Cosmic Child Care

[PDG]

I've been working on this one for the past few days. It's finally finished (except for facility pics) and I'd love some feedback. So lemme know all you can. It's a company my sister is starting in Waldorf, MD. She gave me complete creative control and this is what I pulled off.

Try viewing this through the eyes of a consumer. If you're looking for a Child Care, what would you want listed on the site? Anything that's missing?

All feedback both good and bad is welcome.

Thanks!

http://www.cosmicchildcare.com

[TrinityOfOne]

Although I'm not the best person to comment on colour schemes (I consider mid-grey to be 'rather bright' :)). The sidebars do seem to intrude a little on the periphary, which to me, makes the content a little 'flat'.

The layout itself is good, not too cluttered and easy to navigate. As for the actual content, Jewels is the person to cast her eye over that :)

[PDG]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]Although I'm not the best person to comment on colour schemes (I consider mid-grey to be 'rather bright' :)). The sidebars do seem to intrude a little on the periphary, which to me, makes the content a little 'flat'.

The layout itself is good, not too cluttered and easy to navigate. As for the actual content, Jewels is the person to cast her eye over that :)[/QUOTE]

Excellent point about the sidebars. Now that you mentioned it, it bothers me too. I'll tone it down later tonight.

[TrinityOfOne]

Maybe give it a more 'pastel' look, in line with the other site colours?

[PDG]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]Maybe give it a more 'pastel' look, in line with the other site colours?[/QUOTE]
Definitely. The problem I have is I do most of my design on a laptop. This laptop tends to display colors extremely off. So I have to design "blindly" until I get to a real computer. After seeing this on my work monitor it's definitely too loud.

I've been thinking about buying a color calibrator to fix issues like these permanently. They have a nice cheap one that's caught my eye.
http://www.colorvision.com/profis/profis_view.jsp?id=281

[Silky]

I like it, PDG! I went through it page by page (and you might want to check it as there are a couple of typos). I can tell you that something that I didn't like was that all the links on the first page (Nutritious Meals, Individualized Attention, etc) all led to the same page. Maybe make a generalized statement about the advantages and link the page from that, as opposed to linking it to each individual concept. Another thing you might put in there somewhere is the ratio of teachers/day care workers to children. Also, if I was looking for day care, I might want a few photos of the places you talk about, like the sleeping area, the outside facilities, etc.

Overall, I really like the color scheme, although I agree with Trin that the orange sidebars are a bit bright. Other than that I really like the colors...very eye-catching.

Nice work btw!

[PDG]

Thanks for the help everyone! :)

I used an OCR program to scan my sister's brochure and that led to tons of typos. I since fixed 'em all. (especially that one about "sour" kids,lol)

I also toned down the background a little.

Now I just have to wait for staff info and pictures to put the finishing touches.

[seabie]

That is beautiful, PDG..I really love the design and colors. It has such a soft look, very appropriate for the target (there's that word again :p) age group (< 5 years old I mean). The only critique I would have in terms of appearance would be to maybe soften the black lines around the infant..that would, at least to me, enhance unity/uniformity, since everything else is so pastel-y. :)

As far as content, you have a great resource in Jewels for sure!..but I absolutely agree that ratios need mentioning..as well as the care providers' specific background, experience, and qualifications. Parents, more than anything, look to those things first -- and if those points are addressed, they are more likely to take an interest in the rest. I don't know if your sister would have a problem with listing fees or rates, but that is a very important consideration too..as is whether or not the center would be open weekends and holidays.

Just a few late-night scattered thoughts. :)


edit to say you already said you were waiting for staff info, so nevermind to what I said about that part.. lol

[PDG]

[QUOTE=seabie]That is beautiful, PDG..I really love the design and colors. It has such a soft look, very appropriate for the target (there's that word again :p) age group (< 5 years old I mean). The only critique I would have in terms of appearance would be to maybe soften the black lines around the infant..that would, at least to me, enhance unity/uniformity, since everything else is so pastel-y. :)

As far as content, you have a great resource in Jewels for sure!..but I absolutely agree that ratios need mentioning..as well as the care providers' specific background, experience, and qualifications. Parents, more than anything, look to those things first -- and if those points are addressed, they are more likely to take an interest in the rest. I don't know if your sister would have a problem with listing fees or rates, but that is a very important consideration too..as is whether or not the center would be open weekends and holidays.
[/QUOTE]

These are golden! Thanks, seabie. I hadn't even thought about weekends and holidays. And that eye you have is great. I'll get to work on those black lines. They do seem out of place.

