website design for GardenHowTo

GardenHowTo

GardenHowTo is a social network where garden-lovers would come over to read blog posts, watch photos and videos and as a result learn step-by-step in a simple and intelligible way HOW TO run simple gardening projects first, communicate with each other in a social way, and then get inspired to start in your own yard or small space on a balcony and grow up together to make our planet more beautiful.
It will be a channel for people to discover gardening secrets and a supportive space to enrich their knowledge by meeting online with gardening experts(authors, designers, writers, speakers, business owners etc.) behind the scene.

bit.ly/UnrGK7

Please see http://bit.ly/138EJ7Y that we would like to follow in look and feel, use the same color palette.

We need to create the HOME page and LOGO that would sell the concept and entice the audience to get interested and inspired to share their own experience, ask for HOWTO advice and participate in populating the content.

It should be solution-based site like eHow, see http://www.ehow.com/ehow_home-gardening-basics/ for example.

We'd like to keep the following navigation in place:

Communities | Photos | Blogs | Discussions | Groups | Events | Shop

Central column:

Featured on Flash - 3 links 

Today's Top 10 | Latest Activity | Latest from Blogs | Latest from Forum

Left column:

Photos | Videos

Right column:

Join box with Call To Action

Members | Events

Ad space

The site layout will be similar to what could be seen on other NING-based networks, check any example from http://creators.ning.com/inspiration/index.php

Our site is based on NING platform which has limited design capabilities.
As most of the audience is feminine all masculine colors (very bright, very loud) should be avoided.