Which Creative Do You Prefer?

We're getting very close to finalizing the creative for the new AIMS website. Would love to know what ya'll think of these 2 options... (click on thumbnail to open full size view)

OPTION #1

OPTION #2   

Comments

[Mish]

I like #1. I prefer the graphic opposed to the picture on #2 of the people.

PS. You might want to include a link/section to the blog on the website too. Not sure if it is within one of the main pages...

;) Mish

[zoubin]

Suggestion: How about a "none of the above" option?

[Kathryn]

Would love to know why you'd select a 'none of the above' option? Can post here or email me directly.

[cevee]

I'm with Mish. Comparitively look at the ADCC site: http://theadcc.ca

There is a huge quality gap here that is evident IMHO

[Michael Artichuk]

People are what it's all about!!! How can you have or build a relationship with the Graphic Image displayed in Option 1 - Out voted!!! so what do I know.

[cevee]

Apologies - I meant I agree with zoubin - re: none of the above

[Lee Dale]

Well, there's no doubt that the vote will be split down the middle because the differences amount to six and one half dozen of the other.

But I do agree that in either case the options are not stellar examples of web design. Most important, however, is functionality and usability. We have never had an easy time getting things done with the AIMS site. Event sign up issues. Logins not working. Poor error messages.

At least if the site works and is coded properly, it can always be reskinned without too much trouble.

[Barry]

I think that they both are the same campaign with an image swapped. I wouldn't go so far as to say there are two options. If the work was volunteered, then great. If not, I'd review given this is AIMS.

[jb]

Its there an option 3? These design look extremely dated.

[Spencer]

I'm always astounded how freely the word "creative" gets tossed around. The colour and texture are a direct boost from an interface that starts with Q and ends with uicktime. What is likely creative is somebody donated their time to do the job with hopes of exposure, and just found a brand new way of embarrasing themselves.

Your old site is just fine.

SD

[Kathryn @ AIMS]

Good discussion, thanks. Couple of comments to provide some context...

- further to Lee's comment...we're going with a product that is designed specifically for associations. That means it has all the functionality we need to manage the member database, promote events, and online event registrations/memberships etc. In reviewing options we definitely focused on the importance of functionality.
- choosing an image to represent AIMS is tricky. I would love to find something that captures the spirit of conversation and interaction between members. I'm going to start taking pix at our events and meetings so hopefully will build up a library we can tap into later!

[Dmitry Buterin]

2 cents from a person who worked with Kathryn on the designs:
1) Post title was probably a bit off. These two things are just two final narrowed down choices. There were three iterations of creative with many dozens of options. Unfortunately we could not involve many people earlier as we had to do all that within 3 days.
2) The decision was to base the designs on the current logo and color scheme
3) The layout/design options were constrained to a certain degree - we are talking about putting a skin on hosted system vs. developing a custom from-scratch design and website
Having said all that, I personally think that new AIMS website will look much nicer and will be much more usable for all site users - administrators and visitors.

Cheers,

[Toby Ward]

What's the current vehicle for doing job posts?

[Kathryn @ AIMS]

Hi Toby - we put job postings in our newsletter. It goes out twice a month.

An online job board is on the list of things to look at implementing down the road.

[Rob]

I prefer the image (silhouette) of Option1.

I prefer the left-nav of Option2.

I prefer the global header of Option2 (leaving the logo with white space around it, and incorporating Association of... into the header image).

I would make the logo smaller, leaving more white space around it.

[Susan]

There is only one option with choice of banner image. Out of the two images I vote for #2 - as at least these people look professional! The graphic image of #1 looks too much like a dating site.

Agree that the design is not a good example of a professional organization of internet marketing professionals.

However, I vote for usability and robustness every time. The old site was definitely was buggy.

[Barry]

Functionality Request for the new website: I live 3.5 hours away and can't easily attend breakfast or end of day sessions but am interested in hearing/seeing speakers/Q & A. SOOOOO, why can't you incorporate a library of audio/video/presentation slides, etc so members can access and review from the website??
(or any alternate that achives the same objective).
thanks
Barry

[Tema Frank]

I second Barry's suggestion! I used to attend regularly when I lived in Toronto, and, while Edmonton is a great city to live in, I do miss things like the AIMS events!

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