COMPUTER AS EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH - GENIUS IDEA - LOVE IT!

Hey Rob, just wanted to say that I like your site, very well done.

 

It is nice and clean and has a great 'feel' to it.

 

Only one suggestion I could make, it is with regards to the background 'star field' - any chance of have less stars? They kind of feel a little too bunched up - but hey, that's just me;)

Either way, very well done!

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

I'm going to be working on the background(s ) in the coming weeks as part of a new feature of the design — the footer illustrations. I'll think about changing the stars, I'm also tempted to chuck in a moon for good measure, but I don't want to overcrowd the background as the content is the area I want to be most prominent.

Just a small update really…

 

I'm currently working on the footer illustration(s) and the whole changing of the background depending on the time of day. I have a few tricks up my sleeve regarding that It's going to take a good 2 weeks I reckon to get the illustrations 100% done (minus tweaks), as there is so much to do for them.

 

You will also notice a lot of things getting added/changing/breaking so bare with me. I've added a "IN DEVELOPMENT" banner to the top of the website just to reinforce that this is not a live website and things are likely to change / break until release.

 

I'll still appreciate feedback, but just bare in mind that some things you are seeing won't be final and/or are broken while I test them.

I really like the idea of the footer, but I think the launch pod should be more to left, looks wrong, as though the rocket didnt come from there not sure if that is just me or maybe the browser.

 

But I am looking forward to it once it is finished:)

Yeah, the launch pad is something that will be changing — it's just been nicked from one of the other illustrations while I finalise the ideas and positions. Also, the rocket won't be coming from there in the daylight, but I'll save that for later

Yeah, the launch pad is something that will be changing — it's just been nicked from one of the other illustrations while I finalise the ideas and positions. Also, the rocket won't be coming from there in the daylight, but I'll save that for later

 

 

Ooooh I am looking forward to the time dependent backgrounds.

Sorry I'm late to the party - here's my tuppence worth:

 

Overall: lovely. Main thing I like is the playful and informal feel - I think many customers are intimidated by web designers sites since they pander to the design community. Your site is friendly, nicely crafted, great use of colour and type (I really like the diagonal WIP banner - it'd be nice to see that employed somehow in the final draft).

 

Only criticism, I don't like how the content "screen" comes out of the slice in the ground - it's not clear what it is or why it's coming from the ground. I'd say dump it and have a fade to a nice lunar landscape a la Wallace and Grommit perhaps.

 

All in all - lovely job - looking forward to the final product.

Hey theres something wrong with the portfolio page...

Lol,

It's a work in progress there is nothing *wrong* with the site!

Lol,

It's a work in progress there is nothing *wrong* with the site!

 

 

Yes there is!

 

I didn't design it!

Sorry I'm late to the party - here's my tuppence worth:

 

Overall: lovely. Main thing I like is the playful and informal feel - I think many customers are intimidated by web designers sites since they pander to the design community. Your site is friendly, nicely crafted, great use of colour and type (I really like the diagonal WIP banner - it'd be nice to see that employed somehow in the final draft).

 

Only criticism, I don't like how the content "screen" comes out of the slice in the ground - it's not clear what it is or why it's coming from the ground. I'd say dump it and have a fade to a nice lunar landscape a la Wallace and Grommit perhaps.

 

All in all - lovely job - looking forward to the final product.

Thanks! I'm currently in two minds about the page coming out of the ground, it is actually a lot clearer than how it was before — the page just went behind the illustration. The problem before was that the footer became way too important as it was in front of the page/content. Having it in front like it is now managed to balance it out again and the page became slightly more visually important. I personally don't have an issue with the slice in the ground (Could anyone else comment on it? If I get enough "It's crap"s then I'll definitely change it) but I will probably develop the ideas a bit more, maybe make it look like it's coming out of a giant alien printer, who knows! My main concern is keeping the layout simple, I don't want to overcomplicate the footer, if possible.

 

 

Hey theres something wrong with the portfolio page...

Please tell me you're not being serious?

 

 

Lol,

It's a work in progress there is nothing *wrong* with the site!

Thank you Eris, I'm glad someone reads my posts!

 

 

Yes there is!

 

I didn't design it!

You could kidnap me and pretend you did, if it would make you feel better?

You could kidnap me and pretend you did, if it would make you feel better?

