Hi we would like some feedback on the simple design aspect of this site, we know coding needs optimising a bit more, but before we continue we could do with some feedback.

 

Were looking to see if it hold enough interest to keep you on the site, longer than 30s.

 

http://www.graphicsandwebdesign.co.uk

I find that it isn't very exciting - it just doesn't have any zest to it. And it's quite slow to load too - especially the animated feature content.

That's not exactly the kind of message you want on the front page -

 

(hint, you're telling potential clients you don't trust them)

For the nature of the site, there's far too much information. I am not drawn to anything inparticular and as a result I'm not really drawn to anything at all. Do you really need the right sidebar? The blurb? I would use your pages for the content they relate to rather than trying to get it all into one.

Hi we would like some feedback on the simple design aspect of this site, we know coding needs optimising a bit more, but before we continue we could do with some feedback.

 

Were looking to see if it hold enough interest to keep you on the site, longer than 30s.

 

http://www.graphicsandwebdesign.co.uk

We have taken your points into consideration and have revamped the site a bit more, we have dropped the menu for a top menu bar, and extended the functionality.

I really like this new design. It's still really cluttered though, and I find that cookies message was far too intrusive.

I really like this new design. It's still really cluttered though, and I find that cookies message was far too intrusive.

would it be better to have the cookies at the footer of the page then, will it seem less intrusive.

Huge improvement but still room for lots more. What I would do is; make each case study in that slider full width, 100% get rid of that graphic with the keywords in different colours, make your blurb a little bit more concise and give the containing box a nice colour, make the 6 boxes you have below the main blurb all half the container width so you have a 2x2 grid and again give each a colour. In regards to what I mean by colour I would take influence from your nav (which I really like) and chose a vibrant colour but not that same green.

I quite like it, It has a windows style to it.

 

I would say I prefer the top half, the bottom half is a bit bland with all the white boxes, and the text seems to butt up against the edge of the boxes, which doesn't look great. Good start, it just needs refining!

messy. i don't know where to focus. not enough space around elements. i think if you're going for this boxed look then there has to be a hell of a lot cleaner. the moving slider thing is annoying

 

the lime green of the read more is nice, the top nav green is nasty

 

the line length of the "welcome to" is way too long and too much centered text

 

the logo is grungey/industrial but the background to it is sort of artsy fartsy, then the rest of the site is fairly clean (white boxes)

 

don't like the full width feel - but maybe padding/white space might help

Hi Adam, i have to agree with the previous posts its very chaotic, you also wont get my vote as you have used wordpress. in the long run you will produce a much better styled and designed site for yourself if you code from scratch.

Hi Adam, i have to agree with the previous posts its very chaotic, you also wont get my vote as you have used wordpress. in the long run you will produce a much better styled and designed site for yourself if you code from scratch.

 

Yes but did he use a wordpress theme or make a theme from scratch?

The latter is a lot harder than just coding up an HTML site and updating it with FTP.

 

If he did make it from scratch then good job.

 

It seems very cluttered though, so I'm going to assume it's a wordpress theme from somewhere.

Yes but did he use a wordpress theme or make a theme from scratch?

The latter is a lot harder than just coding up an HTML site and updating it with FTP.

 

If he did make it from scratch then good job.

 

It seems very cluttered though, so I'm going to assume it's a wordpress theme from somewhere.

Yes this site has been coded from the start, it is built on wordpress using a html5 responsive css, when you say cluttered like many people have, what is you would remove seeing as no one states apart from a guy when we first put this up, we have since divided the wide content box into 3 boxes. We are trying to keep this clean and simple without compromising on content.

Yes this site has been coded from the start, it is built on wordpress using a html5 responsive css, when you say cluttered like many people have, what is you would remove seeing as no one states apart from a guy when we first put this up, we have since divided the wide content box into 3 boxes. We are trying to keep this clean and simple without compromising on content.

 

Site has now been de-cluttered.

It looks much better. I'd add some more white space between the boxes, they still seem too close together. Align the green links. Give the text in the top 3 boxes some bottom padding. The phone number in the logo looks cheap.

It looks much better. I'd add some more white space between the boxes, they still seem too close together. Align the green links. Give the text in the top 3 boxes some bottom padding. The phone number in the logo looks cheap.

Well some more adjustments have been made, id like to thank you for you honest and constructive criticism through out this subject, tbh we have been working on the new site non stop to get something back up as our servers were damaged in a fire at our office's and took our site completely down.

Its people like you that have helped us to get back to something that resemble a web site.

Thx adam

still not enough padding on the sides in the 3 info boxes, but not enough space at the bottom of the slider boxes - still feels cramped, or boxed in. not digging the windows feel at all, nor will all those who also dislike windows 8

 

still dislike the 3 pane slider bit. i think it might be the visual hierarchy that's off - a row of green boxes then lots of white boxes with black borders - have you tried a light grey for the background instead? also the cyan from the mouse over is nicer than that jade-ish green of the top navigation.

 

grids are fine but this it just too boxy (funny it says "thinking outside the box" ) and nothing breaks up the grid a little until the footer maybe some left-right margins could help

 

still a confused mix of styles

 

and it should be "designs" not "design's"

There's something about it that just reminds me less of well designed sites from professional web designers and more of those indian spammers that email me every day.

