Aijo

Hello, I think that a bit of work on the header will work wonders. Especially the logo (as already suggested) I totally agree with the previous comment about getting the balance right. Of course, it's really, really difficult but the site feels a little 'soft' and 'light' for me. I hope you know what i mean by that, it's hard to explain feelings, but i think that you might be feeling something because the overall feel of the site doesn't quite sit right with a Manufacturing/Industry. I would try tweaking the colours first of all, the blue is a bit too pale/pastel i feel and the content loses a little strength because of it. Actually, i've just been looking at the header a little more, and i definately think that you could boost this area to completely transform the site. A good logo designer will have no problem in coming up with something for you - there are plenty of things to play with in terms of creating, such as using the little bearing ring as an 'O' or something along those lines. idea : If it was me, i would section off the word 'ACORN' and use the ring as the O in the centre. Also, one final thing - I feel that the navigation column and main section of text needs a little more white space on the sides, only a touch, but it doesn't look quite balanced to me at the moment, i think that a little bit of extra white space will add to the overall legibility - the text is a touch too close to the edges for me. Good luck in ironing out your niggles bud, hope this helped a little. Carl.

Hi bud, I'm afraid that i don't feel qualified enough to comment on your web page design/layout - but i can give you some input concerning your logo.. To be brutally but politely and very nicely honest, i would re-design it. The largest reason is that even though it looks fine,i don't feel that it is quite distinctive enough. The letters themselves are a bit too similar to other letters to pull it off. For example, the logo could read RD, AD, AO FO, FD etc, etc.. Your logo is your brand and it's worth taking the time to get it right, especially as your in an early stage. Try not to feel pressured to get it done in a short period of time also. A good design certainly takes time - I've known logo designers take years to do their own logo ! Also, on a visual note, i like your cityscape concept, but perhaps it may be an idea to add a little more detail to the outline. Might be worthwhile grabbing an image and doing a bit of penwork in Photoshop, also have a think about fading it a little to blend into the background. At the moment, my eyes are drawn directly to the background and not the page content, i find myself skipping over your page and looking at the sides. Other than that bud, keep up the good work !

Hi David, I'm not too experienced to give a really good opinion, but if it can help, i'll chip in a little.. The first thing i notice is that the letter style that you use for your name etc, doesn't quite fit with the rest of the page. It may just be me but it's very much an old style script and i think that it takes away from the rest of the sites more modern feel. I would go with a really crisp and clean style. Also, if it were me - i would swap the flash based images at the top (portfolio and CV) for just a single bit of imagery, flash or otherwise. I would go with something which just screams out 'web design'. After all, i believe that the main purpose of your site is to get some freelance work in this area. I would suggest that your CV link could perhaps take a backseat and really make this main area of space count where it matters most. One final small thing.. I would also ditch the red in the page and would just leave the cool 'ice' cyan and the green - I think that it would help in terms of being a bit less distracting. Other than that bud, it looks great - Good job. I'm looking forward to seeing the new design. You seem to be doing well with the kind of things that i'm trying to get into. I'm not too far from you (Walsall) - so all the best neighbour ! Carl.

Yeah, you're probably right!, especially in something as varied as logo/ graphics design, i'll see how it pans out when i have more designs. To be honest, in regards to the Navigation, i'm not too fussed with it being up there, i'm planning on including the links that i want potential clients to use in the main content. I'm just mulling over a plan to kind of guide my visitors to different parts of my site. Thanks for the input bud, it's very much appreciated.

Hi guys, spot on comments and very much appreciated - keep 'em coming, they really help define what has to be done. The purple colour text has to go, i totally agree. The orange on the top was once the same purple and i changed it to orange once i decided on the header colours, the rest should follow suit shortly. It takes me a while because i'm not to hot on my XHTML, CSS or PHP just yet (i'm learning slowly) and it takes a while to work out how to change them. I was also thinking a deeper red, as suggested. Interesting comment on the header, feeling like a giant ad. I'd not thought of it like that but i can definately see where you're coming from. My goal was to make something different, which stood out a little. It's still not a 'definate' but i kinda like it how it is. I think i should be able to make it all come together once i add a bit of content to the main page - perhaps once i've got a bit of content there, it won't stand out as much like an advertisement. Thanks for alerting me to that one though ! Also, i agree about the colour clash with some of the showcase graphics. I noticed it as soon as i uploaded the 'Purple Zone' pic that i did. I think that i'll have to leave those that don't harmonize in the portfolio and just have the ones that 'go' in the main showcase. I had thought about adding a border to the slideshow which is the same colour as the header graphic, but it will mean that i wall have to sacrifice the size a little and i'm not sure yet - i'll have to work on it. Again, thanks for the comment, it sort of cements what i'm already mulling over. Gracias Amigos, Carl.

