Bureau for the Improvement of NS Businesses [Organisation]

[Tippercommon]

have you got that post Tippercommon?

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=31964

[Vitaphone Racing]

In some way you can say the airport threads are for RP purposes as they dont really do a lot other than provide "connections" to a nation, same with airlines for example, though they can provide footfall for the likes of Montelucci (what ever happenned to them) and the likes of Genesis.

I am in the middle of building a new railway station on NS as well.

Again though, what's wrong with that? It's a weird thing to say because every thread within the Diplomacy board is only there for RP purposes. Why would anybody else have a storefront after all?

[Vitaphone Racing]

It is interesting to see how much emphasis is placed on formatting these days. The era of GE&T I'm from placed almost no emphasis at all on formatting and every bit on written content.

[Aurora Confederacy]

Though I wander how well an RP would run set in and around a busy train station, though as it is, it may be a way of plugging other storefronts. Hai'lu'kai station storefront was modelled on a wiki of Shin Osaka station on the Shinkansen network

[The Milvian States]

What would the bureau suggest for my first storefront?

[Vitaphone Racing]

What would the bureau suggest for my first storefront?

It's a lot of flash formatting with not a whole lot of content to put it bluntly. You've obviously paid attention to the formatting side of things, which is a start, but there's a lot of space you could improve in.

For starters, I'd work on fleshing out your company a bit. For starters, you could probably add a bit more information to the "what we are" section; a couple of sentences is a start but you could add things in like what sort of service you stand for (cheap, luxury, family friendly etc.), the sort of customer you cater for (people who want to experience shipping travel or were you really the only option of getting around before). Once you start filling this in, it's easier for people to imagine roleplaying with you and hence, they'll be a lot more likely to sign up.

You can apply this philosophy to every other section in your storefront as well. You could expand on the history in the timeline a bit, you could write some brief paragraphs about your ships to emphasize whether they're luxurious, cheap, fast, what sort of features and amenities they have, how expensive a ticket usually is, that sort of stuff. Take care to look at IRL cruise company websites; they'll go to a lot of trouble to talk about how fantastically awesome their ships are to convince potential customers. Same sort of thing with the cabins.

Keep in mind lists of specifications don't win people over by themselves. Think of them as more of an accompaniment to a persuasively written piece rather than a stand alone aspect of a storefront.

So just the very basics to consider at the moment, I might be able to provide you with some more specific help a bit later on.

[Vitaphone Racing]

And if people would prefer to seek advice privately, you can telegram me (and I'm assuming anyone else) and I'll telegram you back with suggestions so nobody else need know.

[Pharthan]

What would the bureau advise for my storefront?
I feel as though is it a bit cluttered and spread out, not exactly sure what to fix on it, though.

[Tippercommon]

What would the bureau advise for my storefront?
I feel as though is it a bit cluttered and spread out, not exactly sure what to fix on it, though.

Suggestions:

• Ditch the reflection on your main logo. It'll reduce its size from about 570px to 270 px.
• Make the logos/banners of your partners smaller and fit them in one section. The NGASE and GETRAX sections in particular clutter it up a bit.
• I would personally ditch the Quick Catalog Tabs with all your products. Instead, on every post you should just have a navigation bar that has links to the different product categories. You could keep the catalog tab but just for the products on that category. On the OP, I'd definitely recommend getting rid of it. I would suggest a bar over a box like I have on my storefronts. It's less clutter.
• Have your navigation bar or box right below the main logo (right align is most preferred) and move the "Halcyon Arms started as a shipwright in the early days of Colonial Farland..." text right below it as well, but not in a box.
• Pick a style. At this point, you have some products in spoilers and some not (and the Catalog Navigation Box causes problems in that if the image is too big it will be placed at the bottom of the box). At first glance, it's confusing.
• You are being redundant in some places by listing the name of the product in a text header while the name of the product is already on the image.
• If at all possible, instead of having a white background on your product images, go for a transparent background.

[The Free Republic of Akan]

Anyone got ideas on how to make people not post on WIP fronts? Cmon!

[Maltropia]

Anyone got ideas on how to make people not post on WIP fronts? Cmon!

Write [Closed/WIP] in the title until it's open. If that doesn't work... ask the mods to delete the post.

[The Free Republic of Akan]

Anyone got ideas on how to make people not post on WIP fronts? Cmon!

Write [Closed/WIP] in the title until it's open. If that doesn't work... ask the mods to delete the post.

Ok... I did put WIP but someone still posted. And people post on catalogs too!

[Maltropia]

Write [Closed/WIP] in the title until it's open. If that doesn't work... ask the mods to delete the post.

Ok... I did put WIP but someone still posted. And people post on catalogs too!

Your options are to a) ignore them, b) tell them not to post and c) ask in Moderation for the posts to be removed. Sometimes it's an honest mistake; other people just don't care.

[The Free Republic of Akan]

Ok... I did put WIP but someone still posted. And people post on catalogs too!

Your options are to a) ignore them, b) tell them not to post and c) ask in Moderation for the posts to be removed. Sometimes it's an honest mistake; other people just don't care.

Thanks!

[Pharthan]

What would the bureau advise for my storefront?
I feel as though is it a bit cluttered and spread out, not exactly sure what to fix on it, though.