 

Hmmm Murder is a safer option.... Where do you live again?

*covers the location under his name*

 

Er… SCOTLAND! *grabs something hard to defend himself with*

I really like how the page comes out of the footer - although I have to say I only realised that was the idea after I read your post. At first I just thought it was rolled up at the end. Looks nice and tidy though, I vote it stays.

**Packs Murder kit and heads to Surrey.....I mean Scotland**

 

The design WILL BE MINE!!!!!!!!

I really like how the page comes out of the footer - although I have to say I only realised that was the idea after I read your post. At first I just thought it was rolled up at the end. Looks nice and tidy though, I vote it stays.

Would you recommend anything I could do to make it more obvious?

 

 

**Packs Murder kit and heads to Surrey.....I mean Scotland**

 

The design WILL BE MINE!!!!!!!!

*Double locks and barricades the doors, grabs shotgun out of the secret "In case of Zombie and/or crazy person attack" case and waits*

LOL but what about in the case of a CRAZY ZOMBIE attack?

 

You need special ammo for that! ought ought aint gonna do it mate!

Well, this is nice, this is really nice!

Everything looks perfect!

But still can't get on without one suggestion

Maybe you should change the link which you are currently visiting more noticeable. That's because if someone visits your page during the daylight then it's hard to spot the link where you are.

But that's only my opinion

Brilliant design I'd say

The Site Looks Great Rob...

Hey Rob,

 

One point I would like to suggest is regarding the Contact Form.

The textfields are filled up with the info of their category, on focusing the textfields you can just vanish the info so that it becames much more user friendly.

Hey Rob,

 

One point I would like to suggest is regarding the Contact Form.

The textfields are filled up with the info of their category, on focusing the textfields you can just vanish the info so that it becames much more user friendly.

Thanks for pointing that out, the contact form isn't finished yet so things like that will be added at the later date (before release obviously! )

Thanks for pointing that out, the contact form isn't finished yet so things like that will be added at the later date (before release obviously! )

 

oohhh thats kewl....

Hey theres something wrong with the portfolio page...

 

 

I always knew Rob had no work to show...he's too busy posting on here to do work

I was actually planning on putting my best posts in my portfolio… what do you think?

I was actually planning on putting my best posts in my portfolio… what do you think?

 

 

Love the idea...almost like a portfolio of what you life has became since the forum took over it

I'm sure my clients will definitely appreciate it too

im lost, it just looked wrong when i saw it i didnt read the posts

I think your clients will love the idea, it will show your full potential as a great procrastinator with good ideas that is occasionally helpful...by buying a mod Malibu

 

 

im lost, it just looked wrong when i saw it i didnt read the posts

 

 

Well it is a site that's in development so parts of it aren't finished, so its not broken its just not done yet...he is too busy getting drunk in the bar these days

No need to apologise, this is as good a place as any!

 

The idea for the design was a happy accident, as it always seems to be. I was playing around with an old concept which was nothing like this one (no space, no illustration), and decided to draw some stars. It sort of went from there, the stars led to the idea of having the website floating on the edge of space, which led to the background colours (the atmosphere), which led to the idea of having some sort of 'spacey' object in the background — the rocket.

 

Once I had the rocket, it occurred to me that I could use it as a sort of character for the website, and have it in amongst some various illustrations on each area of the website. The actual idea for the illustrations are just unplanned random thoughts that I've jotted down in a notebook over the last few weeks.

 

I wish I could give you a guide/formula on how I got to where I am, but all I can say is that you should constantly play around with designs and ideas, however silly they seem at first. That silly idea might spawn the next idea, which could be 'the one'.

As for how I actually made the illustrations, they are just vector shapes filled in with various colours and gradients. I then put a texture over the top to give a grainy feel — this was just a 'noise' pattern which I tweaked with various settings to be transparent and not black/white.

Sorry I couldn't be more exact with how I came up with it all — I don't really know myself!

 

 

did you use illustrator?

i love your graphics. im trying to teach myself to create good quality vector graphics.

 

nice work

 

the only thing ill say which could be improved is that it doesnt resise to 800 too well but i only say this cos ive had to do a massive research project on usability lol!!!

I've had a quick scan through comments, and I agree with all of them. I really like the illustrations, and the entire layout of the site.

