New Template Design For Gfxtrap.com

[rvalkass 5]

Mmm... the link is saying i don't have permission to view the page the image is on.

Seems will still have permissions problems with attachments added my moderators then. Here's a copy on ImageShack:

 

 

BTW rvalkass, whos that picture of in your profile? Is that you or some English rock artist perhaps?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Weird_Al%22_Yankovic

[Tramposch 1]

Seems will still have permissions problems with attachments added my moderators then. Here's a copy on ImageShack:
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/404.png

I think I like that layout, clearly labeled of what will be what, just one question.

Where it says "latest news" column right under the banner, is that only the graphics forum, or is that the whole of Xisto's news.

Also with the latest replies, down below where it updates real time, I think that should be latest topics instead of replies, and then make a latest replies in a smaller column somewhere else because when I go there I don't want to see the latest replies on something like somebodies comments on a signature, I want to see the original post so i can see it for myself and comment, do you know what I mean?

Oh and attachment work fine for me.

[truefusion 3]

The GFXTrap banner, i would say, shouldn't be big. A big banner would take up some of the spot light, and the forum content should have all the spot light we can give it. The banner doesn't have to be complex either, just plain text and a background color (perhaps a gradient, i'm thinking of that orange color in the favored color scheme) should be enough—maybe even add some special design to the end opposite of the text. Yeah, other GFX websites tend to have huge and complex banners, but i don't think this website calls for one. I'm thinking of a banner no bigger than 100 pixels in height.

 

I think this design can work on some level. I would agree to swap the latest SOTW with the SOTW winner so that the latest is on top. Concerning the latest news, i feel the text should be aligned vertically to the left side of the latest news box rather than the common horizontal text at the top of the box. Following from that, the text should be clickable to hide and show the current news. By default it will be shown, when clicked a cookie should be set or updated. I can do all the JavaScript work. Since the buttons on the left and the news in the middle won't be much, the right column should have the most room rather than each column being the same size.

 

The color for the buttons (those on the left and those under the current SOTW, not the latest news one), a color should be introduced for it. The latest news one i'm thinking to go with the orange color, but the other buttons mentioned i think should have a bright and warm blue—the green in the favored color scheme seems out of place for buttons, and the other colors don't have that "click me" feeling to it, if you understand what i mean.

 

In between the show off button and the tutorials and tips button should go a button for those who want a design done for them—advertising for the request a sig or banner forum.

 

I also agree with the footer. I think the design should be, by the way it is going, a full three column design.^[2]

 

[1]Where it says "latest news" column right under the banner, is that only the graphics forum, or is that the whole of Xisto's news.

 

[2]Also with the latest replies, down below where it updates real time, I think that should be latest topics instead of replies, and then make a latest replies in a smaller column somewhere else because when I go there I don't want to see the latest replies on something like somebodies comments on a signature, I want to see the original post so i can see it for myself and comment, do you know what I mean?

[1] GFXTrap; Xisto news seems irrelevant here.

 

[2] I don't think updating it in real time is required, since the goal is to get the visitor to enter the forums. Let's let refreshing the page do the updating. We should go with a complete three column design here. The design should stay "cut" in half the way it is, but for the bottom half, the left side should contain links to other sub-forums that aren't advertised already. The middle part should display the latest topic titles for the show off forum. The right column should have what you suggested, the first post for the latest topic in that forum. Similar to the SOTW box, that box should have their own buttons on the bottom. The middle section can be used to change the content of the right column, and under the topic titles of the middle column could have a link to the show off forum. I realize that is basically dual advertising for the show off forum, but shouldn't matter.

[rvalkass 5]

Where it says "latest news" column right under the banner, is that only the graphics forum, or is that the whole of Xisto's news.

The graphics forum. General Xisto news is often more related to myCENTs, hosting changes, etc. and therefore isn't really that interesting to people who have found the graphics site and are interested in that part of the forums.

 

Also with the latest replies, down below where it updates real time, I think that should be latest topics instead of replies, and then make a latest replies in a smaller column somewhere else because when I go there I don't want to see the latest replies on something like somebodies comments on a signature, I want to see the original post so i can see it for myself and comment, do you know what I mean?