Suggestions:

• Ditch the reflection on your main logo. It'll reduce its size from about 570px to 270 px.
• Make the logos/banners of your partners smaller and fit them in one section. The NGASE and GETRAX sections in particular clutter it up a bit.
• I would personally ditch the Quick Catalog Tabs with all your products. Instead, on every post you should just have a navigation bar that has links to the different product categories. You could keep the catalog tab but just for the products on that category. On the OP, I'd definitely recommend getting rid of it. I would suggest a bar over a box like I have on my storefronts. It's less clutter.
• Have your navigation bar or box right below the main logo (right align is most preferred) and move the "Halcyon Arms started as a shipwright in the early days of Colonial Farland..." text right below it as well, but not in a box.
• Pick a style. At this point, you have some products in spoilers and some not (and the Catalog Navigation Box causes problems in that if the image is too big it will be placed at the bottom of the box). At first glance, it's confusing.
• You are being redundant in some places by listing the name of the product in a text header while the name of the product is already on the image.
• If at all possible, instead of having a white background on your product images, go for a transparent background.

Thank you. Some of what you mentioned is from a point in time I was trying to transition, then got distracted by life and forgot to finish.

I can't guarantee I'll be able to implement them all, but everything you've said is sound and makes sense.
(Specifically changing all backgrounds to transparent. The level of detail on say, my ships, tends to make Adobe Illustrator freak out and I have to have others rasterize them for me.)

[Tippercommon]

(Specifically changing all backgrounds to transparent. The level of detail on say, my ships, tends to make Adobe Illustrator freak out and I have to have others rasterize them for me.)

I'm not a huge fan of vector graphic editors just by the virtue that the most I can do in Inkscape is draw a line.

[Pharthan]

(Specifically changing all backgrounds to transparent. The level of detail on say, my ships, tends to make Adobe Illustrator freak out and I have to have others rasterize them for me.)

I'm not a huge fan of vector graphic editors just by the virtue that the most I can do in Inkscape is draw a line.

Used to have that problem. I generally find GIMP to be "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? WHY CAN'T I SELECT STUFF?"

Currently trying to redo my banners in a manner that looks... well, better.
Going to try something fancy.

Also, do have a question: I do seem to recall being invited to the Sussex Group, but have no idea about what was going to happen with that.

[Tippercommon]

Also, do have a question: I do seem to recall being invited to the Sussex Group, but have no idea about what was going to happen with that.

Idk. My workflow has gotten to the point where a from scratch aircraft takes about 5 hours to make. End up with like 200 layers though lol

And, I originally had the idea of the Sussex Group or some similar organization being a league of the best storefronts on GE&T, but I've built it up now as a domestic firm who is basically the face of Tippercommon commerce.

[Pharthan]

Also, do have a question: I do seem to recall being invited to the Sussex Group, but have no idea about what was going to happen with that.

Idk. My workflow has gotten to the point where a from scratch aircraft takes about 5 hours to make. End up with like 200 layers though lol

And, I originally had the idea of the Sussex Group or some similar organization being a league of the best storefronts on GE&T, but I've built it up now as a domestic firm who is basically the face of Tippercommon commerce.

In your opinion, would you view it as better to have more coordinated banners/displays that look nicer, or a wider array of products, many of which do have more updated and nicer looking predecessors? Problem being that some of those do get a fair amount of sales, still.

Many of my older products were made on a different computer that decided it felt like taking a shotgun to it's hard-drive, so I have nothing but the jpegs and not easy way to edit them.

EDIT: Not long after I post this, someone purchases one of the few designs I was really considering getting rid of. :/

[Tippercommon]

Idk. My workflow has gotten to the point where a from scratch aircraft takes about 5 hours to make. End up with like 200 layers though lol

And, I originally had the idea of the Sussex Group or some similar organization being a league of the best storefronts on GE&T, but I've built it up now as a domestic firm who is basically the face of Tippercommon commerce.

In your opinion, would you view it as better to have more coordinated banners/displays that look nicer, or a wider array of products, many of which do have more updated and nicer looking predecessors? Problem being that some of those do get a fair amount of sales, still.

Many of my older products were made on a different computer that decided it felt like taking a shotgun to it's hard-drive, so I have nothing but the jpegs and not easy way to edit them.

EDIT: Not long after I post this, someone purchases one of the few designs I was really considering getting rid of. :/

From a design standpoint, consistency throughout your storefront is ideal, but you shouldn't sacrifice your product catalog for this. There are still ways to salvage a dirty .jpg. Creating a selection around the product and erasing the background and then stroking a path its borders for one. As far as products go, I would try to weed out products that are too similar. Too many products can make the storefront look gawdy, and if they're redundant in function, what's the point?

[Maltropia]

As far as products go, I would try to weed out products that are too similar. Too many products can make the storefront look gawdy, and if they're redundant in function, what's the point?

Though, if you were to keep your catalogue in its own thread, you could market your similar products as variants of the one design.

[Pharthan]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be applying it.

[Virana]

I'd like to see if someone in the Bureau can give me some input on my current storefront (which some of you've probably already seen)?

[Vitaphone Racing]

I'd like to see if someone in the Bureau can give me some input on my current storefront (which some of you've probably already seen)?

Obviously it's a pretty good storefront. Formatting wise is excellent and the designs are sound. I think if you wanted to look for improvement you've just got to set yourself progressively higher standards of work. One area I can think of is fleshing out a backstory behind your designs a bit more (I only really looked at the missiles and fighter keep in mind) so it's more than just an elaboration of the stat-block. Being able to explain not just what you designed, but why, how and for what purpose is one of the hallmarks of being a great designer and it's basically one of the last challenges on the road to the feeling of self-accomplishment. Anemos Major is one of the very best at this if you were looking for inspiration.

[The Free Republic of Akan]

I'd like to see if someone in the Bureau can give me some input on my current storefront (which some of you've probably already seen)?

Im not in the Bureau, but I need a Bureau issued diaper.
Great front! Love the detail! (I skimmed). Bit more products needed, but with that kind of detail, its hard.