Hey all,

 

Ive "finished" a website i was working on for some time, but im not happy with it. I dont know if ive spent too much time on it seeing the same design over and over, but to me it doesnt look quite right. The annoying thing is, i dont know what exactly is wrong with it (and my complete lack of creative thought doesnt help either!)

 

The site is: www. a c o r n b e a r i n g s.co.uk (sorry, the site has such low PR that this forum comes up pretty high on SERP)

 

What do you think? Ive made a new header, see here using a template, and i think it looks alright. But it still doesnt ease my niggles.

 

I dont think the site looks professional enough, nor does it convey what the company actually does / is.

 

Just some thoughts: I want to change the footer, to add a bread crumb trail and the company address, but dont know what colour background to use. Ive also tried changing the background of the entire site. I think my problems might be due to the nav bar, but im too rubbish at photoshop to be able to change any of the colours (let alone know what colours to change them to!)

 

So, im asking for your expert opinions - what do you thinks wrong with it?!

 

Cheers

Contact button breaks in FF - pushed onto lines below (sub-Nav)

My opinion would be that it's using a lot of trendy effects that really have nothing to do with the subject matter. Because of that, it looks templatey. It could be a site for anything if you just changed the pics and text.. there's nothing about the site design or styling that relates to bearings, or gives any clue as to what the company's about (not just in terms of what they do, but their 'character' etc)

 

The new heading is an improvement in that it gets rid of the distracting reflections, but it's still so generic that it could be for anything. It also reads awkwardly because of the placement of the "& transmission co.ltd" part. It looks like "acornbearings.co.uk & transmission co.ltd", which doesn't make much sense unless there's a seperate company called "transmission co.ltd"

 

A proper logo would probably help a lot. People tend to see a logo as an indicator of a professional company.

I think it's a good site.

 

Not sure about the placement of the & it appears a little arbitary. The drop shadows seem somewhat unnecessary on the logo, I'd look at some other fonts / letter spacing and drop the shadow on the logo. Perhaps sharper may be better?

 

Beyond that the logo concept is good, it fits with the business - nice sense of motion akin to a bearing rolling. And of course it has a bearing in it!

 

Beyond that navigation is excellent, it's not full of filler and gets the point across.

 

I'd consider aligning the images with the little gray square alongside the quick links.

 

Your target audience will want info., to feel your professional and get a sense of *bearings* all of which I think you've achieved very well, including the text.

 

I agree with both Headcoat and Bumfluff, although they are in contradiction to some extent. I would say the design is good, the content is well presented, and there are no glaring design faux pas on your site. Visitors to your site will be interested in finding the info they're looking for as quickly as possible and it seems geared up for that.

On the other hand, the design does remind me a little of a template, and could visually be more representative of the subject matter. Having said that, I think there's a fine line to tread here - too sophisticated a design could put your customers off as this is a primarily mechanical subject, it's all about how things work as opposed to what they look like. It's all about getting that balance right. I think it's more important to build integrity into your design rather than an elaborate design. Your customers will want the company to appear reliable first and foremost IMO.

Looking good though - a big imrovement from the site you first posted a while back.

Hello,

 

I think that a bit of work on the header will work wonders. Especially the logo (as already suggested)

 

I totally agree with the previous comment about getting the balance right. Of course, it's really, really difficult but the site feels a little 'soft' and 'light' for me. I hope you know what i mean by that, it's hard to explain feelings, but i think that you might be feeling something because the overall feel of the site doesn't quite sit right with a Manufacturing/Industry. I would try tweaking the colours first of all, the blue is a bit too pale/pastel i feel and the content loses a little strength because of it.

 

Actually, i've just been looking at the header a little more, and i definately think that you could boost this area to completely transform the site. A good logo designer will have no problem in coming up with something for you - there are plenty of things to play with in terms of creating, such as using the little bearing ring as an 'O' or something along those lines.

 

idea : If it was me, i would section off the word 'ACORN' and use the ring as the O in the centre.

 

Also, one final thing - I feel that the navigation column and main section of text needs a little more white space on the sides, only a touch, but it doesn't look quite balanced to me at the moment, i think that a little bit of extra white space will add to the overall legibility - the text is a touch too close to the edges for me.

 

Good luck in ironing out your niggles bud, hope this helped a little.

 

 

Carl.

Thanks for all the comments. I completely agree with what you say, its too "wishy washy", neither here nor there.

 

So, im trying to get away from calm blues, and go for more industrial, serious greys. Ive had a quick play about, does this look like an improvement:

 

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/8256/15714709fl1.png

 

Id like some thoughts. The above is very preliminary and just playing about.

 

I need to get a new logo, ill see if i can find an appropriate graphic design forum.

 

But, what can i do for a footer? What colours / style?

 

Im getting sick an tired of that menu breaking as well, so im thinking of using this:

 

http://www.stunicholls.com/menu/pro_dropline_2.html

 

What do you think. Ive been testing it out and it seems more stable, and i like the grey on the drop downs.

 

Cheers for any input

So, im trying to get away from calm blues, and go for more industrial, serious greys. Ive had a quick play about, does this look like an improvement:

 

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/8256/15714709fl1.png

 

I'm struggling to understand what you're going for here.. You've mentioned using "industrial, serious greys", but then have a gloosy black menu on it, which isn't industrial looking at all..

 

I'm getting the impression you haven't worked out exactly what you're going for. You should have a detailed idea of what you want before you even start using the computer to make it

I'm struggling to understand what you're going for here.. You've mentioned using "industrial, serious greys", but then have a gloosy black menu on it, which isn't industrial looking at all..

 

I'm getting the impression you haven't worked out exactly what you're going for. You should have a detailed idea of what you want before you even start using the computer to make it

 

Couldn't agree more and I know the feeling - I'm sure the designer guys will agree that it's one of the easiest and biggest pitfalls to fall into - ie. coming up with a design and then fitting your site into it!

 

From my angle as a copywriter - because you're in precision engineering you need to come up with some specific and precise concepts - I'd start with your content. You need some 'sharper' headlines and a bit more exciting text. Know what you want to say and make sure you get it across. From this design ideas should spring.

 

Things like colour (even though I'm no designer) - I'd go for a soft metallic background and then add some punch and texture with colours and little elements ideas maybe from an acorn? Or, for a little more colour, do an image search for anodising colour charts.

As a logo - I wonder how a 'metallised' acorn would look? Ties in your name with your business, would be memorable and industrial yet organic and would look like a bearing?

 

Just a thought.

Good site but I think need to add a few bright elements