http://sonic.net/~eighth08/CRVS/final/FINAL/

 

I am really feeling like something is missing.. or not right here (still working on a logo for him so please bare will the current CRVS logo)

 

Maybe the menu is too blan? or slightly out of place?

 

Any thoughts or suggestions to make the site better?

 

Still playing with color schemes.

 

 

(hey though! It did validate so I'm doing one thing right!)

The layout is fine, however I dont think the seperate cyan background colours are appropriate, if you had them as a standard white flowing with the white behind and having a very faint border instead of the bacground to definishiate the layout, smaller arial font would be nice and more content on the banner, with it saying 'final' it has me presuming the fonts/sizes colours images and alignment are all what you are keeping?

 

I think you should:

 

- Suggestion / Use Arial font at about 10-12px

- Change/Ammend the banner to have a little more content and possibly a little less graphical image on the banner

- Add some new buttons (you have them in a great area) they just need a loving touch

- Use a FAINT border rather than a background (content boxes)

- Background, the grey you have picked looks more and reminds me of the OLD OLD windows, play about with backround images and colours and see what you can come up with.

- Central align the footer/copyright

 

Keep up the good work

I would say the heade image is a little undefined/ too dark at the bottom, looks a bit unprofessional. Also the right column is in a square box but everything else has rounded corners. This creates a lack of balance. It would look better IMO if the navigation links lined up with the text underneath.

Other than that, I think you have the beginnings of a good site.

hi

 

i think on 1024*768 the logo is too big. also given the darkness of the grass to the side of the road perhaps the black in the crvs is too dark as well? it kind of gives the banner a gloomy feel.

 

nav menu is in a good place though i'm not keen on the font - i'd opt for all capitals or all lower case, maybe even verdana with a bit of letter spacing?

 

maybe try boxes for the nav see here (it's only a mock up but will give an idea of what i mean)

 

http://www.mikeswebdesign.co.uk/workinprog...es/photos5.html

http://www.mikeswebdesign.co.uk/workinprog...es/photos6.html

 

second link doesn't seem to work in ie6 by the way.

 

and for me the green background to central content area is too much, perhaps try a bordered white or just a line to the right or a more subtle bg colour.

 

final thing with the logo / banner is it possible to recrop the image so the road doesn't run entirely central (ditton the crvs letters), general (very general) rule of thumb with photogrpahy (and design) is to use the rule of thirds e.g. don't centre faces but have at intersection thirds - image a grid with lines at each third, same rule applies to any key point of focus i.e. the road and the letters crvs. it's not an absolute but it might add some dynamics and match up with the content and manufacturers list which are roughly 2/3's and 1/3.

 

finally i'd lose the valid css and / or xhtml logos, it's good to validate....and not centre align the copyright as if you tweak the other areas to better link up you'll find it suits best either left or right with say 10px of padding.

 

overall try and think of the areas (banner, content, navigation, list of manufacturers) as seperate but linked, sqaure banner with rounded corners on content for instance?

 

you did ask!!!

Thanks a lot guys! I wanted it honest, and thats what I got! Perfect really opened my mind up to things I never saw before.

First off sorry, some of you guys saw slightly different versions as I didn't expect anyone to be looking so quickly!

 

 

@pontypete, it says final because I am bad at organizing.. when I decide to stop a design i don't delete it, I create a new folder in that clients directory. And I had so many at this point I wanted it to be clear that this was my final.. meaning no more starting over. Thanks for the comments, they mean a lot. I will definitely stay away from that "classic" windows grey, and find something a bit nicer. Possibly a background image if solid colors don't seem to pull it off here, although I thin solid colors will work fine.

 

@notbanksy, Ya know the rounded corners bothered me a bit too with how the sidebar didn't quite seem to line up with the main DIV box. Thanks for pointing it out I will change that now for sure!

 

@headcoat Ya I wasn't happy with the menu itself, but I was into the position, the look just didn't do it. Box buttons would look good.

 

 

Thanks for the responses!! If you have more let me know! I will be changing it as hours go on.

Ok guys. So I made significant changes to the design.

 

Please let me know what you think!!!

I feel like its on its way to being the perfect "simple" site.

 

http://sonic.net/~eighth08/CRVS/final/FINAL/

 

 

Again note that the logo is a temporary mock up of the actual one that will be vectorized and all that fun stuff.

My Image of an American open road is much longer with red sunset and cactus on the road side...

 

Bit like the Eagles album over (before everybody else's time probably)

 

There is something completely enthralling about travelling in North America and the existing picture does not capture the (my) mood.

this one.....

 

 

I guess growing up inland in southern california I've learned to HATE the desert.

Stupid cactus, stupid tumble weeds trying to act like its a western flick... haha.

 

The image is going to be different probably (the owner of the site has a big motorhome, and lives in a very beautiful area up here in Northern California so I will most likely take a picture using my mate's Digital Rebel of it driving down the road)

 

Other than the header image what do you guys think? I think with you folk's suggestions and insight its turned out MUCH better.. I would really like to thank you guys because I am really no good with the simple stuff because its easier to notice flaws in this style than with the abstract styles (I can get away with more with those, and I like having the constructive criticism it helps me think in a new light)

 

But seriously if anyone has any more thoughts I'd looove to hear them! I'm seeing stuff I never noticed before!

I guess growing up inland in southern california I've learned to HATE the desert.

Stupid cactus, stupid tumble weeds trying to act like its a western flick... haha.

 

The image is going to be different probably (the owner of the site has a big motorhome, and lives in a very beautiful area up here in Northern California so I will most likely take a picture using my mate's Digital Rebel of it driving down the road)

 

Other than the header image what do you guys think? I think with you folk's suggestions and insight its turned out MUCH better.. I would really like to thank you guys because I am really no good with the simple stuff because its easier to notice flaws in this style than with the abstract styles (I can get away with more with those, and I like having the constructive criticism it helps me think in a new light)

 

But seriously if anyone has any more thoughts I'd looove to hear them! I'm seeing stuff I never noticed before!

 

Thing is with a simple design is that because there's less going on, what's there has to be pretty much perfect. Simple is surprisingly difficult..

 

The motorhome pic is totally unbalancing things here. The right-align with the centre of the content area isn't working on its own, it needs some other relationship with the other elements. You could resize it so it has the same height as the logo, but I'd look at choosing another image instead. This one looks out of place.. it's very functional but no more than that. Don't just think of the product, think of what it conveys... freedom, new horizons, etc etc.. that's what customers are buying into. Also, there's something odd about that pic.. it looks like a 3D render or a model or something. That's kinda distracting (although maybe not so noticeable once there's more content).

 

The logo... sucks I noticed it's slightly different in this one compared to the first post.. have they not got it finalised? Maybe you could talk them into getting it redone.. it's very prominent on the site and kinda sets the tone of everything else. It does look amateurish though, and I think it'll completely kill any minimalist site design.

 

The logo and the image are too close to the edges. The edges don't align with anything.. I'd shift everything in from the edges (images, text etc) in at least 15-20px and align them

haha thats what I was trying to say. The header image and logo are not the actual products. I am still waiting for him to email that to me. I just did those as quick mock ups so I can get the idea across to him what the basic layout is.

 

And yes the motorhome in that picture is cropped in. Again just for a basic idea.. I guess I put too much work into a mock up header. Ya, the logo is terrible I made it in about 1 minute flat haha. They have a logo thats SIMILAR to it but much nicer from what I've seen.

 

So I guess just ignore the header image+logo for now.

haha thats what I was trying to say.

 

Eh, so you did.. sorry, woke up late and only had half a coffee when I wrote that

haha its ok! thanks for giving your time either way!