Hey all!

 

I just finished the main design for my website. I finally put it all together and I'm ready to add the text, images, content, etc. Before I do so, I'd like to see what people thought of the design and layout.

urbanelementz.ca

 

I'm NOT a programmer and I do more on the graphics side than the coding end of things. I did put this site together myself but I used tables. I'm learning CSS and all the newest HTML and coding techniques but I'm not quite ready to apply it to my work. I normally hire my programmer to setup and code my designs/websites so please don't bash me for my HTML skills or lack of. Although I do think it's done quite well. lol. =0) I must be doing something right since I've been paid to design over 250 projects (and no I'm not bragging). Some people can be quite rude if someones happy about there accomplishments. So far I haven't found that on this forum so I'm looking forward to being part of this online community.

 

Anyway, let me know what you think. Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

----

Evan Denis

Urban Elementz

Anyone?

Yeah it looks nice, but the header banner and bar across the top look unnecessarily big. The whole design seems a little too blue and dark, no other colours to be seen anywhere. The navigation is looks good. I'm not a fan of the weird borders around the boxes either, makes it look 'techy' and outdated. Do you really need your facebook and twitter icons twice? The middle box in the footer looks odd, so much empty space

It's really hard to judge the design since the design requires content to be in place. Typography is one of the pillars of a good design and without copy it's impossible to say if you've done a good job of it.

 

It really doesn't look like the homepage of web designer, it looks like a gaming site or something along those lines. While it's not visually bad, it comes off as very dated. I think before one would see the now-defunct 'web 2.0' sites, you'd see sites like this. I'd probably go back to the drawing board and tone down the use of the Photoshop effects. Subtlety is what separates OK design from good design, so try to use subtle gradients, sharp 1px details to refine your elements and be consistent in your use of pattern and texture.

 

I'd also lose the fractal-like header and the over-rendered banners you have rotating in with JS. I'm not sure if it's my monitor or not (it's been a while since it's been calibrated) but I see some really faint banding in a couple of gradients.

 

I can't fault the color scheme (I'm partial to blue myself).

 

It's very cramped. Even without content in there I feel that things are too close together and you are trying to cram too much into a homepage. You can cut a lot of this stuff out and re-arrange what remains and have much stronger information architecture.

 

Speaking of info architecture, you do a decent job of pulling out important information, but there are too many pieces of information pulled out. Decide what your Call to Action (CTA) is going to be on this page (probably Get a Quote?) and make sure the user's eye is guided there. It should be so obvious that a user doesn't have to think and is compelled to click on your CTA, but it should also be done tastefully so it's not slamming the user in the face.

 

Your logo has some rough patches, I'd make sure refine that. The symbol is a bit overpowering in the logo, too. I'd tone it down and lose the gradient on it (or at least tone it down a bit).

 

Having all of your text in images is going to hurt SEO and accessibility since, to a screen reader or crawler you don't have any content. Someone with images off won't see anything of value.

 

Loosen up the tracking of the text a bit. All caps feels really overwhelming when used everywhere and tightly tracked. You might want to consider using some normal-case text to offset the all caps text.

 

You have an interesting aesthetic going on and with some serious refinement it could be really cool. It almost reminds me of a space-like theme. It's tricky to pull off a theme like this and retain an air of professionalism, so the polish and refinement will be important.

 

 

 

I understand you are inexperienced with XHTML/CSS, and you are aware of the need to change to it, so that's good. Slicing a site up and putting it together with tables like this is a very outmoded practice and is not accessible or scalable at all. You absolutely need to take the time to learn CSS-based layout.

 

Also, you should learn and master CSS based layout BEFORE you continue doing work for clients. I don't have access to your previous work, but if you are slicing up a site and coding it with tables you are not producing professional-level work yet. You have a pretty solid base in the visual design aspect, so with a little bit of learning and a lot of practice on your personal projects you should be up to speed in no time.

