Hello one and all fellow forum members!

I managed to squeeze in 2/3 hours looking at my own site's re-design.

My current site is ****** (I am quite aware of that!) but has served its limited purpose.

My re-design is here (just a home page). It is simply a prototype; feel free to pull it apart!

It will take a while to load (images are full png etc) and the content will be changed considerably(wording) but I would appreciate comments on layout and colours etc.

Thanks in advance!

I've had a big brainfreeze and its starting to hurt

Wow that header hits you!

 

My initial thought is that it was a music related site, it's probably the header for some reason it reminded of Hendrix

 

The sidebar menu doesn't work for me, I think it's the huge text size and all the rollovers are the same. have a think about changing them to "content" items rather than a sidebar.

Wow that header hits you!

 

My initial thought is that it was a music related site, it's probably the header for some reason it reminded of Hendrix

 

The sidebar menu doesn't work for me, I think it's the huge text size and all the rollovers are the same. have a think about changing them to "content" items rather than a sidebar.

 

Hendrix indeed I thought I was having an acid flashback.

 

I actually really like the header but would be looking toning down the content font, is it bold? Makes hard reading. Perhaps a bit more space between blocks of text, with such a strong design you need to allow plenty of breathing space.

 

But I think that has the makings of a very interesting and original site mate.

 

Hi bluedreamer, thanks for that.

The sidebar definitely isn't right. Most of my time has been spent messing about with the sidebar and you have confirmed my own thoughts.

As for the music thing, I agree, but Elanman 'could' be a bit of a rockstar?

I like the silhouettes but I think they're overdone.

What do you think of the colours?

Hendrix indeed I thought I was having an acid flashback.

 

I actually really like the header but would be looking toning down the content font, is it bold? Makes hard reading. Perhaps a bit more space between blocks of text, with such a strong design you need to allow plenty of breathing space.

 

But I think that has the makings of a very interesting and original site mate.

 

Thanks for that headcoat

I shall take all of your coments on board!

I agree that the content colour is a little too 'in your face'

The problem I'm having at the moment is that during the day with natural light on the screen, it looks a little flat but by night it seems too much!

I'm working in a 'sunroom' at the moment at the back of the house.

First I'd make all the png's gifs. Then you might want to make the hover image "slide" upward for the buttons on the left (combine callout6 and callout5 into one image, then change the background-position on hover) to get rid of the flickering if the image hasn't loaded yet.

First I'd make all the png's gifs. Then you might want to make the hover image "slide" upward for the buttons on the left (combine callout6 and callout5 into one image, then change the background-position on hover) to get rid of the flickering if the image hasn't loaded yet.

Hi Stardog, as I said its just a prototype and all of the images will be optimized/converted when I'm happy with the overall idea.

I suppose I posted this just to get a reaction to the layout/colour scheme more than anything else.

 

To put this into context, I have lots of similar named domain names and each one will specialise in web design for a specific industry but this one will be the 'hub' of my business.

I want it to be very simple.

Think there's definitely something there worth tweakage.

 

The figure in the header doesn't really work for me. Because the silhouette uses one of the same colours as the rays, it's hard to make out. If I hadn't seen your avatar, I probably wouldn't know what it was. Most users probably won't realise that it changes on mouseover. It's kind've a established convention to use the logo as a home button, but this isn't really a logo so it's not as intuitive.

 

The header stands out so much that it's distracting when trying to read the content. One way around this would be to lighten the dark chocolate colour. This would have the effect of contrasting less with the lighter rays, drawing the eye to it less.

 

The left menu font REALLY needs to be changed. It's way too heavy, and I think the font works better as a display font, it's not really meant for something like a menu. I'd probably change the menu to use the same font as the horizontal menu, although you could still differentiate it by having it bolder or slightly larger (not as large as it currently is, though).

 

Not liking the serif telephone number. Everything but the copy is in sans, I'd do the same with the number.

 

The alignment of the right edge is a bit off. Probably look better if the right side of the title and number were aligned.

 

Does have character, though. It might be worth developing the superhero concept more. Right now, it's a static figure that appears in one pose in several uses (menu element, home button, image on the bottom right). You could do variations on it, and maybe exlpore other superhero imagery that could fit in with the idea (Elan Man - Web Design Superhero! Saving you from crap design!). I think it has a lot of potential.

Think there's definitely something there worth tweakage.

 

The figure in the header doesn't really work for me. Because the silhouette uses one of the same colours as the rays, it's hard to make out. If I hadn't seen your avatar, I probably wouldn't know what it was. Most users probably won't realise that it changes on mouseover. It's kind've a established convention to use the logo as a home button, but this isn't really a logo so it's not as intuitive.

 

The header stands out so much that it's distracting when trying to read the content. One way around this would be to lighten the dark chocolate colour. This would have the effect of contrasting less with the lighter rays, drawing the eye to it less.

 

The left menu font REALLY needs to be changed. It's way too heavy, and I think the font works better as a display font, it's not really meant for something like a menu. I'd probably change the menu to use the same font as the horizontal menu, although you could still differentiate it by having it bolder or slightly larger (not as large as it currently is, though).

 

Not liking the serif telephone number. Everything but the copy is in sans, I'd do the same with the number.

 

The alignment of the right edge is a bit off. Probably look better if the right side of the title and number were aligned.

 

Does have character, though. It might be worth developing the superhero concept more. Right now, it's a static figure that appears in one pose in several uses (menu element, home button, image on the bottom right). You could do variations on it, and maybe exlpore other superhero imagery that could fit in with the idea (Elan Man - Web Design Superhero! Saving you from crap design!). I think it has a lot of potential.

Thanks bumfluff.

I don't have a lot to say in response to that apart from I agree with everything you've said!

Great feedback everyone!

Very striking indeed!!

 

Interesting colour tones there!

Very striking indeed!!

 

Interesting colour tones there!

I can't tell if that's good or bad