 

The only thing I would suggest to make it even better, would be a different navigation - perhaps CSS image rollovers? It would finish the site off nicely me thinks?

did you use illustrator?

i love your graphics. im trying to teach myself to create good quality vector graphics.

 

nice work

 

the only thing ill say which could be improved is that it doesnt resise to 800 too well but i only say this cos ive had to do a massive research project on usability lol!!!

I did use Illustrator, but I did use basic pen/vector tools to produce the illustrations. Nothing Gimp or Photoshop can't handle.

 

I chose not to support anything below 840px as less than 1% of my visitors have that resolution.

 

 

I've had a quick scan through comments, and I agree with all of them. I really like the illustrations, and the entire layout of the site.

 

The only thing I would suggest to make it even better, would be a different navigation - perhaps CSS image rollovers? It would finish the site off nicely me thinks?

Thanks Ben! I think I'll be changing the navigation slightly before release, I'll make sure to update here when I do.

Hey Rob,

 

I had an idea (a bit lame probably) - but you deserve to hear it!!!!

Maybe you could tie-in your site's copy a little tighter with the 'rocket ship' design by chucking some phrases in like:

 

"Designing a good website isn't rocket science."

 

"For an out-of-this-world design."

 

"The eagle has landed."

 

"Designs that push the envelope."

 

OK, so these aren't maybe the best ideas - but it might spark something off? Because I'm copy mad I tend to look at the words first before the pretty piccies and on a lot of sites I think there's a bit of a gap between the graphic design and the content. I love your design because it's so far from the bland corporate 'handshake' or 'woman with glasses smiling at oblique angle' images. Might strengthen your proposition (er.. theme) by weaving the rocket theme into the copy?

 

Hopefully food for thought?

 

Oh, and just a silly thing, but you could add some faint trajectory lines with some scribbled formulae into some of the images to give impressions of technical prowess, of precision and science - just to 'serious-up' the cartoon graphics a bit? Like you've done on your About page's blueprint image.

 

You're looking for ballistics formulae like these on wikipedia.

 

God I'm brave to give you design advice!!!!!

Thats pretty good advice though, it would make the overall theme of the site more evident

"Designing a good website isn't rocket science."

 

"For an out-of-this-world design."

 

"The eagle has landed."

 

"Designs that push the envelope."

 

I love your design because it's so far from the bland corporate 'handshake' or 'woman with glasses smiling at oblique angle' images. Might strengthen your proposition (er.. theme) by weaving the rocket theme into the copy?

 

sorry wizeley i've been reading a lot of your stuff on copy and usually think it's excellent but...

 

might not quotes like that put it back into the 'corporate' fold as it were, they seem a tad contrived no?

 

sometimes the site brands itself without recourse to errr branding!!!

 

re. building for 800px...nikki it's out of fashion now, even our evangelist usability tutors last year when i was building for 800 * 600 said nah go for 1024 * 768. good ol' auntie beebs moved on. too

 

sorry wizeley i've been reading a lot of your stuff on copy and usually think it's excellent but...

might not quotes like that put it back into the 'corporate' fold as it were, they seem a tad contrived no?

sometimes the site brands itself without recourse to errr branding!!!

 

 

Glad you like my usual stuff!

You're quite right about wanting to avoid contrived and I did apologise in advance for my lame examples (I do have work I should be doing!!!!)! I would definitely be a lot more subtle than my examples - it's just easier to give 'over the top' examples to get an idea across.

Headcoat's spot on that you should avoid the jack-booted heavy branding but I reckon it's important to provide stronger links between the graphics and the text otherwise it's the graphical theme that ends-up looking contrived?

Shame I haven't got the next Part in 'Copy Corner' written yet - it touches on this by showing how you can use words as 'brushes' to 'paint' an impression that goes beyond the factual definition of words.

 

*Embarrassed by shameless plug*

 

Glad you like my usual stuff!

You're quite right about wanting to avoid contrived and I did apologise in advance for my lame examples (I do have work I should be doing!!!!)! I would definitely be a lot more subtle than my examples - it's just easier to give 'over the top' examples to get an idea across.

Headcoat's spot on that you should avoid the jack-booted heavy branding but I reckon it's important to provide stronger links between the graphics and the text otherwise it's the graphical theme that ends-up looking contrived?