Makes sense. However, that would result in older topics with recent replies never appearing in the list, despite the fact they may still be active. Perhaps using latest replies, but providing a link to the first post in the topic rather than the most recent post?

 

The GFXTrap banner, i would say, shouldn't be big. A big banner would take up some of the spot light, and the forum content should have all the spot light we can give it. The banner doesn't have to be complex either, just plain text and a background color (perhaps a gradient, i'm thinking of that orange color in the favored color scheme) should be enough—maybe even add some special design to the end opposite of the text. Yeah, other GFX websites tend to have huge and complex banners, but i don't think this website calls for one. I'm thinking of a banner no bigger than 100 pixels in height.

A small banner would certainly provide the most space for the content and seems like a good idea. I didn't exactly do my sketch to perfect scale A design on the right hand side should be fairly generic. On the site at the moment we have an image of a character that has nothing to do with graphics or the site, which seems slightly odd. An abstract, generic image would work well, or some form of composite image. Not sure.

 

I think this design can work on some level. I would agree to swap the latest SOTW with the SOTW winner so that the latest is on top. Concerning the latest news, i feel the text should be aligned vertically to the left side of the latest news box rather than the common horizontal text at the top of the box. Following from that, the text should be clickable to hide and show the current news. By default it will be shown, when clicked a cookie should be set or updated. I can do all the JavaScript work. Since the buttons on the left and the news in the middle won't be much, the right column should have the most room rather than each column being the same size.

After posting it I came to the same conclusion that the current SOTW should be placed above the previous winner. It's a minor change that doesn't affect the layout. I intended to draw the right column (the SOTW boxes) slightly wider but I didn't quite leave myself enough space It's our narrow A4 paper I tell you! Thinking about the widths, how about 25% : 25% : 50% or would that be giving too much bias to the SOTW column and make the text hard to fit in the central one?

 

Update

 

I've moved away from pen and paper into the HTML phase, and have crafted a quick prototype of the layout I proposed, along with truefusion's changes, just to see the size and position of the boxes.

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

 

The text (and colours!) will all be changed - it's all just placeholders to check the positioning of everything and see if it's an idea people want to pursue. Let me know.

[inverse_bloom 0]

The grouping is good but it think you should decrease the amount of whitespace between the wider gaps (maybe try twice the thickness of the smaller inner gaps). A feathered composite eimage on the right of the banner would be good. Some sort of fancy photoshop effect would be ideal. Something abstract but has impact. Regarding the placement of the very bottom row, the row should be closely cut near the middle where it meets the fold at 1024 X 768. (or at the top or bottom of it). Regarding the buttons they should be clearly contained within the bounding area of SOTW entries box. (just in case that was the intention). Mmm... yeah looks like everythings on target and does everthing it needs.

Edited January 4, 2010 by inverse_bloom (see edit history)

[truefusion 3]

The SOTW winner part of the site, i don't think that is something that can be easily generated or obtained through RSS feed. Possible solution could be to make a sub-forum in the SOTW forum specifically for displaying winners. But that may be too drastic. Another possible solution is to manually update a file on the server side and include it.

 

Makes sense. However, that would result in older topics with recent replies never appearing in the list, despite the fact they may still be active. Perhaps using latest replies, but providing a link to the first post in the topic rather than the most recent post?

Although RSS feed for the GFXTrap forum isn't currently accessible so we can see if a new reply pushes the topic up, i'm sure it can be reactivated (with admin help). But looking at the source code of the available RSS feed, channel::item[#]::title, channel::item[#]::link and channel::item[#]::description means it is possible, assuming the feed does display the active topics, and it also means we wouldn't have to download and parse the feed again to change the currently displayed topic. But to make things appear more intuitive if it is going to be listing the active topics of the Show-off forum, rather than "Latest Show-offs" it should be "Active Show-offs." But before that change, we'll have to verify if older topics that were bumped up would be reflected on the RSS feed.

 

After posting it I came to the same conclusion that the current SOTW should be placed above the previous winner. It's a minor change that doesn't affect the layout. I intended to draw the right column (the SOTW boxes) slightly wider but I didn't quite leave myself enough space It's our narrow A4 paper I tell you! Thinking about the widths, how about 25% : 25% : 50% or would that be giving too much bias to the SOTW column and make the text hard to fit in the central one?