(sorry, i think i've gone and put this in the wrong section) Hey all, Wow, i've been away from the forum for a couple of months but it only seems like 5 minutes ! I've been 'up to my eyes' busy. I'm a signwriter/designer and i sub-contract to the government, doing Police cars, ambulances, army vehicles etc.. - i had a big contract to do recently, so thats what's been keeping me away. Back now though ! If you could give me some much needed feedback on my site that i'm trying to sort out please... I'm trying to setup a logo/web graphic design site for myself with the hope of trying to get a bit of freelance work. If you could let me know your first impressions, i would appreciate it a great deal. It's only a manipulated Wordpress template as i'm just learning XHTML and CSS. (please forgive the excessive Milpark logos in my portfolio - i'm just showing a basic letter style to a customer) Thanks a bunch in advance, Carl. http://www.aijologodesign.com

I agree with Expat, 100%. I will have a bash for you if you like, i'm just in practice mode anyway before i try and build up some clients. I've got a fair bit of experience doing logos but i've been out of it recently, i've literally done many thousands of them when i used to work in a signs and graphics store a few years back now, even did some work for the RAC and the PFA at one point. Let me know if you're still stuck ,i'll gladly help out if i can. Carl

Hey bud ! We're in the same boat. I'm also slowly building up to do exactly the same thing - i love logos If i can offer some advice... Try and calm your site down a little. I would start with changing to a plain background and plain old text. When you are building your portfolio you don't want anything to stand in the way of your work standing out. If you practice more and more in Photoshop and Illustrator and get up to an expert level, your work will be able to speak for itself. The beauty of this sort of thing is that it's nothing but fun while you learn (at least i find it fun anyway) Take your time, it won't happen overnight. I myself am aiming to spend this year alone just building my portfolio. Good quality stuff is going to take time and if you really fancy doing it, then make sure you have a firm footing to build on. Ditch the Google ads right away, you only really need to focus on things like this if you have a large amount of regular traffic. Sure, you might got the odd quid here and there, but you will be sacrificing your potential customers. Finally, think about using Wordpress or something similar. You can have a site/blog rolled into one and the blog should hopefully drive a fair bit of traffic if you can write quality posts. (At least i'm hoping it will !!) lol. This will also take a long time though, so be prepared. Keep it up though bud, I can't fault your effort - nice one ! Carl

Hey bud, Nice job ! Only 2 small things and only really personal opinion.. I'm not too keen on your yellow mustard colour for the boxes at the top, i think a different colour would suit a bit better and secondly, i think you're lacking a few images. Personally i think you need a few to break the text up a bit. You should have tons of stuff to choose from with gaming as your main theme. Keep it up ! Carl

Hey bud, i LUURVVEE the UFC, and thats kinda why i'm being picky - It's good but I think that it could have been better. Actually, this is kind of a good lesson, it just shows that the ultimate website is impossible. Too many variances in tastes. One guy thinks is good, the other thinks its rubbish and so on.. etc..etc.. me - i try to stay in the middle and say that they're all ok. lol

lol, yeah ! you can guarantee that they paid a FORTUNE for it and most of us lot are finding plenty wrong with it.

Hey all, I like it, it's certainly not boring and you won't forget it in a hurry. Best i've seen ?, no way. Personally, there's something not quite right with it and it could have been better. The metal flooring surround doesn't 'feel' right for the site. Maybe because they are floor panels and they are vertical. PLUS ! (Noticed this right away) - the vertical bar on the right doesnt line up at the bottom !! Thats me being picky, but i can see quite a few faults with the surround graphics, they are a bit too clinical for me and all of the shadows are in the wrong places ! (makes it look like a load of 'mish mash' panels just thrown together.) Then again, i guess that they weren't trying for a masterpiece..

Hello, I totally agree with the other guys points, but my initial 'thing wrong' is your main image. I was drawn to it immediately. The guy looks like he's literally been banging his head up the wall for a couple of hours - it's indented his forehead and now the poor guy can't get a shirt to fit his distressed neck. Bit more work, and you'll be set.

Hey again, You may want to consider just using text for your logo, unless you can manipulate images with some software like Photoshop you risk damaging your overall look of the site, text alone will portray a much better image than your current logo. I think you need to ditch a search box (top one) and the calendar. Keep going bud, it's getting better..