Edited April 20, 201115 yr by porkchops

Yeah it looks nice, but the header banner and bar across the top look unnecessarily big. The whole design seems a little too blue and dark, no other colours to be seen anywhere. The navigation is looks good. I'm not a fan of the weird borders around the boxes either, makes it look 'techy' and outdated. Do you really need your facebook and twitter icons twice? The middle box in the footer looks odd, so much empty space

 

Thanks itodd. I love blue and dark! =0) But I hear ya. What about the JS banners? Those are all different colors? The facebook/twitter icons in the bottom right are going to send people to specific pages built on the social networks. The middle social buttons are similar to "like" buttons with various social networks. As for the middle box in the footer, that will have a text based menu/navigation in it as well. Wherever there is blank space, that will have content.

 

Thanks for the review.

It's really hard to judge the design since the design requires content to be in place. Typography is one of the pillars of a good design and without copy it's impossible to say if you've done a good job of it.

 

It really doesn't look like the homepage of web designer, it looks like a gaming site or something along those lines. While it's not visually bad, it comes off as very dated. I think before one would see the now-defunct 'web 2.0' sites, you'd see sites like this. I'd probably go back to the drawing board and tone down the use of the Photoshop effects. Subtlety is what separates OK design from good design, so try to use subtle gradients, sharp 1px details to refine your elements and be consistent in your use of pattern and texture.

 

I'd also lose the fractal-like header and the over-rendered banners you have rotating in with JS. I'm not sure if it's my monitor or not (it's been a while since it's been calibrated) but I see some really faint banding in a couple of gradients.

 

I can't fault the color scheme (I'm partial to blue myself).

 

It's very cramped. Even without content in there I feel that things are too close together and you are trying to cram too much into a homepage. You can cut a lot of this stuff out and re-arrange what remains and have much stronger information architecture.

 

Speaking of info architecture, you do a decent job of pulling out important information, but there are too many pieces of information pulled out. Decide what your Call to Action (CTA) is going to be on this page (probably Get a Quote?) and make sure the user's eye is guided there. It should be so obvious that a user doesn't have to think and is compelled to click on your CTA, but it should also be done tastefully so it's not slamming the user in the face.

 

Your logo has some rough patches, I'd make sure refine that. The symbol is a bit overpowering in the logo, too. I'd tone it down and lose the gradient on it (or at least tone it down a bit).

 

Having all of your text in images is going to hurt SEO and accessibility since, to a screen reader or crawler you don't have any content. Someone with images off won't see anything of value.

 

Loosen up the tracking of the text a bit. All caps feels really overwhelming when used everywhere and tightly tracked. You might want to consider using some normal-case text to offset the all caps text.

 

You have an interesting aesthetic going on and with some serious refinement it could be really cool. It almost reminds me of a space-like theme. It's tricky to pull off a theme like this and retain an air of professionalism, so the polish and refinement will be important.

 

I understand you are inexperienced with XHTML/CSS, and you are aware of the need to change to it, so that's good. Slicing a site up and putting it together with tables like this is a very outmoded practice and is not accessible or scalable at all. You absolutely need to take the time to learn CSS-based layout.

 

Also, you should learn and master CSS based layout BEFORE you continue doing work for clients. I don't have access to your previous work, but if you are slicing up a site and coding it with tables you are not producing professional-level work yet. You have a pretty solid base in the visual design aspect, so with a little bit of learning and a lot of practice on your personal projects you should be up to speed in no time.

 

 

Thanks so much for the great review porkchops. I'm busy so I'll keep this short. I read everything you said and I'll take it all into consideration. I appreciate your review. As I stated in my first message, I have a freelancer do my CSS/XHTML coding for all my work. I wouldn't give a paying customer a site using tables. I'm 100% self taught and never went to school for any web design courses so It's a matter of finding the time and the right tools to teach myself.

 

Just one question for you... You said "Your logo has some rough patches, I'd make sure refine that." Could you elaborate a little bit please. I'm curious to know what you see wrong with it other than the symbol.

 

Also, why do you think I should get rid of the rotating banners. I think it's a really nice feature...

 

You said..."Having all of your text in images is going to hurt SEO and accessibility since, to a screen reader or crawler you don't have any content. Someone with images off won't see anything of value." Once I get the content in there, that will fix that problem.

 

I'm very curious as to how I would put a site together like mine without using tables... How would the images be put together and how would you leave space for text, etc. If you look at how my site was put together, it's fairly complex with a lot of backgrounds, etc.

