Topic: Criticise! (Read 9742 times)

StaedlerMars · « **on:** 28 Jul 2008, 09:14 »

Hey,

I'm designing a website for some friends, and I'm needing some feedback on the design so I'm turning to the artsy community of QC

so far this is what it looks like

Tell me what you think. Give negative feedback (constructive!).

Thanks

Vendetagainst · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Jul 2008, 18:41 »

Well that's not a whole lot to go off of, but I would say you should maybe slightly alter the text and maybe tighten up that red background thing so that it fits the text a little better. Also offer a few more screenshots or whatever.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 11:38 »

yeah, i've decided against that entire design.

the link is updated for the current looks.

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 11:46 »

Yeah, there's really not much there to say anything about. Perhaps put something there, maybe some Lorem ipsum text just to see how content will be presented, or some more dummy links to see how the menus will be and how it will all work together.

Lines · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 18:27 »

Yeah, you really need to change that font. Also, it could be nice if you toned the white to more of an off white (not beige, but just enough color to make it less blinding) and made the grey a little darker.

Otherwise, the navigation is simple and easy to use, which is good, and the actual layout isn't too bad. Play around a little more and it could look quite nice!

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:18 »

It's broken in Firefox 3.0. Also, if you need someone to do PHP work (though you might want to find someone more experienced) I've messed around a bit with it, and I could see what I could do, if what you need is a content management system.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:23 »

The site is basically finished layout-wise. colors and stuff are pretty easily changeable.

Linds, you're right about the white. I built it on a computer that is pretty dark, so it didn't stand out that much. Now that I've seen it with a brighter screen I agree. Also, on the original screen the box color was pink, which turned into a weird beigish situation on this screen. I'll experiment a bit with that and colors.

BlakeJustBlake, the site's pretty much full of all of it's final text now (the things that I quickly threw together anyway, I don't know how final any of that is) and it should give you an idea of how it should look in the end. The final plan is that I learn PHP myself, so don't worry about that. Plus, one of the other guys knows PHP, so he's going to do the now stuff probably.

also, i'm using firefox 3.0.1 and it's working fine?

it is, however, broken in opera, safari, and ie6, and the problem is not one I can immediately think of as to how I should fix it.

Vendetagainst · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:28 »

the dividers on the top of your page are screwed up.

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:34 »

True, plus whenever you go to portfolio and contact and maybe another one or so, the content area covers up the menu. Also for the sake of standardized coding, when making a menu, make it a <ol> or a <ul> which each link in a <li> and then use CSS to decide spacing, don't just put the links there and then put a bunch of spaces between them. Also I can't exactly see where your dividers are in your source. Also I'd change up the way you do your Javascript for switching between content. I mean the way you do it is fine, eh, oh well it doesn't matter, I'm just being picky, but it could look way more professional, which you want it to if you're going to have a web design web site.

Oh wait, you put the dividers in the image behind the menu huh? Heh.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:43 »

the spaces were there to get a look without using images, but I think I'm going to resort to a:hover images. it's less of a headache once you have the final colors sorted.

I know the javascript is less than desired, but it was written to get the job done pretty quick without much thinking. It's by no means a finalized version, it was just to get an idea up. (this is why I put it up here, to get this feedback!)

BlakeJustBlake, maybe you know this. How do you get css layers on top of eachother? What I have now is them on different z-indexes, but for some reason they're all placed below eachother, so that I have to move them up to get them level with the other sections. This is part of the problem in other browsers, and has been frustrating me.

Yeah, i put the dividers in the image behind the menu. probably not the smartest thing. I could probably have drawn that image using CSS now that I think about it.

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:47 »

Well, if you must know, Z-indexing and hiding and making visible an area of content isn't exactly the best way to go about what you want to do. In fact it's the shakiest, possibly worst way to do it. I'd suggest either just resorting to different pages for each menu item you have, or you could use an iframe with each bit of content on a different page to target when you click on a different menu item. Sure, you don't get the whole "Oh hey, look at this neat thing I did" effect, but you get a lot less head aches, and a lot more working. And really at the end of the day what matters is that it works, even if you had to go the easy way.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:53 »

Quote from: BlakeJustBlake on 30 Jul 2008, 20:47

"Oh hey, look at this neat thing I did"

you're on to me.

The next option was a frame, which is probably what I'm going to be working on tomorrow.

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:56 »

I've been doing web coding since I was like 13, I've tried all of those "neat things" at one point or another. If you have to hack it together, there's usually some technology that does it easier and better in some way.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:58 »

Heh,

yeah, this also showed me the importance of testing on various browsers.

I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with a newer version for all of you to test.

Thanks again!

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Jul 2008, 20:59 »

No problem, I'm here for anything you need help with.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #15 on:** 03 Aug 2008, 19:04 »

So it took a while, and up now is the newest version. Go ahead and tell me what you think.

pwhodges · « **Reply #16 on:** 04 Aug 2008, 01:21 »

Up where? Not at the link in your first message.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #17 on:** 04 Aug 2008, 06:28 »

oh, heh, i typod in a 2 at the end of index.html

Lines · « **Reply #18 on:** 04 Aug 2008, 10:45 »

Portfolio and Home are not in line with About, Services, and Contact, if you wanted the background to stay in the same position. I know that's nit picky, but hey.

Also, the font is a whole lot better now.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #19 on:** 04 Aug 2008, 13:27 »

Yeah, i know, the reason that happens is cause the pages aren't the same length so that the scroll bar is needed for some and not for others. making space for the scroll bar makes the page jump over about 20 px, which looks messy.

I'm currently filling it with words to make up for that.

pwhodges · « **Reply #20 on:** 04 Aug 2008, 13:41 »

Centered web sites are nice, but I have mine left-justified which avoids this effect. Or for more trouble you could calculate the left offset according to the window size, rather than centering automatically.

BlakeJustBlake · « **Reply #21 on:** 07 Aug 2008, 06:25 »

It's working very well on the kiosk computer I'm on in my college, these forums don't work on my computer for some reason, but I'll try and check it out on my computer. Just a suggestion, though it would be a little bit more work for you: With the recent projects you should add a little content space to come up where all of your other pages do for each project that you click on that gives a little information about the project as well as a link to it instead of just linking directly without people knowing what they're getting into, I'd suggest possibly a thumbnail of the site too and such.

Edit: I was able to get on and it looks and works great!

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #22 on:** 12 Aug 2008, 17:22 »

Hey, thanks for all the feedback!

There is a new version of the site up that I like much better. As pwhodges suggested, it's no longer centered. It's simpler, and does away with the whole switching between div tags thing.
It's still located at the old link.

www.silent-theta.com

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Criticise! (Read 9742 times)