Design/Layout help on windows app

[FishGuy]

Hey,

I have been working on the following windows app and it is nearly complete (i.e functioning)

However I am not convinced I have the correct look!

Anyone think of any ideas on how I can improve on its general look and perhaps make it a little clearer.

Comment on things such as buttons, positioning, use of colour whatever.

[penagate]

It looks very functional, but a bit flat and all-over-the-place.

You could use an Explorer Bar control for the Advanced Search on the left. That would give it a bit of colour.
Here's one from vbAccelerator.

Perhaps you could put the rest into a window, and use frames or tabs to group the sections.

[RhinoBull]

Screen does look functional but very "busy" - unless it was a requirement to have it all on one screen I would try using tabs or split entire content into a separate forms (search could be moved to a stand alone form)...

I personally like the Outlook type of layout - clean, classic and easy navigation.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'd have to agree that it is currently busy, but is this a workable example, or is this just a compilation picture that shows all possible screens? Otherwise, I would suggest icons to show output, or the tabs that RhinoBull suggested. Basically, you want the user to focus on only one piece of information at a time, while your screens are clearly showing multiple types of information at a single time. Of course, if this is just a composite example, this point is irrelevant.