 

Last but not least... I need to control my content (text) with CSS and I have a quick question. Not all the content will be the same color and will be different sizes, etc. How do I control certain pieces of text in certain tables using CSS.

 

Again, thanks for your input. I also gave you a +1 Reputation. =0)

 

Evan

Also, itodd, I gave you a +1 reputation. Return the favor if you can. Thanks.

As I stated in my first message, I have a freelancer do my CSS/XHTML coding for all my work. I wouldn't give a paying customer a site using tables. I'm 100% self taught and never went to school for any web design courses so It's a matter of finding the time and the right tools to teach myself.

 

I’m glad to hear that, it’s a pretty good idea if you are busy or otherwise unable to code up your designs to outsource. You should definitely learn the basics, it’s not that hard once you dig into it and will save you the trouble of outsourcing that work (and save you some cash, too).

 

Just one question for you... You said "Your logo has some rough patches, I'd make sure refine that." Could you elaborate a little bit please. I'm curious to know what you see wrong with it other than the symbol.

 

The circled areas in the text are oddly spaced. Some of them are a sharp 1px, some of them a blurred 1px, some are 2px, etc. Be consistent.

 

The tracking (letter spacing) is too tight on the tagline. Some of the letters are blending together.

 

The little down arrow points to a section that has some awkward kerning. The space between the letters in “URBAN” doesn’t match up.

 

The symbol is definitely too big for the text.

 

The gradient is too severe.

 

Did you design the logo in Illustrator?

 

Also, why do you think I should get rid of the rotating banners. I think it's a really nice feature...

 

Sorry, I meant to get redo the images in them. The backgrounds in each don’t match the visual style of the page in any way.

 

Now that I look at them again, I’d also say that you could seriously cut down the size of your header and make the banners much taller. The aspect ratio they are at now is rather uncomfortable. Rotating banners on a homepage are a great way to snag the user’s attention but they have to be incredibly well-done to not look tacked on.

 

You said..."Having all of your text in images is going to hurt SEO and accessibility since, to a screen reader or crawler you don't have any content. Someone with images off won't see anything of value." Once I get the content in there, that will fix that problem.

 

Content will help with your SEO but you never want to have images as text. You can either image replace them (put text over the image and then set the text-indent property to -9999px…). This pushes the text off the screen but to screen readers and search engines it looks like real text. Or, you could pick a font that you can deliver via @font-face, Cufon or Google’s font api. Under no circumstances should you ever have content that isn’t textual in some manner.

 

I'm very curious as to how I would put a site together like mine without using tables... How would the images be put together and how would you leave space for text, etc. If you look at how my site was put together, it's fairly complex with a lot of backgrounds, etc.

 

It’s way too hard to explain in depth. Spend a little time learning HTML and CSS and then read some tutorials like these:

 

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-sleek-corporate-web-design-part-13/

This is a four part video tutorial on designing and coding a website.

 

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/site-builds/convert-a-warm-cheerful-web-design-to-html-and-css/

Ten part tutorial on coding a website.

 

Once you understand the basics of the languages following along with tutorials like these will set you on the right path.

 

Last but not least... I need to control my content (text) with CSS and I have a quick question. Not all the content will be the same color and will be different sizes, etc. How do I control certain pieces of text in certain tables using CSS.

 

Same answer as above. I’m not sure how to explain it for a table-based layout, and the links above should help you answer that question regarding CSS-based layout.

Edited April 21, 201115 yr by porkchops

I think porkchops gave a very good appraisal of your site. It's obvious that you're very competent at creating graphics and you have a good eye for colours and feel.

 

But as a design, I don't think it works so well. There's a lack of visual focus on the site, and all the pretty graphics are vying for attention with each other. There's already too much to take in and you haven't even added your content.

 

I would say the main problem with your site is that you've 'designed' it before you've created the content. I say 'designed' because I don't believe you can properly design a web page without starting with the content. If you applied your art & illustration skills as the polish to a new design based on clear communication, information hierarchy and solid typography I think you stand to have an excellent site.

I think porkchops gave a very good appraisal of your site. It's obvious that you're very competent at creating graphics and you have a good eye for colours and feel.

