What is your experience w free/$$ site templates?

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   I get the first one and actually like it.  I see red (its more orange) for exercise or burning calories, and blue for a healthy lifestyle.  I also get the shapes of the colors.  I would say add the G in green (for perhaps outdoor activity) and you have a nice logo.
Lust my little input.

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katharina Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 25-October-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote katharina Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11-November-2009 at 10:24am
	I get the first one and actually like it. I see red (its more orange) for exercise or burning calories, and blue for a healthy lifestyle. I also get the shapes of the colors. I would say add the G in green (for perhaps outdoor activity) and you have a nice logo. Lust my little input.
	Katharina ***************** www.GermanPlaza.com *****************

simplyathleticgear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26-October-2009 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote simplyathleticgear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11-November-2009 at 10:00am
	Hello, I have received the first draft of the logo. Not quite what I was looking for, but here it is for your viewing pleasure :) Here was my feedback to the designer: I prefer the colour scheme of logo #1. I think it's a great start, but I didn't get the "THIS IS IT!" feeling -- I'm sure you know what I mean. What if we tried to give it a more "realistic and athletic" look/feel? I'm not sure how this can be done...what if we tried using a silhouette of a person "in action"? Also, the "blue dot" in the logo is powerful...too powerful, so it should not be the main eye catcher of the logo. This needs to be taken out or incorporated differently (I understand that it is the horizontal part of the "A", but the eye focuses on it too much.) Also, the wrong site name is in the logo (simplyathleticgear.com -- simplyathletic.com was registered). In brief, the vision statement is the following: "To be the leading online retailer of athletic equipment by providing quality products and exceptional service." I know that there are many experts here, so I would appreciate any additional feedback! Regards. Edited by simplyathleticgear - 11-November-2009 at 10:09am
	Martin http://www.simplyathletic.com

simplyathleticgear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26-October-2009 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote simplyathleticgear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 09-November-2009 at 12:48am
	Thank you for your feedback. I may look to use some these, or at least try them. Currently, I am working with a designer to create a logo. I'm hoping to have a logo or some concepts with the a week or so. I will keep everyone posted...hopefully I will post some samples/concepts. Regards.
	Martin http://www.simplyathletic.com

intour Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 30-June-2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote intour Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 06-November-2009 at 5:21am
	There is another option which saves a lot of time and money and can save you being totally dependent on a preconfigured design. You can buy or get for free a CSS layout tool. This creates you standards complaint CSS layouts so you have your basic 2 column or 3 column layout, fluid (to fill the screen) or fixed width centered etc etc. You do need some CSS knowledge but it's not too difficult to learn the basics. You can than tweak the layout to suit your design, add header, footer and background images and then add your code and menus. Even for experienced website designers these type of tools are great timesavers. Nigel
	Innerview Productcart Platinum Reseller Web Design/Hosting/Virtual Tours

Andy @ Landmarq Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12-November-2008 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Andy @ Landmarq Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 02-November-2009 at 6:38am
	Not being the most gifted person artistic wise, I went with the template method and grabbed one from here http://www.freecsstemplates.org/ It took a couple of hours to spread the rough layout into the header/footer and content style for product cart and about a day to convert the rest of the pages and I'm forever tweaking it about just to pretty things up and add new features but the end result looks good. The template I went for was originally intended for a blog site rather than a shopping site but the colour scheme fitted what we wanted and the layout was quite smart so templates can work if you can find one you feel will sit well with your sites content.
	Need a bespoke PC built to order? come to www.landmarq.co.uk

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28-October-2009 at 9:23pm
	Excellent approach. We always start with the logo as it communicates SO MUCH including color scheme, "mood", "character", etc. The logo is our cornerstone for site design. And frankly, serious logo design is an art in and of itself. There is a lot of skill and experience that goes into it, and you really want a deliverable that can be used effectively in all manner of media. A logo design house is a good option, but one word of caution whith these logo design services -- you will almost get upgraded to a more expensive package than you were likely expecting. However, even then you won't typically come out any more expensive than when dealing directly with a logo design artist.

simplyathleticgear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26-October-2009 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote simplyathleticgear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28-October-2009 at 8:56pm
	Hello, Before I embark on the endeavour to create a layout, I need a starting point. With that said, I'm on a mission to create a logo. With a logo I hope to be able to ensure that the layout is in cohesion with the company brand. As mentioned above, I'm no graphic expert. Therefore, I'm looking at using a third party such as Logo Design Team (http://www.LogoDesignTeam.com) to come up with a logo. I'm looking at their $149 package...seems more than reasonable for five designs and unlimited revisions. Until next time... Cheers. Edited by simplyathleticgear - 28-October-2009 at 8:56pm
	Martin http://www.simplyathletic.com

katharina Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 25-October-2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote katharina Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28-October-2009 at 12:04pm
	I encourage you to try. It is not that hard. I'm not a developer nor a designer. What I did was create a look in my webpage editing program (netobjects fusion), with buttons and all. I've also created the links from the buttons to various parts like new arrivals, customer log in, and support pages. These links can be get from the back office, and also compare them to what is in the template as for linking. Create other files like your terms etc in the back end so it also creates links for those files. Add the few tags EI has for the header and a place note for yourself as where to split the html file later into the header and footer asp pages. Basic html knowledge with help when it comes to reading html tags in the final file. I think it took me less then one hour for my first template with an older version. For the last one I needed a little bit more, due to cascading styles. Good luck.
	Katharina ***************** www.GermanPlaza.com *****************

simplyathleticgear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26-October-2009 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote simplyathleticgear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28-October-2009 at 11:53am
	Hello All, Alright...I will attempt to do something that I have never done before - create my own site layout. As eluded to by Sean above, I imagine that many people are strong in one skill and perhaps weaker in the other (development vs design). As such, what I can do is use this thread to give everyone a running account of my progress from a developers perspective (on creating a site layout)? Mind you, I do have a full-time job, so this is really a pet project, but nonetheless, hopefully I can deliver a site sooner rather than later (although it may still be months away as I need to develop my buiness model ). Thoughts are more than welcome...
	Martin http://www.simplyathletic.com

simplyathleticgear Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 26-October-2009 Location: Toronto Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote simplyathleticgear Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 26-October-2009 at 11:29pm
	Gentlemen, thank you for your replies. I echo your thoughts...that a successful site must have a rock-solid design and layout. The eCommerce site that I'd like to deploy is not for a client, it's something that I've wanted to do for the longest time so I'm finally getting around to getting the job done! I owe myself the justice to at least inquire at the cost to have a professionally designed template/layout for the site...thanks again. Regards, Martin.
	Martin http://www.simplyathletic.com