Took me a couple of hours to do this one. Kinda too tired/busy to make a long description. Maybe I'll edit this later with one, but for now just gimme some crits on the design XD

UPDATE: A few parts have been refined.

Also, I'll give a bit of input on the design. Firstly, go check out [link] for the current splash page. The status box (AJAX, updates every 10 seconds) works and will be featured in the final design (seen on the top right).

Essentially, this layout has to be simple but with a punch (because what better way to remember something than a good smack in the face? ) so that people not only visit it to find out info about the site, but enjoy visiting it. I had a few previous versions (only 1 made by me) to work by, with the guideline of keeping the colours close to where they originated (GW, so basically keep things blue). With this in mind, I sketched an idea on a piece of paper while on the train home from uni, which was then scraped except for a few basic ideas (The tabs, positioning of the status box etc).

The logo (not made by me, by a GW member by the name of east) was already simple, bright and clean, so it would easily adapt to anything I put behind it. I picked out some colours and drew out boxes, switching the order of the colours until I worked out how I wanted them to work together. I ended up with the light blue background (straight, no stuff at the top) and the middle box (which is actually the dark blue with a white stroke added! haha). I had seen the lines idea used in a few designs I liked, so I applied it myself and it appeared to work well (later on I follow the advice of Fo33y to make the tops lighter). Then, I put in the logo and an idea for the status box, so I could start putting in the tabs which I had already decided upon.

At first, the logo, status and tabs were on the outside at the top (the box was not 100% height) but after a while I preferred the idea of being in the box so I put them in and it worked, keeping the main three points I wanted immediately visible (logo - branding, status - because people will check that the most, and navigation).

Next, rather than jump straight into content, I wanted to have a space to summarize where the user was, as well as point out some more information they might be interested in. Originally, this started out as a flash box (where the white box is) that would flick between various pieces of information, as well as display show ads. After asking around, it was decided that this might be annoying and wasn't really necessary. Back to the drawing board, I went for a straight text description of the page/site on the left, leaving space on the right. I jotted down some ideas and decided to go for "upcoming shows", a feature that I quite liked on previous layouts. Not only does this inform a user of when the next show is, it gives DJs a bit of subtle advertisement since their show is guaranteed to show there at some point during the day of the show, which helps less popular or known DJs get noticed.

The actual content area didn't have much thought. Break it up into easy chunks, appropriate headings, standard stuff.

and finally the slightly uninspired footer! Not distracting but still visible (and now easy to read ).

At some point I'll throw together a mock-up of the schedule page, dj page and dj profile pages, since the layout of their contents will change.

NOTE: This is a MOCK-UP, so padding and spacing is a bit everywhere (I don't consider padding when doing my mock-ups in photoshop...because I am lazy ), but you still get a good feel for things so there should be no problems <3

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: I am considering adding a "skip to content" link to the very top (as seen at [link] when you rollover the top edge) since the top areas take up quite a bit of space. Opinions?