Shame I haven't got the next Part in 'Copy Corner' written yet - it touches on this by showing how you can use words as 'brushes' to 'paint' an impression that goes beyond the factual definition of words.

 

*Embarrassed by shameless plug*

 

My appetite has been thoroughly whetted, sir! No shame necessary!

 

I agree with you and headcoat on the above issue. I think if you can tie the copy and the images together in an original and subtle way, you could be onto a real winner. The site is so personal and informal that any sniff of corporatism would kill it.

Tread carefully Rob and you'll have an unbeatable site

Ooooh I am looking forward to the time dependent backgrounds.

 

Can you really do that? If so, how? CSS, XHTML, etc...

 

BTW, Rob your site is such a inspiration!!!, now I just need to wait for exams to finish

Hey Rob,

 

I had an idea (a bit lame probably) - but you deserve to hear it!!!!

Maybe you could tie-in your site's copy a little tighter with the 'rocket ship' design by chucking some phrases in like:

 

"Designing a good website isn't rocket science."

 

"For an out-of-this-world design."

 

"The eagle has landed."

 

"Designs that push the envelope."

 

OK, so these aren't maybe the best ideas - but it might spark something off? Because I'm copy mad I tend to look at the words first before the pretty piccies and on a lot of sites I think there's a bit of a gap between the graphic design and the content. I love your design because it's so far from the bland corporate 'handshake' or 'woman with glasses smiling at oblique angle' images. Might strengthen your proposition (er.. theme) by weaving the rocket theme into the copy?

 

Hopefully food for thought?

 

Oh, and just a silly thing, but you could add some faint trajectory lines with some scribbled formulae into some of the images to give impressions of technical prowess, of precision and science - just to 'serious-up' the cartoon graphics a bit? Like you've done on your About page's blueprint image.

 

You're looking for ballistics formulae like these on wikipedia.

 

God I'm brave to give you design advice!!!!!

Thanks for the advice Wizely, you've sparked some ideas after giving me those examples. I agree completely that I should tie the content in with the concept a little more, but like headcoat mentioned I don't want to sound too corporate and tagline-ey. I'm sure (with your guidance) I can find a perfect balance.

 

I'll get back to your PM soon, promise!

 

 

Can you really do that? If so, how? CSS, XHTML, etc...

 

BTW, Rob your site is such a inspiration!!!, now I just need to wait for exams to finish

Thank you for the kind words Sweed! I wish you luck with your project and your exams.

I had an idea (a bit lame probably) - but you deserve to hear it!!!!

Maybe you could tie-in your site's copy a little tighter with the 'rocket ship' design by chucking some phrases in like:

 

"Designing a good website isn't rocket science."

 

"For an out-of-this-world design."

 

"The eagle has landed."

 

"Designs that push the envelope."

 

OK, so these aren't maybe the best ideas - but it might spark something off? Because I'm copy mad I tend to look at the words first before the pretty piccies and on a lot of sites I think there's a bit of a gap between the graphic design and the content. I love your design because it's so far from the bland corporate 'handshake' or 'woman with glasses smiling at oblique angle' images. Might strengthen your proposition (er.. theme) by weaving the rocket theme into the copy?

 

To me, the website design itself is quirky, personal, shows a lot of enthusiasm and is interesting. Therefore, I'd make the copy reflect that personality. To take an extreme example: if you had your design and then the text was "Rawkes will deliver key performance measurables in the online sphere, giving you excellent brand recognition in the virtual market place." It makes sense, but it would be completely incongruous to the look and feel of your site. Therefore I would recommend following that (excellent) design and the feel of it into the text. It doesn't have to be much, but the odd reference in a quirky way to ideas like space, robots, taking off, blueprints etc etc will tie it all together, inject some humour and keep the visitor reading. It doesn't have to be much, but it could make a big difference.

 

*cough* Great minds think alike

 

*cough* Great minds think alike

 

 

Oh my God! I've just stolen your ideas!!!! How did I miss that? I reckon it's coz Rob's such a proficient poster there's no way the human mind can keep up.

 

My apologies to you DustyWeeks - not only did you make the point first, you also made it clearer and far less controversially.

I promise to read threads more carefully. What a twonk I am.

 

Mind you - it looks like you have to ram the point home a few times before Rob will actually do anything!!!!!!! (Sorry Rob - only kidding!)