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I'ma assume the padding and margins are also rough draft material for the HTML demo.

 

I'm liking the 230px width for the left column (size includes the padding of the button, but with less padding of course). 25% for the left column implies it'll resize on bigger resolutions (note, i'm judging with the standard resolution being 1024x768), but i don't think the content of the left column justifies the need for resizing. The middle column may have to be taken care of separately for each half. That is, the upper half (i.e. the latest news) will have spoilers, so 230px seems too small, and 25% for a 1280x1024 resolution is a bit too much for the bottom half (the topic titles only), unless we can find a size for both that will work. By the looks of it, i think 250px in width for the middle bottom-half would do.

 

We should make use of the CSS property max-width, limiting the page from stretching too much when, for example, viewed on resolutions bigger than 1280x1024. We should also use it for the middle top-half, since the right columns will always have more content. Since rounded corners will make the site look better, we should also make use of border-radius. We shouldn't make any images rounded ourselves, since setting any images as background images can make them appear rounded using border-radius (it's a trick i use on my own site). This way if we want the image to loop on a certain axis, we wouldn't need two separate images, and we can pick and choose which corner we want rounded.

 

The right column, of course, can take up as much space as it wants. But, yeah, (as inverse_bloom mentioned, in his post before this one) the buttons for the right column below each box will stretch to meet the width of the container above them and run along the bottom edge of the box in the finalized template. Concerning the fold, we can't worry much about where each row becomes visible, since the height will be mostly resized by the current SOTW requirements topic in combination with the SOTW winner and maybe news. However, if we use the CSS property, overflow, we could probably keep things at a certain height, but if it were me, be it any site, i wouldn't want my view of the content to be restricted like that, unless perhaps what is being restricted isn't that significant.

 

I'm not sure how browsers render elements whose width is 100% while all the other elements on its side take up their own space, but if it doesn't push things off the screen where it shows a horizontal scroll bar for the view port, then we can give the right column 100% width. The max-width for the middle column, i'm not sure of a value, but what can help us determine a good max-width is seeing the expected content within the column. And how many characters should we allow before cutting off the current news spoiler? 100 characters, perhaps?

[rvalkass 5]

The grouping is good but it think you should decrease the amount of whitespace between the wider gaps (maybe try twice the thickness of the smaller inner gaps). A feathered composite eimage on the right of the banner would be good. Some sort of fancy photoshop effect would be ideal. Something abstract but has impact.

I've reduced the spacing and increased the sizes of the boxes to use the available space. Abstract but with impact was exactly what I was thinking for the banner, but I'm not sure what other ideas are floating around out there for it.

 

Regarding the placement of the very bottom row, the row should be closely cut near the middle where it meets the fold at 1024 X 768. (or at the top or bottom of it). Regarding the buttons they should be clearly contained within the bounding area of SOTW entries box. (just in case that was the intention). Mmm... yeah looks like everythings on target and does everthing it needs.

The buttons were placeholders. I did it late last night and didn't work out the CSS to make them do what we wanted them to Should be fixed on the latest version.

 

Although RSS feed for the GFXTrap forum isn't currently accessible so we can see if a new reply pushes the topic up, i'm sure it can be reactivated (with admin help). But looking at the source code of the available RSS feed, channel::item[#]::title, channel::item[#]::link and channel::item[#]::description means it is possible, assuming the feed does display the active topics, and it also means we wouldn't have to download and parse the feed again to change the currently displayed topic. But to make things appear more intuitive if it is going to be listing the active topics of the Show-off forum, rather than "Latest Show-offs" it should be "Active Show-offs." But before that change, we'll have to verify if older topics that were bumped up would be reflected on the RSS feed.

I'm slightly concerned that the RSS feed claims to have been updated this morning, yet is showing content from 2008. If RSS data will form the content for the site then it is vital that it's actually correct and up-to-date, otherwise it will make the site look like no-one has updated it for 2 years.

 

I'ma assume the padding and margins are also rough draft material for the HTML demo.