 

But as a design, I don't think it works so well. There's a lack of visual focus on the site, and all the pretty graphics are vying for attention with each other. There's already too much to take in and you haven't even added your content.

 

I would say the main problem with your site is that you've 'designed' it before you've created the content. I say 'designed' because I don't believe you can properly design a web page without starting with the content. If you applied your art & illustration skills as the polish to a new design based on clear communication, information hierarchy and solid typography I think you stand to have an excellent site.

 

Thanks very much for all your input. At least I know I'm on the right track. =0)

 

Evan

I’m glad to hear that, it’s a pretty good idea if you are busy or otherwise unable to code up your designs to outsource. You should definitely learn the basics, it’s not that hard once you dig into it and will save you the trouble of outsourcing that work (and save you some cash, too).

 

The circled areas in the text are oddly spaced. Some of them are a sharp 1px, some of them a blurred 1px, some are 2px, etc. Be consistent.

 

The tracking (letter spacing) is too tight on the tagline. Some of the letters are blending together.

 

The little down arrow points to a section that has some awkward kerning. The space between the letters in “URBAN” doesn’t match up.

 

The symbol is definitely too big for the text.

 

The gradient is too severe.

 

Did you design the logo in Illustrator?

 

Sorry, I meant to get redo the images in them. The backgrounds in each don’t match the visual style of the page in any way.

 

Now that I look at them again, I’d also say that you could seriously cut down the size of your header and make the banners much taller. The aspect ratio they are at now is rather uncomfortable. Rotating banners on a homepage are a great way to snag the user’s attention but they have to be incredibly well-done to not look tacked on.

 

Content will help with your SEO but you never want to have images as text. You can either image replace them (put text over the image and then set the text-indent property to -9999px…). This pushes the text off the screen but to screen readers and search engines it looks like real text. Or, you could pick a font that you can deliver via @font-face, Cufon or Google’s font api. Under no circumstances should you ever have content that isn’t textual in some manner.

 

It’s way too hard to explain in depth. Spend a little time learning HTML and CSS and then read some tutorials like these:

 

webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-sleek-corporate-web-design-part-13/

This is a four part video tutorial on designing and coding a website.

 

net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/site-builds/convert-a-warm-cheerful-web-design-to-html-and-css/

Ten part tutorial on coding a website.

 

Once you understand the basics of the languages following along with tutorials like these will set you on the right path.

 

Same answer as above. I’m not sure how to explain it for a table-based layout, and the links above should help you answer that question regarding CSS-based layout.

 

Porkchops,

 

Your the man! Thanks for all your help. I've been looking for a good online tutorial like those for a long time. I think I'm all set now. As for my logo, I totally understand what you mean now. I designed it in Photoshop. Now I know I'm on the right track and may even scrap the table setup and redo everything in HTML5. Thanks a ton for all your help. I bumped your reputation up a bit for all your help. Thanks again.

 

Evan

Edited April 21, 201115 yr by urbanelementz

oh feck - did you really lay this out with tables?!

It looks very appealing but like the guy above said it does not scream "Web Designer" to me. More of a technology company and that sort of techy look is a bit outdated although it can still be pulled off you could say.

 

Me, personally, do not enjoy seeing boxes everywhere all over a website, I think in 2011 its appropriate to take a more "unstandard" approach.

 

But that's just me I've always hated boxes for holding and containing content....actually let me rephrase that, I hate the overuse of boxes. It's just too simple looking to me.

Firstly, I'm not a designer, I'm a developer.

 

Howerver, without sounding too harsh that site is highly typical of a site designed by a graphic designer, as op[posed to a web designer. It's not useable at all and far to heavy on images.

 

Trying off images to view the site - there's literally no textual content at all for a search engine to go off - this is highly typical of graphic designers, as opposed to web designers, who would have appreciated that 100% image sites are highly bad practice. I really hope you're not offering anything in the way of SEO or web development as service.

 

You've designed the site as you would a flyers or poster. The web is totally different medium and some things just don't work.

 

Without sounding too harsh, your site is type of site I'd have expected to see several years ago.

 

Rallport, Thanks for your input.

 

As of right now, there's no text content but soon all those empty boxes will be filled with text content. That's what I'm working on at the moment.

