Hi all,

 

I'm fairly new here. Hoping to learn a lot and help others in return

 

First off, I'd love to hear opinions of my site for freelance stuff.

 

I know it's got some errors and some downfalls, but rather than list them and explain bits or make excuses, I'd rather hear what you guys think think straight off.

 

Oh, and here's my old version for comparison if anyone cares.

 

Please feel free to criticise, but also, please be constructive! If you don't like it, say why and what you would improve. Unhelpful comments not needed thanks

 

Thanks in advance!

 

/Doug

I like the content boxes you've got going there.

Personally I believe the brown in the header doesn't go with the blue and black.

Maybe use a different town of blue? dark blue for instance.

But really good site

I really like the style of the new site, from after the header.Its slick and simple and very fresh...however that header isn't helping the site at all, it is big and clunky and doesn't really fit the rest of the sites style. It feels very rushed and the colours don't match and everything about it just seems not thought about in relation to the rest of the site design,almost like you couldn't think of anything to go there so you just went with something you designed for a different site.

 

Sorry, I do like the rest of the site, I just don't understand the header at all.

I agree, the new one is much better as it looks more up to date, however that header is killing it. Try making it smaller in width and removing those 'old school' gradients and drop shadows.

There are some nice elements on the site. I like the images used in the main viewer. Overall there is a fresh and clean feel.

 

Improvements:

1 - the text in your logo isn´t clear enough. I´d start by losing the stroke on the word ´is` as the black grad makes it look even smaller. Try the ´is` in a different colour/font/bold.

2 - there are too many white boxes and they don´t line up with each other. The site looks a little untidy and washed out because of this.

3 - the header is over loading the site, and the design doesn´t look great, as Daniel has pointed out. Using the layout in the business card will make a much better header.

 

Cheers

 

James

Its nice, but I don't like the header. its huge and heavy!

I like the design, I just dont like the meta spam:

<meta name="description" content="branding | print design | web design | hosting | print" />

 

<meta name="keywords" content="design-is, design is, design-is.co.uk, bluecow design, blue cow, bluecow, design by bluecow, design by blue cow, leeds, design, photography, art, identity, corporate identity, brand, brand identity, website design, web design, graphic, graphic design, graduate, illustration, creative unity, doug barned, douglas barned, leeds university, university, the university of leeds, barned, doug, freelance, hosting, host, web." />

 

Now im not a SEO expert, but im sure I was told you are best limiting keywords to 5-6 words. Also, in regards to the description how does that make your website stand out to all the other website designers descriptions?

 

This is easily fixed though - (and i might even be wrong here) but thats just my two cents.

Thanks for all your comments! Very much appreciated in reply:

 

@smoothonline - I agree about the logo being lost. The header is the main issue with the new one. A similar design to my old one with a smoother finish was my original thought, but I was never quite happy with the look and feel so wanted to move away completely from the older site. May revisit in future renditions...

 

@Shaney, Dizi, pereira, verawolf - Thanks for compliments Will probably rethink the header design. Seems to be the main issue people have with the site.

 

@scifunk - Thanks, clean and fresh was part of the aim! #1 & #3 - header definitely needs work. #2 Not sure which ones you mean. I tried to get things to align (mostly). Which browser are you using? Could you provide screeny?

 

@Paul Millar - Didn't know about this... I'll look into it further, thanks! The meta is pretty much stuff I've carried over from the last 5ish versions of my online portfolio etc... haven't given it much thought recently ( )

 

Thanks everyone! Keep it coming if there's more comments please...

 

Not sure when I'll have time to fiddle with it, but I definitely will take everything mentioned into account when I do!

 

Thanks again,

 

/Doug

Hi Doug,

 

Ok, the top of the case studies box doesn´t line up with the top of the offers box

 

The what problem... box doesn´t line up with the bottom of the offers box.

 

Not sure if this was an error, but the sign up for... box is overlapping the top of the email input box. This maybe where the other two are stemming from.

 

I´m browsing with IE7 if that helps

Thanks James. I'm on Firefox 3 and all lines up OK (on Safari as well) so must be IE - will investigate when I get home and can load up VMware.

 

'What problem' doesn't line up though... didn't think of that - will add this to amendment list

No problem Doug.

 

I really think that the header is letting you down, and I think it´s the blue. It feels like a cheap colour, and doesn´t offer you any status. You have the makings of a decent site so I took the liberty of knocking up a couple of header ideas for you. Practice makes perfect after all.

 

Thanks for your efforts James, very much appreciated!

 

I have a load of business cards left, so for brand consistency if nothing else I'll be keeping the logo as is for the time being. Though I agree about the colours to a certain extent. I'll add that to my notes for when I get to fiddle with it

 

Cheers

 

/Doug

I can understand that, but as there have been numerous comments about the header, and it is the one thing that you have designed yourself and the first thing perspective clients will see, is having lots of business cards left over a proper reason to keep a ´brand identity´ that isn´t great. If it were me I´d be on to it straight away, and getting a new header/logo and some new cards done.

Just to clarify in case there's confusion, the logo which I intend to keep is not dependant on the layout of the header. These are 2 separate things. My logo is also in my footer. The brand guidelines I've drawn up for the 'design-is' logo allow it to be used in a number of ways (not many, however, but a few).

 

I happen to be fine with my logo and haven't received negative feedback about it from anyone else. In my view I simply need to re-work the header colours and layout. Most probably bringing it more in line with what it was formerly to try and give it some more impact as suggested by smoothonline. This is what people are pointing out to me, not that there's a problem with the logo, but the situation I've placed it in.

Hi Doug,

 

Sorry, yes, the layout of the header is what needs altering. However, IMO if what you refer to as the logo is the text "designis:" then I think it could do with tweeking. As I mentioned before, the black outline gets lost in your current header. If you want to keep it, just turning down the stroke rate will make it look more professional.

From what I see all you have done is installed wordpress, installed this theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/arras-theme

And then changed the header to your own :s

 

Not much design there just an image swap.

From what I see all you have done is installed wordpress, installed this theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/arras-theme

And then changed the header to your own :s

 

Not much design there just an image swap.

 

Yup, even so the header is huge (big chunk of your fold gone their) the gradients are a bit harsh, and the colours don't match. It detracts heavily from the most important part, the content.

@Shaney - Used Arras Theme as a base, wanted the built in flexibility of the front page options, but have tweaked a fair bit of the code and replaced some of the images. Who wants to re-invent the wheel - No shame in that is there?

 

@bocaj - indeed it is becoming ever more evident that I'll be changing that when I work on it

Yeh that's a fair point.

But the header does kinda ruin the theme, you need somethink sleek and stylish and maybe matching colours?

 

Pretty smart idea aswell as you don't have to do all that horrid Wordpress coding!!