Design Process: Working progress of my website

What I want to do here is show you guys the process i have and will be taking in building my website from start to finish. I will talk a bit about how it started and some of the steps and techniques used in getting it to where it is now. I know some of you are interested and I think some of you will get a lot out of it

Plan: I have been doing freelance sites for probably 7 or so years now so i decided it was time to take the next step and create a business. I just wanted to initially target small business and ways i could do that with max efficiency and quality for value for money.

Name: the name was important and I wanted something that incorporated the web and something creative and memorable.

Concept: The concept was to incorporate softdrink with the web (sounds silly i know) but combining the two gives me quite a marketable "product"

I had spent alot of time playing with the logo and trying different fonts and styles. below is a small sample of the logo process and how many alteration and versions it went through.



this is what i had imagined what the logo would look like if sold in japan lol

Design: I wanted a really clean modern style so I played with vectors and solid colour and edges. I initially sterted with the website cause thats what I was thinking about first. I also had in mind how I wanted some the the can graphics so I whipped up some cans in Lightwave 3d and textured them with a sample design.

here are some of the original website concepts.





The original concept was to have 4 types of website for each of the cans, and each can would have a name thay represented the type of solution. like the MAXX was a complete cms/portal and LITE would be the basic website etc.

Brand: I didnt feel the brand was strong enough so I created more graphical elements that would be used to build a strong image. I created a "shape" consisting of bubble like elements, lines and stuff to give the brand something i could use across the board.

main texture design




and applied to the homepage




also though id see how it would look on a business card

I want really happy with the way things were coming along so i decided to rethink the concept. I had thought of an idea where the website could be the side of a 4pak can box. so i decided for a realistic look id go take some photos of some boxes. i went down to the local liquer joint and got some used boxes, borrowed my biz partners nikon d100 and setup a shoot.

here are some of the pics (with bad lighting)







i had to map all these together and take out all the branding off the boxes which was a pain especially due to the bad lighting. the originals were extremely high res so that helped a little.

So here is the box all mapped together and some text and other graphical elements on there. (damage, rips etc)



looking a little bare so i tried creating a design element similar to the first design. something a little more interesting and colourful using a different style.



now mapped onto the side of the box, i also had plans of animating the graphic on the side. will include that shortly.



quite happy with this design i mocked up some more cards



If you have any questions about any parts of the process, feel free to ask.

here is the html mockup with some "really" basic flash animation.

http://www.websoda.net/pats/code1/index.htm

Now after getting this far, guess what? i wasnt happy with it
It had the impact i was after but it was a too complex and cluttered. So i cut it back a bit, still kept the main graphical elements but got rid of the box idea.

I went back the the cleaner design using the fullon design only on the can. heres the new can texture for the 3d can.



also heres another mock up for the business card.



and more recently, the homepage.

At this stage i was thinking its fairly final so i start making other materials like email footers, banners, etc. here is the design for the information kit.

I am so sick of looking at orange and grey and it is apprearing really weak to me, still doesnt have the impact i am after and it still isnt what i had in mind.

i went back to lightwave and spent a lot of time trying to get the lighting right. i wanted a more solid feel and something stronger and bolder.

just a quick snapshot from lightwave.



i am now using hdri probes for global illumination which give it a more realistic feel. this would determine the new look and feel.

after the render were complete i dropped them into the homepage from the previous post, didnt look right. so i grabbed a blueish/grey from the can and used that for the base colour instead of the grey. Also change the orange to a deeper red and now i love the feel of it, much more solid and modern. and i like the look of the aluminium texture so i plan to have that show through more on the new can design (in development)

current page



like i said on the other thread i am in the process of creating the new design for the can and have plans to animte it. will also be using more graphics including more 3d in the content of the page. So this is where im at feel free to ask about any part of it and will keep updating as i go.

Wow! I think you've got some incredible ideas here. Really top-notch stuff.

(Although, I'm not sure I'd want your printing cost )

printing wise its pretty cheap, those cards i can get full cmyk on a nice 310gsm satin with matt celloglaze both sides 500qty for under $200 aud. quality is great used them before. they do bulk runs of stuff thats why its so cheap.

lol im sure the mods would get mad at your for all your doulbe posting but not for this stuff!!! thats just crazy

There definitely are some brilliant ideas here DR01D - your design process is clear to read and has a good approach.

I love the concept of "websoda" and the appropriation being used with, of course, soda. Fantastic job with the graphics, btw and I love the logo.

Great stuff.

damn you are good! those are some great renders and such, i have only see a few people that i know that can do that

thanx guys for the compliments.

i have been struggling with the new can design, been throwing around a few but not happy with them. have also been working on the content for the site - something i hate doing I used to be able to write creatively but now it just frustrates me.

hopefully have a design done in the next couple of days, wanna make sure i can comeup with something that i can animate and might have to use in print etc.