[Dave]

Those side bars get wider and wider and wider ..... the ratio seems to change as I alter the viewing width, it's not a consistent ratio. At full 1280 width I get a white piece to the left of the lefthand sidebar and to the right of the righthand sidebar. At 800 or so the sidebar is insignificant .... and just about bearable to my "just woke up" eyes. :)

Lots of pictures of the people and the place but all that has been said.

[PDG]

[QUOTE=Dave]At full 1280 width I get a white piece to the left of the lefthand sidebar and to the right of the righthand sidebar. At 800 or so the sidebar is insignificant .... and just about bearable to my "just woke up" eyes. :)
[/QUOTE]

Yeah...backgrounds are always a b*tch to make. They prove to be the toughest part of a solid web project for me. I created the background making the generalized assumption that the target market accessing the site (women) don't go past the 1280 pixel mark. As a matter of fact, in my day to day adventures, I've noticed most stay within 800-1024 pixel range. (hint, hint, silk:p)

But when you say bearable, do you mean the colors/design don't appeal? Is it still too loud you think?

[Dave]

[QUOTE=PDG]But when you say bearable, do you mean the colors/design don't appeal? Is it still too loud you think?[/QUOTE]The sidebar colours are way too bright for my liking. They pull your eyes away from the information in the middle.

[TrinityOfOne]

dat's what I said, with different words :)

[PDG]

[QUOTE=TrinityOfOne]dat's what I said, with different words :)[/QUOTE]

I remember you mentioning so I lightened it up at home earlier today. I guess I'm just a sucker for bright colors. I'll re-lighten later today and fix that whitespace gap too.

Thanks again guys. :)

[Scott]

I like it PDG. The only things I see is a line height issue (see attachment) and the cell padding kind of breaks it up. Around the edges there's a 10 pixel white gap. I think it might look a little better if the padding were removed.

[PDG]

[QUOTE=Jolt]I like it PDG. The only things I see is a line height issue (see attachment) and the cell padding kind of breaks it up. Around the edges there's a 10 pixel white gap. I think it might look a little better if the padding were removed.[/QUOTE]

This was a super-big help, Jolt. Thanks a lot. I think I isolated the issue to some bad Span tags. Can you check it again to be sure? The text layout did change a little in regards to centering and spacing. What browser does Mac use? Mozilla?

[Scott]

100% fixed PDG. Looks great. Nice work.

It was Safari on the Mac. Safari is real good at showing odd coding issues. IE tends to be a little forgiving.

[Jewels]

Hi PDG,
As I have recently set up as a childminder and am starting to think on having a website to advertise myself, I have been doing a lot of research on typical websites here in the UK - not to plagerise them of course, but just to make sure I'm covering all the important stuff that everyone seems to include 'as standard', so...
Firstly a list of things that would be included in just about any site or brochure over here - which of course maybe very different to what's required in the states, but just in case it's useful...(and apologies if it's all irrelevent, too obvious, if it's already in the site or brochure and if i go over something some one else has covered already!)
These are not usually great lengthy documents by the way - just a short page outlining the key points :)

1. A behaviour management policy - this sets out a guide to how you deal with bad behaviour and will always contain lots of groovy stuff about "praising the child for good behaviour" etc

2. Details of your child protection policy - what you will do if you suspect a child in your care is being abused at home...Obviously a very sensitive subject so its always best to spell out in advance to potential clients that you WILL be informing the authorities if you suspect abuse has taken place.

3. Equal opportunities policy - no child will be descriminated against because of their ethnicity, religion, gender etc

4. Confidentiality policy - obviously not sharing information about the children or their families (ties in with the child protection issue - the one time you are obliged to break client confidentiality)

5. Also linked to confidentiality - what kinds of records are kept about the children? Daily/weekly development records? How are accidents and incidents logged? (health and safety issue), records of medicines administered to the child (over here you are required to have WRITTEN permission from the parents to give any medicine and you must log details of what you gave, how much and when) etc etc

6. Adult to child ratio, more details on any other carers

7. What equipment is available to the children (doesn't have to be everything, just a general idea of toys, games, outdoor toys etc)

8. Experience and qualifications of all staff

9. Policy for enroling and termination of contract - important to cover your ass on this otherwise folk can just say they are going to stop using the service as of tomorrow and you are suddenly losing income - best to request 4 weeks written notice. Also policies for holidays...Over here parents would not pay for any time the carer is on holiday but would be expected to pay (normally half the usual fee) for time that they are on holiday to ensure their place is kept open for them.