Hey bud, Why don't you try a new theme ? You can transform your site in one swift stroke and it's very easy to do. I can see a lot of potential there , have a look at this site... http://www.onehertz.com/portfolio/wordpress/mandigo/ The Mandigo theme is very customizable and i promise you that you won't regret it. then.. 1. To really stand out, spend some time on the header - it could be awesome. 2. Ditch the calender right away. 3. Get rid of the ads by google, you may think that it's a way of earning money but right now you should concentrate on generating quality content and traffic. Think about ads by google later - for now you will just put people off your site. 4. I don't know if you are using your own images, but if not then you need to find out about copyright. Sometimes, people will overlook this but if someone like Getty Images holds a copyright on a picture and they catch you using it without permission, they WILL come after you, and big time ! Hope that little 'two penneth' worth helps, not much probably, but it's a start...

Thanks for the kind words guys, i'm happy with the progress i'm making at the moment in regards to my site which makes a change ! I'm having a bit of an inspiration overload at the moment and i'm in the rare situation of having too many ideas to cope with. It plays havoc with me as i can't seem to focus on one thing for very long when i get like this. I'll be updating the portfolio soon, so thanks for adding me to your 'to visit' list, i look forward to hearing your thoughts once i get a bit further down the line. Carl

I'd have to side with liquid on this one.. Top notch for looks, but i also think that it's too arty for the practicality of machinery. If i look it over for a couple of minutes i find that the machine looks out of place in the overall 'feel' of the design. It reminds me very much of the old gaming type designs with the distressed backgrounds. Great design though, keep it up bud ! Carl

Hi there, Firstly, thanks for the kind words. Secondly, you are absolutely spot on with your assesement of achieving perfection. It's funny, but it doesn't really register until i hear someone else say it. You're right, to look at it as an evolving project is the only way to go. If it means anything to you, your words have now given me some much needed focus and i thank you for it - i'd have been chopping and changing for months !! Carl.

Lol, yeah just like me ! I think i've finally found a colour scheme/design that i'm happy with ! I wanted something warmer and more welcoming than the green i was using so i've opted for a red/orage scheme and a bit of an 'illustration' feel. Also, i want to steer clear of the whole web 2.0 thing in my own header, it's everywhere now and in danger of becoming over worked pretty soon (if not already) i think, so i've gone for a more standard raster based image for my own logo. Still needs a lot of work but i'm happy with how it's panning out so far - I really want to try and stand out from the ordinary. It's funny how everything seems to have gone all 'vector' - Personally i would choose a raster image any day of the week. You can do SO much more with it and it's not as if everyone wants to blow their logos up to fit on the side of a house. I guess if i'm going to try and design logos for people again then one of the most important things is going to be my own logo/header ! I've got a feeling that this is going to take me ages..

I agree. That was my first impression as well, definately needs to be centred to restore the balance. looks good though, nice job !

Cheers, I've gone off it ! lol. I think an entirely new approach is needed. I'm going to try something else for now but thanks for that - the extra input was enough to push me while i was teetering on the edge of scrapping the letter style. Trouble is with me, i struggle to decide on one thing. While i'm working on something i usually get loads of ideas for new things and then end up wanting to do those instead ! It's a vicious circle. muchos gracias, Carl

Hi guys, I'm going to utilize years of sign/logo design experience and try my hand at a bit of freelance. I'm just designing a site for myself but i need a bit of input with my own logo. I'm not 100% on it and someone pointed out that the A looks like an R. I've been starting at it all day and it's beginning to take its toll in the judgement department. Please let me know what your first impressions are.. http://aijologodesign.com Carl

Cheers dude, i'll definately be going through that tutorial, big THANKS ! The trouble is with me i have to fight myself. I want to bypass the beginning and get straight to the more complicated stuff, even though i know how important a solid foundation is. I'll keep fighting ! Any more advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, Noob question i'm afraid. I've just read through the W3C basics of HTML,XHTML and CSS and i can get it so far. I will try and put the basic theory into practice by just diving in now and making something purely in notepad. I can see the learning benefits already of doing this, i'll leave Dreamweaver alone for now. The trouble is, just reading the basics is fine but it's difficult to get any sense of logical steps to a project. I've been looking through other newbie questions to see if i can find anything but it seems that most new guys are stuck on the same thing... simply where to start and then which steps come next.. My inexperience at the moment makes me want to jump into Photoshop and just knock up a design, then try and write code for it. I don't even know if that's possibe this way when using CSS. Any advice on the logical steps of building a page would be most welcome. 'Muchos gracias' Carl

What a brilliant pic, the history of the human race in a few pixels. For some reason, the broken wheel in the corner makes me smile.