Design Exercise 10: Choose a real life example of a local trading retail establishment. It doesn't have to have a current running website but all design,research and XHTML/CSS must be completed within 2weeks.

During this brief I want to expand on my coding skills while also taking my design work in a new direction. I am really happy with the design I produced for my last product although it caused a few coding problems! This time I want to keep the design simple, bold and warm. Perhaps bring more photography and drawing into it for content.

I am stuck between 2 pubs that I think represent a more traditional Nottingham that is away from the student way of life that the locals would be attracted to.

The Rope Walk, Derby Road: http://www.theropewalknottingham.co.uk/page2.html

Ye Old Trip, Brew House Yard: http://www.triptojerusalem.com/contact

I am planning to take photos tomorrow for the content tomorrow to help me choose between the pubs. The are both standing out to me for different reasons. Ye Old Trip is traditional with a warm atmosphere and gives you a sense of mystery through the legendary stories that surround it. Whereas the Rope Walk stands out to me because it is a traditional pub with a contemporary twist. Also the Rope Walk website is very basic with an eye sore of a colour scheme so this website screams out a new challenge for design!

With the Rope Walk I want to develop the navigation as there is a lot of scrolling involved with one of the pages, change the font, definitely the colour scheme and give it a modern homely look. From the times I have been to The Rope Walk I think it's prime target audience is 19-26 as it has DJ's playing until 3am but it has good food and drink you can enjoy with your friends etc. I want to portray a sense of quality.

I like the website for Ye Old Trip but I think it could attract more people by having a richer colour scheme and less information on the homepage so people don't become to bored of all the information. As it's the oldest pub in Nottingham I want it to give the viewer a sense of pride, richness and mystery.