 

Anyway, I appreciate your input. I'm strictly a graphics designer so this was my first attempt at coding the site myself.

 

I don't offer any SEO services at the moment. I have in the past but as I stated in my previous posts, I've outsourced the work to proper SEO companies. My clients have always got premium products for their money.

 

I taught myself everything I know from square 1 and I'm actually in the process of learning "VIM" and coding my own websites using HTML5. It's all in good time. =0)

oh feck - did you really lay this out with tables?!

 

Yes. 100% with tables. That's one thing I'm skilled at in HTML. Let's just say I was too busy making money selling my work 7 years ago than updating my skills with the "times." Money was my goal. Now I have new goals (including money, lol). Now, I'm sitting back, relaxing and learning all the new techniques. As I stated in my last post, I'm now using VIM and coding my websites in CSS/XHTML using HTML5 coding.

It looks very appealing but like the guy above said it does not scream "Web Designer" to me. More of a technology company and that sort of techy look is a bit outdated although it can still be pulled off you could say.

 

Me, personally, do not enjoy seeing boxes everywhere all over a website, I think in 2011 its appropriate to take a more "unstandard" approach.

 

But that's just me I've always hated boxes for holding and containing content....actually let me rephrase that, I hate the overuse of boxes. It's just too simple looking to me.

 

Thanks for your comments "TwoFiveDesigns." Let's just say I opened Photoshop and decided to wing it. If you look at my last web design for my company, you would laugh. My new design is a HUGE improvement over the last.

In fact, I just put up my old design for you guys to see the difference. I'm improving, slowly but surely. Check my next post.

 

Again, thanks for the input.

Here's my old site: urbanelementz.ca/oldsite

 

I think my new site is a huge improvement over the last.

 

The background isn't setup properly right now so It's just a white BG but you get the just of it.

P.S - I upped everyone's reputation. Thanks...

...As I stated in my last post, I'm now using VIM and coding my websites in CSS/XHTML using HTML5 coding.

 

For the record, XHTML and HTML5 are different doctypes and are mutually exclusive. To simplify your learning curve I'd focus on XHTML first. If you can code a layout without any hacks in XHTML Strict and CSS that renders well across browsers you should be ready to move onto HTML5 (and resume client work).

For the record, XHTML and HTML5 are different doctypes and are mutually exclusive. To simplify your learning curve I'd focus on XHTML first. If you can code a layout without any hacks in XHTML Strict and CSS that renders well across browsers you should be ready to move onto HTML5 (and resume client work).

 

Yes your right. At the moment, I'm learning both. I've been doing a fair amount of research and as far as I can tell, XHTML and HTML are almost identical. Wouldn't it be worth my while to just jump right to HTML5 and CSS? Just curious...

Yes your right. At the moment, I'm learning both. I've been doing a fair amount of research and as far as I can tell, XHTML and HTML are almost identical. Wouldn't it be worth my while to just jump right to HTML5 and CSS? Just curious...

 

I suppose my only reason would be that it's easy to get distracted with all the cool new stuff HTML5 can do and forget about mastering the basics. Being able to put together a well-built XHTML Strict and CSS based website is a tremendous foundation to have under your belt.

I suppose my only reason would be that it's easy to get distracted with all the cool new stuff HTML5 can do and forget about mastering the basics. Being able to put together a well-built XHTML Strict and CSS based website is a tremendous foundation to have under your belt.

 

Porkchop... I must say, you've defiantly opened my eyes when it comes to some very key issues with my and "the" web design world. I have a couple more questions for you since you seem to hit everything with a golden hammer. =0) (That's my version a complement.)

 

1) Way up top you said this... "Content will help with your SEO but you never want to have images as text. You can either image replace them (put text over the image and then set the text-indent property to -9999px…). This pushes the text off the screen but to screen readers and search engines it looks like real text. Or, you could pick a font that you can deliver via @font-face, Cufon or Google’s font api. Under no circumstances should you ever have content that isn’t textual in some manner."

 

- If I was to set the indent property to -9999px and put text over the image, how would I go about doing that? =0) Can that easily be done in FrontPage or Dreamweaver?