 

I'm liking the 230px width for the left column (size includes the padding of the button, but with less padding of course). 25% for the left column implies it'll resize on bigger resolutions (note, i'm judging with the standard resolution being 1024x768), but i don't think the content of the left column justifies the need for resizing. The middle column may have to be taken care of separately for each half. That is, the upper half (i.e. the latest news) will have spoilers, so 230px seems too small, and 25% for a 1280x1024 resolution is a bit too much for the bottom half (the topic titles only), unless we can find a size for both that will work. By the looks of it, i think 250px in width for the middle bottom-half would do.

The padding and margins are all subject to change. Take a look at the page now and see if that's any better. At the moment the whole design is fixed width, as I didn't think any of the content really required a fluid layout. I've added some slightly more useful example data so we have an idea of how much text we can fit where.

 

We should make use of the CSS property max-width, limiting the page from stretching too much when, for example, viewed on resolutions bigger than 1280x1024. We should also use it for the middle top-half, since the right columns will always have more content. Since rounded corners will make the site look better, we should also make use of border-radius. We shouldn't make any images rounded ourselves, since setting any images as background images can make them appear rounded using border-radius (it's a trick i use on my own site). This way if we want the image to loop on a certain axis, we wouldn't need two separate images, and we can pick and choose which corner we want rounded.

As far as I know, no browsers actually support CSS3's border-radius property, although Mozilla and Webkit have their own versions of it. For the moment I have added those to the site, although I would much rather have a solution that worked across all browsers. Until CSS3 is adopted by major browsers this is something I haven't looked into, so any solutions that work cross-browser are welcome. At the moment I'm rounding everything, but if we only want certain corners rounded then that's not a problem.

 

Update

 

I've uploaded a new version of the page.

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[truefusion 3]

I'm slightly concerned that the RSS feed claims to have been updated this morning, yet is showing content from 2008. If RSS data will form the content for the site then it is vital that it's actually correct and up-to-date, otherwise it will make the site look like no-one has updated it for 2 years.

I don't recall hearing about it being updated, but since we're nearing the completion of the layout, there should be something started concerning the RSS feeds for the GFXTrap section of the forums. I'll PM BuffaloHelp about it.

 

As far as I know, no browsers actually support CSS3's border-radius property, although Mozilla and Webkit have their own versions of it. For the moment I have added those to the site, although I would much rather have a solution that worked across all browsers. Until CSS3 is adopted by major browsers this is something I haven't looked into, so any solutions that work cross-browser are welcome. At the moment I'm rounding everything, but if we only want certain corners rounded then that's not a problem.

I would just let graceful degradation take its toll on older browsers. Things should still be placed on the same spot, just no rounded corners. The only browser i know of that has implemented border-radius without a prefix is Opera, but that is for their latest alpha build. We may have to work something out for IE7 and below, though, as i don't expect everything to be in place with those, especially IE6.

 

The padding and margins are all subject to change. Take a look at the page now and see if that's any better. At the moment the whole design is fixed width, as I didn't think any of the content really required a fluid layout. I've added some slightly more useful example data so we have an idea of how much text we can fit where.

 

Update

 

I've uploaded a new version of the page.

 

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

I took the source code and modified it a bit (i've only tested it in Firefox 3, Google Chrome and Opera 10). I made it more self-dependent with the CSS and moved it more into the favored color scheme. It still needs some spicing up, graphics-wise, as it looks dull and reminds me of one of those place-holder websites that you'd run into for "dead" URLs that have search keywords as its content. The way i set up the links on the left (concerning their color and emphasis) is still a rough draft, as i don't have any ideas for making it stand out more without them standing out too much. But here is the updated HTML (copy and paste will work):

