Design Three

I started with the initial shape and imagined it would need dark sides



I created oval shapes to act as stepping stones to go on the top of an iStock image. After loading it in I decided it needed lighter sides to keep the mood of the page bright and breezy



Here I've added in some relevant children images which is supposed to reflect the age range that Stepping Stones cater for. Also I wanted to get across the idea that this company can support children all along their development. I asked my 6 year old son what he thought and he said it would be better with less lines on. He understood the site was about children however my business partner Christine commented that the "river" looked a bit like a water slide. It actually does which is not what I wanted to achieve. It looks more like a waterpark website than a nursery website!



I thought I'd try the "river" image with no lines on so it looks more like a river but it just doesn't work. It's just not giving the right impression. It's amazing really because I thought from my initial drawings that this would be the strongest design of them all but it's the weakest! I don't want to put this design in front of the client. I think I'll look into the first two designs to see if they can be improved before presenting them. Also I want to ensure I can follow those designs through into other pages

I'm not going to do a feasibility study on this design as it's not been successful!



Just had a brainwave... I've changed the design to look like stepping stones but without the "river". It looks so much better. I think this is now worthy of putting in front of the client so I will do a feasibility study after all!





Feasibility
Direct costs:

• iStock images: £26.00 (for the home page alone). If I used iStock images for the three room links too that would be extra. I'll probably use their own photos instead depending on how they look
  
• hosting fees approx £100.00 per year (which I'm covering initially then will receive back in monthly maintenance payments)
  

Search engine considerations

• This design is the least complex design as the images can all be simple links (no Javascript involved which can't be read by search engines)
  
• There's lots of room for text which will be necessary for getting a good position on Google
  

Usability considerations

• The only thing going against this design is that it is all hinged on the impact of the images. The vivid colours make it look bright and enticing
• It's a simple layout so will be easy to use
• With plenty of room for links, there's always room for growth
  

Time considerations

• Not very time consuming, just a bit of coding getting the Stepping Stones to line up nicely on the page
  

Other considerations
I'm not sure how the other pages will look as has been the same problem with all the designs. I want to create a bright, airy feel that is exciting and different. I think each design offers that. I just want to step them up a notch and make them look that bit more professional