New open book template idea

[Ricklord]

Hi Guys,

Ive got a website deal with a virtual document company and between us have come up with the idea to have the layout like an open book.

I have put a 10 minute image together and just wanted peoples feedback on if they thinks a good idea and if they can see any problems we might come accross later down the line.

We dont want to put the time and effort into the design yet until we have got some initial feedback.

You can see the first draft here [url=http://www.creativecogs.co.uk/web_design/open_book.html]www.creativecogs.co.uk/web_design/open_book.html[/url]

Thanks for looking and hope you like the story.

Rick

PS. just wanted to stress that this is the very first draft so actual design here is not important it is more the idea were looking for feedback on.

cheers

[steviewdr]

Its a good idea nice.
You need to get a better "plan" view of a book - you will see pages on the left and right. Open a book yourself and look down. Also I think the curves you have are too extreme.
Are you going to have a scrollable small div if the text exceeds the limit on the graphic background? or have a NEXT >> button?

You will also have hassle trying to make the content look appealing. Everyone will be looking at the book and the image of it. Maybe taking away from the content a little. Just dont have too nice/flashy a design for the book IMO.

Your going to be limited to a very small layout which can restrict graphics and text sizes.

-steve

[Ricklord]

Thanks Steve,

Very quick response. The idea is to have additional pages behind the front pages so it looks more like a book but yes this will come in a later design.

Good point about content restrictions we have thought about this and are still looking for ideas on how to over come this, probably a next button rather than the scroll bar as scroll bar will ruin the design IMO but thanks for them comments.

Curved corners on the corner of the book will be lost completely with just square edges on next design if there is one depending on feedback.

As for making the content appealing, we may try have the book as the background image and faded down a little so the text is more appealing but your right were going to have problems with images becuase of the curves on the pages and available space but might over come this problem when we make the page curves smaller.

thanks for the comment good start in my eyes.

Rick

[ober]

The book thing has been done to perfection here: http://www.caduceus.org/

You cannot top it.  You cannot beat it.  Resistence is futile.  Try to come up with something more origional.

[Ricklord]

Hi Ober,

I never said it was an original idea and although that site has got the look to perfection the loading time is something else, i almost didnt want to wait but i must admit it was worth it once it had loaded.

Just because you have one example doesn't give me a good enough reason not to give it ago, although its not an original idea its still something which is not done very ofton.

Plus the look we will be looking for is the more professional look rather than a medievil/fantasy look.

Thanks for the link to the other site though, was very impressed.

IMO i dont care if i can top that site or beat that site that would not be my goal. I would simply be supplying a design to suit my customers needs.

Rick

[ober]

I don't disagree... but whatever.  I was posting that more for shock value than anything... I suppose the sarcasm didn't quite make it through on the post. 

[cmgmyr]

[quote author=ober link=topic=103885.msg414002#msg414002 date=1155315841]
The book thing has been done to perfection here: http://www.caduceus.org/
[/quote]

Wow, I wonder how much that cost them to make!

I like the book idea. People like realistic things that they are used to.

[akitchin]

reminds me quite a bit of Myst.  this is very nicely done, graphics and interaction-wise.  the caduceus.org, that is.

[ruby]

Hi Rick

thanks for posting on the forum. I note the replies have been mixed. As you stated the idea is not "new" it's the feedback on design issues that is important.

It is difficult to come up with anything that is totally "new" ideas come from building on experiences and taking opportunities. There is nothing wrong with borrowing or even stealing ideas from examples, isn't that what this site is about?

To dismiss something because it has been "done before" does not engourage progress, implies laziness on the part of the expressor, is pessimistic and defeatist.

Thank goodness everyone is not the same.

Ruby

[steviewdr]

Well its all in flash, and there are people out there who can do anything with flash.
Id like to see a html version!

[Ricklord]

Hey Guys

Screen res question. If were going to do this idea we might design the site at a screen res of 1024x768 in hope we will be able to fit more content into the pages.

I have done some research and found statistics which show more than 70% of people use this resolution or higher and only 20% of people use 800x600.

I have got my stats from here [url=http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp]http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp[/url]

Any one think this is a bad idea?

Rick

[AndyB]

Really Bad Idea.  Even by the statistics you quote, that's equivalent to telling 3 shoppers out of 10 that they're not welcome in your store. And that's a fast way to go broke in any business.

Any source of statistics is skewed by the demographic of the users.  If you got stats from a site for graphic artists or gamers, you would find that most had resolutions>1200px; If you got stats from a site dedicated to old fogies, you would find most of them had older hardware and 640/800px would dominate.  w3schools might be skewed in favour of 'developers' who tend to have more up-to-date hardware then the "average user".

The bigger the statistical sample, the less likely it is to be skewed (all toher things being equal - which they never are).  Here's a result from probably a larger base - http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/July/res.php

Whatever the numbers are that you want to use to decide - remember the object of the exercise is to maximise the visitor experiece, NOT to upset a sizable portion of them.  You decide.

[Ricklord]

thanks for comment Andy, them stats you posted also show that more than 70% use 1280x1024 or higher.

But with you saying thats like turning away 3 out of 10 customers, thats a different thing all together so probably best to stick to 800x600 then.

Cheers

Rick

[AndyB]

Statistics - quote attributed variously:

[quote]There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics[/quote]

[dbrimlow]

First, this can be relatively easily done just modifying some existing jscript code that already performs similarly with photos.

Here is how it works with photos on a smaller scale for a client site I building http://www.jhrenovations.com/  - If you hover on the image the page stops, you can make it link, adjust speed, etc. the usual dynamic "dhtml" thing.

This is an oldie but a goodie and should be able to be recoded to work with html instead of graphics.

And, I've seen new sites designed for 1024x768 ... they don't last long before going back to 800 due to customer complaints.

[Nomax5]

I like the book idea and think there is room for all sorts of book interfaces from simple ones to that fantasic example
Interfaces moddeled on familiar realworld objects is is good imho

online filofax for example holding your favorites calendar contacts etc.

so although it's been done before in a fantastic way don't give up on the idea.

Roy

[Sesquipedalian]

It's a good idea, but you need to make the book look better, right now it is ugly.

[redbullmarky]

[quote author=AndyB link=topic=103885.msg415073#msg415073 date=1155495016]
Statistics - quote attributed variously:

[quote]There are three types of lies - lies, damn lies, and statistics[/quote]
[/quote]
and 75.128% of statistics are made up on the spot. don't trust stats as anything more than a rough guide.
800x600 is good enough for most sites, if properly planned and thought out, and considering that would get pretty much ALL people on board, instead of just 70%, i think that's worth it. consider also that the "old fogey" 30% could be quite enthusiastic about telling friends and family, etc so you'd be getting good word of mouth which you wouldn't otherwise get.