April 10, 201016 yr Hi there, We're just about to launch a new website which I was wanting to get some feedback on. The site is a hot air ballooning ecommerce website. Existing website: http://www.ballooning.co.uk/index.php New Proposed Website: http://www.ballooning-centre.co.uk/aerosaurus/ You'll notice the sites are pretty identical. The key task of the new site was converting it to Joomla!, increasing automation and tweaking code and design. Looking forward to the feedback and thanks very much in advance.
April 10, 201016 yr Fairly nice website you got here, well layed out etc. The gradients for me are a bit iffy though, the navigation against the content section looks too similar and strange. I would reccomend using a different colour for the navigation or at least add some kind of border around it, maybe other users can suggest ideas for this. Also the buttons on the right hand side for bookings and availability should be one single colour or at least something a little more matching.
April 10, 201016 yr The site looks good. The gradient looks a little messed on the right hand side. Have you purposely put the font on the right hand side titles in Serif and everything else in Ssans Serif, it makes it look a little unfinished. Under 'Flight Meeting Locations' I expected the image of the map to also link me through to the page. Very nice drop down menus.
April 10, 201016 yr Author @Charlie - Thanks for the feedback. Any colors you'd suggest for the left sidebar navigation? @Cheeseplant - For "Flight Meeting Locations" (http://ballooning-centre.co.uk/aerosaurus/flight-meeting-locations.php) the image does link. Are you not experiencing working links? Also reference what you were saying about the gradient on the right? Did you mean the left gradient (the blue to white fade). Thanks so much to both of you two for your help. If anyone else has any thoughts please let me know. Thanks in advance,
April 11, 201016 yr Hi, I couldn't see much difference and I think both designs are outdated. Sorry. It depends really, the design isn't that great, at all, but as long as the people using it can navigate easily to what they're looking for there's no problem. Now I'm assuming hot air ballooning is a niche activity, mostly for an older generation? A lot of people still don't know how to use the internet efficiently so might be overwhelmed with a website that has a huge amount of stuff going on. I think the colours are ok, the nav bar should definitely be changed - to a vertical, linear gradient. There's a huge clash between the gradient coming in at the left and the one on the nav bar. Get rid of the gradient on the main page.
April 11, 201016 yr Author @Defiance you are correct about the market and hence the design e.t.c Most customers are 50+ and therefore the site must operate easily. With in now being in Joomla we can focus on changing the design for the future users at a later date. Just for your own records to compare us against competitors there sites are: http://www.adventureballoons.co.uk/ http://www.airtopia.co.uk/ http://www.devonandsomersetballoons.co.uk/ Is anyone able to give me a detailed replacement for the gradient then? i.e should I replace the top nav bar with a darker gradient or different color all together? Anyone have specific ideas accept for "change it"?
April 11, 201016 yr Author @MrChristoph thanks for your comments but lets try being productive... If it was your site how would you change the header if you hated it so much?
April 11, 201016 yr @MrChristoph thanks for your comments but lets try being productive... If it was your site how would you change the header if you hated it so much? Maybe building part of the baloon and "their" logo on the baloon into the header? Just a thought not just a snip of it but use it as "part" of the header.
April 14, 201016 yr Author Thanks for that Torrix. I don't think that it'd be suitable but thanks for suggestion. I think that the image above is maybe to "Full on" and might distract people from reading the text below or focusing on anything else. I'm happy having "Buy now" etc. sticking out but I want the header to be just there and not be prominent. Hope this makes sense and thanks for taking time out to help.
April 28, 201016 yr Author Right..... just been working on it again. Please have a look and let me know what you think of the following: Darker top navigation: http://ballooning-centre.co.uk/aerosaurus/ Smooth Photo Pages: http://www.ballooning-centre.co.uk/aerosaurus/flight-photos/flt9575 (we created a bespoke component for Virtuemart it manages a SEF url for pics, allows instant download or post, also has HIDE IF for delivery option etc.) Generally. What's everyone's thoughts? Please no comments about the flash header . Thanks in advance
April 29, 201016 yr I think you are missing an opportunity to design something really special, colourful and eye catching here. If it was me I would take a risk and try aim for something special, some nice illustration, photos etc. I don't think the new design has evolved enough from the old one to justify any change at all. and taking on board the target audience mentioned before may be simplify everything and use less clutter, more of a grid and better calls to action. look at some of the design galleries out there for some ideas for layout and style: www.cssmania.com
April 30, 201016 yr I am with mm60 here, a redesign is in order, not because the old one was bad, but because the subject here allows you to really be free. nice colours and innovative thinking can go a long way in setting you apart here <div><br></div><div>a static footer designed to look like the ground with a balloon on it as you scroll it 'takes off' as an example. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div>
April 30, 201016 yr Thanks for that Torrix. I don't think that it'd be suitable but thanks for suggestion. I think that the image above is maybe to "Full on" and might distract people from reading the text below or focusing on anything else. I'm happy having "Buy now" etc. sticking out but I want the header to be just there and not be prominent. Hope this makes sense and thanks for taking time out to help. No probs. One quick question though, don’t you think a moving header is taking the focus of other parts of the page more?? Again just my view.
Create an account or sign in to comment