Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Darkray16]

Hey guys, I'm planning on making a website about cooking Chinese, American, Mexican, and Italian food while living in Korea. Basically, the recipes will use foods that you commonly find in grocery stores in Korea.

Well, I've drawn up two layouts, and wanted to know what you guys think looks better because you all are the target audience. The pictures and icons are used just for the layout, I will change them later, but they will probably look similar.

Even if you can't articulate or not sure why one looks better, I would appreciate your comments and vote.

Here they are:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37505807@N06/4540426584/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37505807@N06/4539792137/

[Perceptioncheck]

My vote is for lucky number 7. Somehow, it seems more streamlined. Good luck for your website - it's a great idea.

[ChilgokBlackHole]

I gotta go with 8, it looks far more intuitive, and the colors and fonts are far easier on the eyes.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

I prefer the second, number 8. To me number seven has a confusing navigation, as there's a bar on the top and an icon set in the middle. I'm generally impatient, and I would rather have smaller pictures rather than the large ones that you need to arrow left and right to see. The background is boring.

Number 8 is cleaner with a clearer organization. The branches of the website all have the same style of picture icons. Pictures are smaller so that you can put more on the main page. I would go even a little smaller with the picture icons so that you can have more, and have either branching to a subpage or a Lightbox that jumps out. I would make the background either lighter and use dark text or darker with the same white text. As it is the text contrast is too low. But well done overall.

[HalfJapanese]

I voted for 8, but I would suggest incorporating some of of the UI from 7 into 8 such as the video slide selector. Also, making the search input text box available on the same page might be a good idea, instead of having to click search then type in the search query.

[Darkray16]

Thanks for all the feedback. It's been really useful.

For layout7 I was planning to have the content from the subpages(recipes, blogs, videos) load onto the gray content area below dynamically, without refreshing the page. I would have some way to allow people to still bookmark subsections while keeping them on the main page.
The background would also be tweaked a little because I also had a feeling that it was a little boring, but would keep the general feel.

Layout8 is proving to be a bit more difficult to plan out, I'm not sure why. I also want it to load content dynamically(also using AJAX), but need to give it more thought.

So far I have drawn up the code and most of the graphics for layout7. When I have gotten both layouts up and running on a server, I can give something more tangible and closer to the final product for you guys to judge.

In the meantime, I appreciate the comments and advice. Please keep them coming.

[brento1138]

Good for you stepping up and making a webpage! Nice. Anyhow, definitely prefer the second layout. Why? Looks more inviting. Other one looks drab and makes me want to click away.

[Darkray16]

Oh and I forgot to mention the recipes I will include initially. Keep in mind, these recipes are all using ingredients that can be found at E-Mart, Homeplus, and none of those expensive foreign imported ingredients. Some(only a few) of them will include items from Costco but they will be marked. And all of the recipes will be made from scratch as Korean pre-mades taste god awful.

Farfalle Salad
Alfredo Spaghetti
Breakfast burrito
Chinese Steamed Egg(taste way better than the Korean version)
Chinese Tomato and Egg soup
Rice Salad(insalata di riso)
Hamburgers
Chinese Wontons
Quesidillas
Spring Rolls

Oh and I will include either the name of each ingredient in Hangul or a picture of it so you can find it quick and easy at the store.

[lukas]

I say layout 8. I would use a darker font with that light background though.

[red_devil]

#8. I'm guessing this will run of some kind of CMS / blog software? WordPress?

[Darkray16]

I don't think the database will reach the point where I will need a CMS anytime soon. All the recipes will be ones which I have personally tried out and there's only so many recipes I can do per month.
I'm just going to be loading the info with AJAX. I will incorporate Wordpress for my blog section, but the rest of the site is hand coded by me.

I will probably add CMS later when I study up on some, probably Joomla.