Mike W

Hi, I have to agree with the comment about the background image, the quality is too low and it's very distracting from the rest of the site. The layout and structure of the site are good, alignment is sound and the font choices seem to fit. There is an "undefined" message on the bottom right when I viewed the site. Regards

Hi, Here are my (not overly experienced) opinions of the home page: On the plus side: + Lovely stock images, it always pays to get nice stock images + Logo is very nice + colour scheme is elegant. What I didn't like: + a little too much white space (or black space). There are some big gaps around and below the logo. I know there's debate about whether people normally look "bellow the fold", but on the resolution I have, you don't get any indication of more content until you scroll down. + the stock images, look out of line with the top and bottom banner. It would be better on the eye if they lined up. Still overall, a nice site.

I have Changed the font combination to Arial/Georgia, seems a safe pairing. I have redrawn the logo adding an interesting grading, subtle outline and a shadow, giving it a little more interest. I have also cut down the number of shades of colour I use. Any better? I think I need to line up the buttons and headers. Any other advice?

With the number of colours in the site, plus the focus is drawn to the centre image, I would drop the heavy textured background and go for something very plain and close to white. It's a bit distracting. But as I said, I'm no expert on colour schemes.

Hi, I like the site, it has a nice feel to it, not too busy and not too cluttered. I especially like the colour scheme, a week point of mine. btw your "home" link is incorrect in the "self updatable sites" sectionand the "testimonials" section.

Hi, I agree with the other guys, the structure is good and clean but the colours let it down a little. The other sites in your portfolio seem a bit more exciting. I can't offer any good advice on colours as I also have a post here asking for some advice on my colour choices! It might also be useful to have a css change highlighting which tab you're currently on.

Thanks for the advice. For colour schemes I played with + aviary.com/tools/toucan + kuler.adobe.com + colourlovers.com and the one you suggested. I think I may need to put more thought/plan into the volume of colours, perhaps + 70% pale background + 20% accent colour + 10% other shades I tend to choose from a nice looking palate and throw them around in the wrong proportions I know there's not golden formula, but a rule of thumb is a good start for new players. I haven't seen anything yet though.

Hi, I'm a developer making my first steps into the world of web design. This is my second official site (my first one was reviewed here too, and looks better then this one) I've completely redone the colours background and fonts three times now, spending hours on it. I have to admit now I think it looks pretty poor, so I though I would seek other opinions and advice. sherriffsalesagency.appspot.com It's a pretty basic "I'm here" site, for somebody who's not particularly interested in the web. Many thanks

There was originally a bit of a star theme which got lost along the way. The background image would tie in better if I use a few floral brushes for the design. Thanks

Hi, It's nicely laid out and there's a lot of content to layout. I would look to use a bit more white space round some of the text, it seems a little crowded. Also what fonts are you using? I think you could make it more interesting with a font change, perhaps on your heading fonts, maybe it hasn't come across in the screen shot too well. I'm no expert, other peoples views are free and sometime useful, sometimes useless Regards

Hi, It seems this site gets a number of "my first site" links. Here's my first step from a developer to a designer. http://black-orchid-accessories.appspot.com/ I'm still sorting out a decent domain name. I thought a good once over from other designers would be better done early. The guys who want the site aren't so big on giving me content, so it's effectively a flyer. Opinions welcome. Mike

Has anybody used any other grid system, with a centralised large background image?

Hi, I have created a site using the 960gs framework and I have been trying to use a centralised background image. I have noticed by using IEtester, that the background image shifts about 20px right between IE7 and IE8. It looks ok on the latest versions of Firefox, Chrome and IE8. I was using a background image for some borders but they went all out of whack, so I made a design change instead. Has anybody else encountered the same problem? I've been following a tutorial on http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/how-to-css-large-background/ saying that the follwong CSS would do the job: body { padding: 0; margin: 0; background: #f8f7e5 url(wdw-bg.jpg) no-repeat center top; width: 100%; display: table; } It seems OK on that site, but not mine. I believe the difference may be 960gs. I don't want to tear the site appart by removing 960gs. Anybody seen this before? Thoughts? Many thanks