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd;<html lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><title>GFXTrap Template Example</title><style type="text/css">	html {		background: #1F212D;	}	body {		font-size: 11pt;		color: #BDC2E2;		margin: auto;		padding: 0;		max-width: 1240px;		font-family: Arial;	}	a {		color: #BDC2E2;	}	#footer {		padding: 0.5em;		text-align: center;		clear: both;		background-color: #34374D;	}	#header {		color: white;		background-color: #F0611D;		margin: 0;		height: 55px;		padding: 0.7em 0 0 1em;		font-size: 28pt;		letter-spacing: 3pt;		border-bottom: 12px solid #BC4C0D;	}	.border_radius,	.left div.box,	.left a.button,	.middle div.box {		border-radius: 0.5em !important;		-khtml-border-radius: 0.5em !important;		-webkit-border-radius: 0.5em !important;		-moz-border-radius: 0.5em !important;	}	.top_left_radius,	.right div.box {		border-top-left-radius: 0.5em;		-khtml-border-top-left-radius: 0.5em;		-webkit-border-top-left-radius: 0.5em;		-moz-border-radius-topleft: 0.5em;	}	.top_right_radius,	.right div.box {		border-top-right-radius: 0.5em;		-khtml-border-top-right-radius: 0.5em;		-webkit-border-top-right-radius: 0.5em;		-moz-border-radius-topright: 0.5em;	}	.bottom_left_radius {		border-bottom-left-radius: 0.5em;		-khtml-border-bottom-left-radius: 0.5em;		-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 0.5em;		-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0.5em;	}	.bottom_right_radius {		border-bottom-right-radius: 0.5em;		-khtml-border-bottom-right-radius: 0.5em;		-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 0.5em;		-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0.5em;	}	.box {		padding: 1em;		background-color: #495168;		border: 1px solid #495168;	}	.box * {		padding: 0;		margin: 0;	}	.box ul {		list-style: none;	}	.container {		padding: 1em 1em 0em 1em;		clear: both;	}	.content {		background-color: #DEE2EB;		color: #495168;		padding: 1em;	}	.left, .middle {		float: left;		padding: 0.7em;	}	.left {		width: 230px;	}	.middle {		width: 250px;	}	.right {		margin-left: 35.5em;		padding: 0.7em;	}	.left a.button {		font-size: 16pt;		display: block;		padding: 1em;		margin-bottom: 0.7em;	}	.right div.box {		-khtml-border-bottom-left-radius: 0;		-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 0;		-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0;		-khtml-border-bottom-right-radius: 0;		-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 0;		-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0;	}	.right a.button {		background-color: #DEE2EB;		color: #495168;		text-align: center;		display: inline-block;		margin-bottom: 0.7em;		padding: 0.3em 0 0.3em 0;		font-weight: bold;		text-decoration: none;		width: 100%;	}	a.button {		padding: 0.3em;	}	a.button:hover {		background-color: #dff4ff;		color: #495168;	}	dt {		font-weight: bold;		margin: 1em 0 -1em 0 !important;	}	dd {		padding: 1.3em 1.3em 0 1.3em !important;		text-align: justify;	}</style></head><body><h1 id="header">GFXTrap</h1><div class="container">	<div class="left">		<a href="#" class="box button">Show off your work.</a>		<a href="#" class="box button">Request a sig or banner.</a>		<a href="#" class="box button">Find tutorials and tips.</a>	</div><!-- // Left -->	<div class="middle">		<div class="box">			<h2>Latest News</h2>			<dl>				<dt>Topic Title 1</dt>					<dd>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla eu erat lectus. Aliquam viverra fusce...</dd>				<dt>Topic Title 2</dt>					<dd>Aliquam erat volutpat. Proin pellentesque magna id risus sagittis gravida viverra sapien turpis duis...</dd>				<dt>Topic Title 3</dt>					<dd>Duis convallis erat vestibulum sapien pretium at scelerisque justo ullamcorper. Maecenas dictum amet...</dd>			</dl>		</div>	</div><!-- // Middle -->	<div class="right">		<div class="box">			<h2><abbr title="Signature of the Week">SOTW</abbr> #43 Entries</h2>			<ul>				<li>Maximum Size: 450x300 px</li>				<li>Theme: Chickens</li>				<li>Deadline: 25 Mar 2010</li>			</ul>		</div><!-- // Box -->		<a href="#" style="width: 50%; float: left;" class="button bottom_left_radius">Submit Entry</a>		<a href="#" style="width: 50%;" class="button bottom_right_radius">View Entries</a>		<div class="box">			<h2><abbr title="Signature of the Week">SOTW</abbr> #42 Winner</h2>			<p class="content">Clickable thumbnail here.</p>		</div><!-- // Box -->		<a href="#" class="button bottom_left_radius bottom_right_radius">View Runners Up</a>	</div><!-- // Right --></div><!-- // First container --><div class="container">	<div class="left">		<div class="box">			<h2>Other Stuff</h2>			<p>Links to other unmentioned sections go here.</p>		</div><!-- // Box -->	</div><!-- // Left -->	<div class="middle">		<div class="box">			<h2>Latest Show-offs</h2>			<ul>				<li>Topic Title 1</li>				<li>Topic Title 2</li>				<li>Topic Title 3</li>			</ul>		</div><!-- // Box -->	</div><!-- // Middle -->	<div class="right">		<div class="box border_radius">			<h2>Most Recent Posts</h2>			<ul>				<li>Topic Title 1</li>				<li>Topic Title 2</li>				<li>Topic Title 3</li>			</ul>		</div><!-- // Box -->	</div><!-- // Right --></div><!-- // Second container --><div id="footer"><p>We are not responsible for loss, damage or nuclear war resulting from the use of this website.</p></div><!-- // Footer --></body></html>

