through Project Wonderful on your site when my partner and I launch our story, it's nice to know what sizes to shoot for, etc., when I design them.
I really love your current mast, I think it really plays well with the site. But, given the structure now of the posting, I feel that the rest of the site design is excellent. We see more news about the comic right away, and the single panel is a good tease of what you'll find within. The elegant typography is a real hook, and I internally lust over it every time I check to see if you've updated. What does it look like with the current mast combined with the rest of the new site? Of course, that leaves the ad issue.
Yeah, I tend to agree with not wanting to have any ads on the front page. You can't see it in the preview image, but there are a couple skyscraper ads in the far-right column which will be visible if you scroll down. Removing the 'Latest Page' box from interior pages would allow those to move up on every page but the archives and the home page. That might be enough, and would allow me more flexibility with the header. Also, I realized that Ellie is not prominently visible anywhere on the front page (except the 'New Readers' box which will likely change), and that is just wrong.
I've been wanting to move away from the Victorian-heavy design of the site a little bit, just because that aesthetic is very time-consuming and, frankly, more than a little cluttered.
I think I'll work up another design, with a slightly taller masthead featuring the main characters, and reserve that ad space for the kinds of things that would have gone into the 'Special Notice Area'.
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Mmm. I've never been a fan of comic site designs that don't present the latest page as pretty much the first thing you see when coming to the site. On the other hand it seems to work well for Penny Arcade, so...
Don't worry, the latest comic will still have a home on the front page. But, as it is even now, the 'comic' shown on the homepage is only representational, enticing the reader to click through to get the full page. That won't change at all. I'm just setting aside less space for that representational image, in order to make room for the newer (and more frequently updated) blog area above 'the fold'.
I prefer the large Ellie masthead to an ad, but at the same time, it could be nicer to have the ad at the top and not at the sides. I'm pretty flexible. I think the single frame for the comic is a good idea as long as people know to click through for a whole lot more. :)
I'm not keen on having ads anywhere on the front page. I find it distracting and incongruous when you've got this beautiful 'Victorian' page design. Perhaps you could relegate ads to the internal pages, while simply having a nicely styled text list of sponsors on the front page. Please keep the large banner because your typography is so detailed & elegant, and Ellie and Henry look so cute up there.
Besides that, I like the idea of having a small thumbnail or teaser image representing the newest installment on the front page. This suits the less-frequent 'large page' update schedule, and it seems to work well for sites like Dresden Codak. Hey, it's even a preset layout option on newer versions of ComicPress.
I really like both. As someone who plans to purchase ad space through Project Wonderful on your site when my partner and I launch our story, it's nice to know what sizes to shoot for, etc., when I design them.
I really love your current mast, I think it really plays well with the site. But, given the structure now of the posting, I feel that the rest of the site design is excellent. We see more news about the comic right away, and the single panel is a good tease of what you'll find within. The elegant typography is a real hook, and I internally lust over it every time I check to see if you've updated. What does it look like with the current mast combined with the rest of the new site? Of course, that leaves the ad issue.
Yeah, I tend to agree with not wanting to have any ads on the front page. You can't see it in the preview image, but there are a couple skyscraper ads in the far-right column which will be visible if you scroll down. Removing the 'Latest Page' box from interior pages would allow those to move up on every page but the archives and the home page. That might be enough, and would allow me more flexibility with the header. Also, I realized that Ellie is not prominently visible anywhere on the front page (except the 'New Readers' box which will likely change), and that is just wrong.
I've been wanting to move away from the Victorian-heavy design of the site a little bit, just because that aesthetic is very time-consuming and, frankly, more than a little cluttered.
I think I'll work up another design, with a slightly taller masthead featuring the main characters, and reserve that ad space for the kinds of things that would have gone into the 'Special Notice Area'.