Homepage design refresh ($1,000 total prizes)

WebNotes.net is a soon-to-launch web startup offering tools to help annotate, organize, and share online content. We are updating our site’s homepage (which was originally conceived on 99designs!) in preparation for a major launch, and would like to polish it up and add some new content. See our brief for detailed guidelines.

We will be VERY RESPONSIVE to questions/feedback from designers!

Note: We are currently running a second contest on 99designs to update our site template -- see http://99designs.com/contests/20114. The total prize for these two contests is $1,000.

**UPDATE** Please consider trying the two-color scheme listed here: http://colorschemedesigner.com/#3N21Tkcyrw0w0

**UPDATE** We have extended this contest in order to give designers a bit more time to submit their entries.

**UPDATE** Please see the following change in requirements we've been posting:
- After thinking about the Feature 1 and Feature 2 sections, we have decided to change the requirements for this area (it will now be used to showcase use cases, not individual features):
- We would like to model these boxes around something similar to the “Pingdom Basic” and “Pingdom Business” on pingdom.com (minus the pricing info)
- Instead of using a large image, we would like to go with a transparent, colored or gradient background (and move the “Feature 1/Feature 2" heading inside of this area). We would also like to add room for a small image or large icon.
- We would like to have space for 3-4 bullet points in each area (similar to pingdom)

WebNotes

Some general notes:   - At a high level, our goal is to polish up our designs to make our company’s image a bit more professional.  Some words that best describe the look we are going for: “professional”, “high-end”, “innovative”, “clean” and “polished”. - We like the general look and feel of our existing homepage, though despite the guidelines below, we are open to improvements to any aspects of the design. - The most important call to action is the “Sign Up” button; the second most important are the “Learn more” buttons for the “Feature 1” and “Feature 2” areas. - While the top half of the attached mockup is relatively filled out, the bottom half is just a wireframe and needs to be designed from scratch – feel free to take liberties and be creative!  
Home page mockup:   - http://www.webnotes.net/images/99d/…mockup.png  
Notes on top half of homepage mockup:   - Header, navigation bar, and blue wavy background: We like how these look, but are open to improvements (e.g. shading, color scheme, etc.).  Since these contribute greatly to the overall look and feel of the site (which we want to make less “Web 2.0” and more towards “professional”), we want these to be very polished if any changes are made. - “Already a member? Login here”: We would like to replace this with a “Sign Up” button and a “Login” button (feel free to ditch the existing login UI) - “Annotate, Organize and Share the Web”: Font, style, etc. need to be polished - “Click to try Demo”: UI is fine, but feel free to update it if you feel compelled to - “Header Goes Here”, and “Copy goes here…”: Font, style, etc. needs to be polished - Screen shot under demo button: We’ll choose a better screen shot later, but feel free to polish up the way it is presented if you want - “Sign Up” button: Needs polishing (note: we like the orange color) - Tabs: These will be used to show different content in the “Header Goes Here” area, and need polishing (we like the shape of the current tabs, but feel free to use your own if you’d like).  Please provide an active/inactive/hover state for the selected tab and one of the unselected tabs.  Note: These don’t have to be tabs if you have a better approach in mind.  
Notes on bottom half of homepage mockup:   - “Feature 1” and “Feature 2”: Aside from the orange “Sign Up” button, these boxes are the 2nd and 3rd most important calls to action on our homepage.  They need to draw users in, but without overpowering the top half of the site – be creative! - “Quote goes here…”: Text needs to be stylized - “View Testimonials” button: Need small but very noticeable link or button leading to a different page.  Note: The quote + button can be moved elsewhere, as long as it is close to the features listed above (it is directly related to them) - “Featured on…”: No idea how this should look or where it should go! - Testimonials / Latest from our Blog: Need to be designed.  Note: these are the least-important parts of our homepage. - Misc link 1 / Misc link 2: We need somewhere to put miscellaneous links (e.g. to our blog, twitter account, etc.)  

- Clean, professional UI

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