 

- If I was to use a font API, how would I go about doing this on my site? I'm assuming I would need to remove the text off the images, place the images in the background of the cells and place the text on the site using the API? (I think it would be better to go with the "indenting" of the text option)

 

2) After watching some of the tutorials you pointed me to, I think I'm getting way ahead of myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a dummy but after getting some of the plugins installed to VIM and trying out Notepad++, I'm ready to keel over and die of "wtf am I doing syndrome???"... I love the idea of using the 960.gs framework, etc but I just don't know if I want to learn a completely new language. I just love graphics to much and honestly, I may be a bit juvenile with some of the work I do, but it seems to be bringing me customers. At the same time, I do want to give my customers the quality of work that they deserve and build my portfolio. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to quit and go back to tables, but I do have another idea... I design a website in Photoshop, I use the 960.gs framework but code the site in Dreamweaver without using tables? Sure it's not as professional as opening notepad and starting from scratch, but I think I'm OK with that. I would still be utilizing the proper tools to make a cross-browser website with CSS and XHTML. Now that I think about it though, I'll need to know the code to get it to work properly in Dreamweaver. Anyway, I'm just rambling on... I guess what I'm asking is this... Are there any tutorials that will teach me how to design a high quality website in an editor like Dreamweaver using a framework like 960.gs that using up-to-date XHTML and CSS? I'll Google it but I would really appreciate if you could give me some more incite into this and point me in the right direction if possible.

 

I'm going to finish my site since I've already put about 25 hours into the design and coding of the site. I'll change some of the key features that you mentioned above and of course fix my logo and some of the other issues. This brings me back to my last post. I would appreciate it if you looked at My Old Site & then My New Site ... If you look at my last website and my new one, you can see that I'm learning to design cleaner, sleeker, more professional looking websites with better code and attributes. I would consider my site to be "my next step" and consider CSS & XHTML to be "the next step."

 

Anyway, absorb it all in and let me know what you think. Thanks buddy.

 

Evan

Edited April 22, 201115 yr by urbanelementz

The circled areas in the text are oddly spaced. Some of them are a sharp 1px, some of them a blurred 1px, some are 2px, etc. Be consistent.

 

The tracking (letter spacing) is too tight on the tagline. Some of the letters are blending together.

 

The little down arrow points to a section that has some awkward kerning. The space between the letters in “URBAN” doesn’t match up.

 

The symbol is definitely too big for the text.

 

The gradient is too severe.

 

Did you design the logo in Illustrator?

 

I spent a bit of time tonight refining my logo. I'm extremely happy with it now. I changed the way it looks and the coloring. It's not changed on the website yet but I've attached it below. What do you guys think?

 

Thanks.

 

Evan

 

PorkChops

 

Where did everyone go? lol... Porkchops?

I've made some changes to my site. Very small but important changes such as boarders, my logo, added a background, etc. I think it looks much better. Keep in mind, I haven't done many changes that you've suggested (to the physical appearance). Those will come later. Anyway, let me know if you can check out the last few posts I wrote for you and check out the revised site...

PorkChops? Anyone else?

I can't really answer your specific questions about CSS if you aren't going to be learning to code from hand. And, even if you do, you need to get a foundation before anything I try to explain will make any sense.

 

If you really like the graphics aspect of things you can probably find work as a freelancer by partnering with someone to handle all of the front-end development work. You will lose out on a little bit of the cash but by specializing you will be able to produce a greater volume of work, collectively. I actually only work with Photoshop for my day job and love it. You just have to drop the "Website Development" part from your signature if you aren't actually developing anything in a professional manner. There's no shame in being VERY good at one thing.

 

If you do plan on pursuing the Photoshop only route you should really spend a lot of time study great sites. Why they work, what little visual tricks you can extrapolate, etc. You have to have a really strong visual vocabulary to back up your Photoshop skills.

 

That said, you should practice the XHTML/CSS stuff because it will give you some perspective on what to do and not to do to make life easier on your developer.

 

On a side note... don't be afraid to abandon something you've put a lot of time into. Sometimes things I make just plain suck. Now that I have more experience I tend to notice it earlier, but my portfolio site is on version 11, only two of which ever made it to the web. Starting over is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it will probably result in a far better second (or third, fourth...) iteration.