10. In the nutrition/meal section, over here it's standard to give examples of a range of meals and snacks that you might offer and also to state you are willing to cater for special diets etc. Also to request written details of any food allergies etc that the child may have.

11. Fees! Again, absolute standard to get these spelt out right away over here - most folk do a simple table stating basic fees and then things like fees for reserving a place, holiday fees etc

12. "Typical day" - every site over here seems to have an example of how a typical day might pan out, will include meal and snack times, structured activities (e.g art and crafts) and 'free play' time, 'quiet'/story time, outside play etc etc

13. Will the children be taken on outings/to local resources e.g. library, swimming pool etc?

14. Photos would be great - if possible at least one of garden and one of inside house - it sounds like a fantastic location so would be great if your sister is willing to put in a pic or two - should really reel 'em in!

15. References - once she's had a few clients these will make the best references obviously, but if in the mean time she's willing to let potential clients speak to previous employers/friends etc who are willing to be character references for her that would be brilliant. Over here no one will consider a childminder who hasn't provided 2 checkable references.

As i said at the start, this is purely based on the UK system for child care provision which has very rigid guidelines that encompass all types of childcare from childminders to nurseries (kindergardens i think you lot call them!) - and on the phenomen of very detailed websites that has sprung up over here - so if your sister chooses not to put these details in (maybe the brochure is more detailed?) or if USA laws do not require her to have policies for any of these things i totally respect that....These comments are not meant to be critical - just trying to give a guide of what is going on 'accross the pond' with childcare issues at present!

I think the look of the site is gorgeous - for some reason over here childminders tend to have really fussy sites - hundreds of teddy bears, baby bottles, toys etc all over every page - and personally i think that is distractling, annoying and looks messy and not hugely professional...The site you have done has lovely colours (bright but not too bright - also very nice that you didn't use the usual primary colours or pastel shades that everyone uses over here!) - i love the name and the logo of the baby sleeping on the moon is absolutely gorgeous. The over-all effect to me is of a very professional set-up but one that is full of love and care and that has the childs happiness, development and well-being at the centre of it's philosophy and in every area of the care provided.

I did spot 2 typos (and this is rich coming from me - i'm sure there will be about 2 million in this post from me as i am the typo queen!) - in the 'Indoor area' bit it says 'our' when it's meant to be 'your' ('your child') and in the 'Outside yard' bit is says 'hone' instead of 'home'.

It's fantastic that the children will get to learn spanish - thats a huge selling point. I could've been bought up bilingual in Spanish as my mother is Peruvian but as she had settled over here with an English guy (who couldn't speak spanish!) she decided to just stick with English....I soooo wish she'd bought us up learning spanish though - i've tried learning since but it's just not the same as when you are little and just soak it all up like a sponge!

Anyway - here y'go - a typical epic Jewels post! I hope it may have been of use in some way! :)

[Dave]

Jewels .... BRILLIANT!

From what I know through an old friend of American law on childcare they're more strict than we are and I know that's pretty tough even here these days, rightly so to!

[PDG]

[QUOTE=Jewels]
Anyway - here y'go - a typical epic Jewels post! I hope it may have been of use in some way! :)[/QUOTE]

:):):)

This is absolutely Golden! No, wait, Platinum! Thank you SO very much! My sister is going to be sooo happy to read up on these topics. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jewels. I had fixed those typos before but I accidently uploaded them again when fixing the issue Jolt mentioned (someday I'll synchronize my laptop with my home computer.....NOT ;)).

Did I say thank you? :):)

/me walks away with a huge smile on his face

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=Dave]Jewels .... BRILLIANT!

From what I know through an old friend of American law on childcare they're more strict than we are and I know that's pretty tough even here these days, rightly so to![/QUOTE]

Thanks Dave! :)
It's a lot to get your head round, all these policies, but as you say - rightly so that they are finally being enforced! :)

[Jewels]

[QUOTE=PDG]:):):)

This is absolutely Golden! No, wait, Platinum! Thank you SO very much! My sister is going to be sooo happy to read up on these topics. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jewels. I had fixed those typos before but I accidently uploaded them again when fixing the issue Jolt mentioned (someday I'll synchronize my laptop with my home computer.....NOT ;)).

Did I say thank you? :):)

[color="red"]* PDG walks away with a huge smile on his face[/color][/QUOTE]

You are very welcome PDG, I am so glad to have been helpful!
If there's anything else I can help with please do just ask!
:)

[Silky]

Great advice, Jewels! :)

[TinCupid]

Great indepth advise from all, well done ;)