Haven't heard much from the GFX Crew members about the current rough draft. Would it be safe to assume that they accept it on some level?

[Tramposch 1]

I am actually loving what you guys have done with teh css and html, i think we should run with it. As for graphics, how do you want it? Like i used to code so im guessing u want things like the top left corner of a box, and right corner, and stuff like that right?Ill jump on that.

[Xalor 0]

I like the concept of the SOTW (SOTM) being shown up on front, makes the main section of the forum standout comparatively. The only thing, we don't really update that much, so in reality, the site should be pushing people to check out this forum more than checking back at the gfxtrap site llike truefusion said. I really like inverse_bloom's design. It looks really good how'd you do come up with the sidebar navigation design? It looks awesome as a drop down menu, although well I guess it would be a side drop menu?

[Tramposch 1]

I took a screenshot of the css and html progress so far, and threw it into photoshop and started working on it.

 

 

I haven't finished it yet (adding the bars at the top and bottom to the other boxes) and haven't finished the banner yet.

 

I was talking to Xalor on msn, and he had an interesting idea. you know where, in the boxes, at the top and bottom there is an oragne bar, then a gradient (from dark blue to lighter blue)? His idea was to add some sort of light scan line effect on it, or carbon fiber effect, I will try that after I eat and see how it looks, Xalor also suggested to get rid of the "Latest news" section, cuz its kinda redundant, and it would open up a space for more options, being able to have a bigger box under the banner.

 

What do you guys think? I'll continue graphics after dinner.

[Nameless_ 1]

Hey, its looking great! I can't wait to see what the end result might be. It might be better if the background became a bit more "graphical" too, and has more pictures, as it is looking rather plain right now. Perhaps a subtle gradient might to the trick. Also, the banner is great, but I think it can do with a bit of refining. I don't know what, it just doesn't look that well... the Font is OK, in my opinion, but the banner seems to be cut off and the gradient doesn't really to the trick. :)Cheers. By the way, if anyone needs of graphics I'm here to help, though I don't think I'll be able to do really pro ones though.

[Tramposch 1]

here is a second draft! tell me what you think.

 

[truefusion 3]

here is a second draft! tell me what you think.

 

I like the orange horizontal lines, but i don't think they need to go everywhere. I've updated the source again and added in the orange horizontal lines, but i restricted them to header elements. I've also switched the top right column with the top middle column so that the news is on the right and the SOTW in the middle. I've attached an updated source (let me know if you can't download it).

 

gfxtrap.zip

 

Can you figure something out for the top left buttons, on making them appear special? My attempts aren't getting satisfactory results. As for making the content more "graphical," i am opened to ideas. We also can't have it being too graphical where the text becomes hard to read. If background images are to be used, they should be able of displaying for any screen resolution while keeping their file size at an acceptable level—and where will they be used?

[Nameless_ 1]

To me, it's still a little too plain for a gfx site. It's mostly text and no sigs. Like I said, maybe we should change the background or something? See deviantart for some ideas. I suggest you put a very big default graphic up in a corner or something, to make it look good. It's just very plain... Maybe little icons or something that go back to home, sig competitions and something on the top as a navigational banner would be great. It depends though, as those image will most likely look pixelated and doesn't suit the design of the gfxtrap site.