 

The type in the logo is definitely improved. Kerning makes a lot of sense now. I'm still not a fan of the symbol. You could probably lose the gradient and leave it as a flat color (or go to something incredibly subtle) and give it a modern feel. The reflection needs to go, too. That is a cliche early 2000s design move that reeks of "Web 2.0" and has become incredibly tacky.

I can't really answer your specific questions about CSS if you aren't going to be learning to code from hand. And, even if you do, you need to get a foundation before anything I try to explain will make any sense.

 

If you really like the graphics aspect of things you can probably find work as a freelancer by partnering with someone to handle all of the front-end development work. You will lose out on a little bit of the cash but by specializing you will be able to produce a greater volume of work, collectively. I actually only work with Photoshop for my day job and love it. You just have to drop the "Website Development" part from your signature if you aren't actually developing anything in a professional manner. There's no shame in being VERY good at one thing.

 

If you do plan on pursuing the Photoshop only route you should really spend a lot of time study great sites. Why they work, what little visual tricks you can extrapolate, etc. You have to have a really strong visual vocabulary to back up your Photoshop skills.

 

That said, you should practice the XHTML/CSS stuff because it will give you some perspective on what to do and not to do to make life easier on your developer.

 

On a side note... don't be afraid to abandon something you've put a lot of time into. Sometimes things I make just plain suck. Now that I have more experience I tend to notice it earlier, but my portfolio site is on version 11, only two of which ever made it to the web. Starting over is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it will probably result in a far better second (or third, fourth...) iteration.

 

The type in the logo is definitely improved. Kerning makes a lot of sense now. I'm still not a fan of the symbol. You could probably lose the gradient and leave it as a flat color (or go to something incredibly subtle) and give it a modern feel. The reflection needs to go, too. That is a cliche early 2000s design move that reeks of "Web 2.0" and has become incredibly tacky.

 

Thanks for all your input. I really appreciate it. I'll let you know when I have something new to show you. I'm really happy to have someone (with your experience) critique my site. I'll be in touch.

At first I thought that you create website dealing with games, but then reading your home page I understood that your website about graphic design and web development. You placed too much elements, all thing are placed too closer together. You have used colors, that annoying my eyes. I think at first you need to think about your website visitors, but as I understood you created design according your preference. But it's ok, I also make such mistakes. I hope you will use all ideas that we suggest to you.

Thanks guys. I've made some various changes. Not sure if you've seen them yet but take another look. Either way, if anyone else has anymore input, let me know. I hate to say it but I love the design so far... lol. Anyway, let me know. Thanks guys.

I think its clear you have some skills in photoshop and are a good designer.

 

I would say however that it does feel a lot like a site from about 2003. It might be something to do with the tables based approach but its not helped by the fact that you can clearly see its been made to work with tables. Everything feels very segmented and squared off, which isnt always a bad thing, i love a good grid, but this feels very constrained by its own grid structure. It is also probably to do with the style of the graphics themselves, which were very popular a few years ago but have fallen out of favour these days.

 

So a few points:

 

 

1) Its really dark and uninviting, others have said it looks like a gaming website and it does. I fear it would put off a lot of clients and you would be viewed as quite young and unexperienced as it might be seen as unprofessional. If it were up to me i'd cut right back on all the drop shadows, the extreme gradient effects, inner glows etc and go for a lot more subtle looks. I would consider brightening everything up, maybe start with a white background and add colour from there.

 

By far the most successful part of your site is the rotating banner, the design in there is really nice, i would almost base the entire site around that, with a brighter background to really bring it out. I'd also stop trying to box everything in visually.

 

2) I think you can do far more with the typography. There is very little contrast between text throughout the site (though i realise content isnt in yet). The capitalised text is slightly jarring, i dont mind it occasionally but as its on all the links it can great and makes reading slightly hard. I'd either look into having a secondary font which contrasts well with that one, or add more variety to font sizes. Maybe have some super large text in the header.

 

3) The header area serves very little purpose and is basically dead space. It means the interesting bit - your work, is being pushed below the fold (though i have issues with the term 'fold'). I would think about combining your two header elements, the logo area and the rotating content into one larger hero box and push the nav to the top.

 

4) I have to agree with the above comments about the logo. At the moment its not working for me as an overall memorable shape ie the text + graphic. I think you need to rethink your text, possibly moving urban above elementz and pushing it to the right of the graphic? I'd also think about removing the remaining copy from the logo and using it elsewhere in the header, or making it a feature of the header.

 

5) In terms of IA i think more could be done to simplify your home page and direct potential customers. For me the most important elements of your page should be:

 

- Brand message (header, intro)

- Your work (examples of latest work)

- Services (list of services you provide)

 

I think those are the areas you need to emphasise , testimonials i also think are important. Your doing a lot of that right at the moment, but the hierarchy doesnt feel there. If you simplified your site down to say 4 boxes:

 

I large header box (brand message, rotating content)

+ 3 smaller boxes underneath ( services, work, testimonials or news etc)

 

then it would feel a little less confused, i also dont think having social networking buttons is really going to be needed, your maybe overestimating their importance.

Hello

1. Too big negative kerning (too narrow space between letters), that makes the text poor readable. You even could get rid of these nice but useless numbers on the menu for to add space for text labels.
2. Rounded corners are made too inaccurately. I would remove the flat face (or the gradient border?) from the banner. Take into account that these rounded corners are not sequentially used in all other elements of site interface below (right menu, content boxes, footer, etc)
3. This "orphan" separator looks a bit strange.
4. Simple non-gradient non-antialiased arrows look more distinctive.
5. The arrow design does not match to overall site style.
6. What is a role of these dark stripes?
7. Central alignment looks as a bit outdated trick. I would add more vertical space between the lines.

 

Concerning the logo - I would probably try to do something like that (just an idea, where the text looks more balanced).

 

 

Hope that can lelp.

Hi

 

I can't give you any advice on the technical stuff because I know nothing but I can tell you my opinion of the way it looks and whether it would be appealing to me.

 

My first thoughts when I saw it? It was cheesy and obviously American. It doesn't have much appeal for me, being female and I feel the colour scheme very masculine and as said by someone else before more like a gaming site.

 

I think the simpler you keep it the better, clean sites are much more popular now.

 

As I said, I can't say anything coding wise, and you've done a far far beter job than I ever could in that respect but the actual over all feel of the site is quite 'in-your-face' and unappealing to me, but maybe that's to do with the fact I'm female?

 

Sorry if that seemed harsh!

 

Nina x

...It was cheesy and obviously American...

 

That's perfectly logical and non-offensive, of course.

I'm 100% Canadian lol. But I understand what your saying. Thanks for all the pointers... I'll take everything into consideration. I'm quite happy with the site and I have various people I don't know that like it as well. Either way, I appreciate everyone's opinions and I'm making some changes as we speak...

 

 

Hope that can lelp.

 

Thanks for your input. I like your logo idea and I might just do that. What fonts did you use if you don't mind me asking?

Get rid of the tables, this is not the 90's.

Get rid of the tables, this is not the 90's.

 

Sorry to hear that.

It was cheesy and obviously American.

 

Sorry couldn't help chuckling.

 

I noticed with google's "cantarell" which I'm using on a project that below a certain font size the bottoms of some of the letters looked weird on explorer. Also for some reason specifying the size in px not pt seemed to give a better result. So although I'm sticking with it because it looks purdy, I am aware that google isn't steering us into very good practises with this.

 

Try increasing the font size for an experiment and see whether it sorts the problem out, just as a matter of interest. Also - line height? Does increasing that help at all?

What fonts did you use if you don't mind me asking?

Gill Sans Ultra Bold / Gill Sans

 

Ideally, both words must be of the same width.

Sorry couldn't help chuckling.

 

I noticed with google's "cantarell" which I'm using on a project that below a certain font size the bottoms of some of the letters looked weird on explorer. Also for some reason specifying the size in px not pt seemed to give a better result. So although I'm sticking with it because it looks purdy, I am aware that google isn't steering us into very good practises with this.

 

Try increasing the font size for an experiment and see whether it sorts the problem out, just as a matter of interest. Also - line height? Does increasing that help at all?

 

Ahhhh ******. Sorry I meant to post this in your other thread.