It feels as though the browser is zoomed in - it needs to be taken a step back. I didn't know where to focus and i didn't like having to scroll to see everything you did. I think that should all be there without the user having to look for it. And I only looked because you asked for feedback...your visitors might not bother at all.

 

I always expect a portfolio for web/logo etc. designers. You don't seem to have one?

I think there is a little too much movement and animation, specifically with the drop down menu and with the hovering on the images below the menu. The color change, moving text and zooming picture is a little too much, I would choose one of those effects. Also keep in mind that stationary objects are not always a bad thing. As mentioned above it feels a little bit cluttered. I think the cookies disabled message is very intrusive, it makes me want to leave the site. I think as far as a foundation, you have a great place to work and improve from. You are off to a a pretty good start though!

It feels as though the browser is zoomed in - it needs to be taken a step back. I didn't know where to focus and i didn't like having to scroll to see everything you did. I think that should all be there without the user having to look for it. And I only looked because you asked for feedback...your visitors might not bother at all.

 

I always expect a portfolio for web/logo etc. designers. You don't seem to have one?

Thank you for your comments, we are aiming to get this front sorted first, we know we cannot please everybody, and there have been many changes thanks to you Guys and Gals on here.

Once front is finalised we can move on with the portfolio, which as it stands is laid out like a magazine.

We are looking into a full width slider to replace the scroll your own way effect.

I think there is a little too much movement and animation, specifically with the drop down menu and with the hovering on the images below the menu. The color change, moving text and zooming picture is a little too much, I would choose one of those effects. Also keep in mind that stationary objects are not always a bad thing. As mentioned above it feels a little bit cluttered. I think the cookies disabled message is very intrusive, it makes me want to leave the site. I think as far as a foundation, you have a great place to work and improve from. You are off to a a pretty good start though!

You ought to have have seen how it started, a lot of people said it was cluttered in the first stages, we stripped a lot out and replaced the content in the bottom boxes into accordions and had better feedback.

as for the zooming effects, we use them to create a canvas instead of a very static page as this is a box theme we though it would be relevant . thank you for your comment and we will take them onboard.

It looks much better. I'd add some more white space between the boxes, they still seem too close together. Align the green links. Give the text in the top 3 boxes some bottom padding. The phone number in the logo looks cheap.

made some changes, thought you might like another look, see what you think. http://www.graphicsandwebdesign.co.uk/

Edited November 27, 201213 yr by MikeChipshop

logo is hard to read cos it's resized in the html. some padding on the main content please. it's coming along but it still feels like it has some way to go

For someone who is selling professional web design and graphic design, you seem to have little ability in both.. graphic design and web design.

 

For a start, your style is entirely confused. You've got a grungy logo with grungy style text, followed by a sleek square mono-colour menu. Then you've got a colourful stitched feature panel. All of this screams back to the drawing board. Entirely. Start again.

 

Find your style, create your mockups based on this style. Don't just pull in cool things from here and there, consider how they fit in with your design. More whitespace, less words, less gimmicks, more thought.

The logo is bad and I really think you should have the text in the boxes left aligned. I really like the menu though, i reckon you should take your cue from the menu and create a really smart minimalist design . Less is more as they say...

fran hit the nail on the head!

fran hit the nail on the head!

 

I guess it worked.

 

Maintenance Mode

 

Graphics & Web Design Ltd is currently undergoing scheduled maintenance.

 

Please try back in 2 days, 16 hours, and 43 minutes

(on November 27, 2012 at 1:28 am).

Sorry for the inconvenience.

I guess it worked.

 

Hopefully they'll come back with something nice!

 

I think a lot of people just dive into code far too quickly. I've been guilty of it too. But a good design should be signed off and completely polished before the code starts.

Well we have some news for you guys and gals, we have finally realised that merging two design companies together was the easy part. Obviously the website leaves something to be desired, we have taken everyone's points of view since the beginning of this thread and the two before this. We feel we have clashed as designers and have tried to hard to incorporate both designers views and perceptions in what we are trying to achieve. Therefore we are going to pull the site in the next couple of weeks and we hope to have something much better, cleaner and crisp for the new year. Thank you for all your comments, suggestions and criticism.

This site is not opening properly. Please check the site uploading time.

This site is not opening properly. Please check the site uploading time.

it's in maintenance mode

Forgot your site

 

Has anyone looked at their brochure at http://www.graphicsandwebdesign.co.uk/ They need a proper designer to sort that out pronto - it's awful and horrible to read. Pro tip: if you don't do graphic design in house, get someone in who is actually a graphic designer.

 

Just looking through thr SEO section of your brochure too - I could write a book about why the following is wrong. For £49 per month:

 

 

 

Seriously, if that's the type of SEO you're offering, quit. Tne above says a couple of things to me. Firstly, you're outsourcing your SEO to India or similar. Secondly, on your site you make no mention that you outsource the work, saying one of your directors has ~10 years SEO experience. Anyone with 2 weeks experience in SEO would tell you the SEO offered there is spam. I mean 500,000 trackbacks. Seriously, companies like you need to just go away.

 

Just looked your code. Whoever made the site used http://www.onlinemetatag.com/ to create the meta tags. Come on.

 

I do love your replies, Rallport, straight to the point with a finely tuned BS detector.

 

Other slightly suspicious stuff from the brochure.

 

We do not cut corners and buy templates, we design all our web sites from scratch and produce truly bespoke web projects.

 

 

 

 

From the bottom up your web site is hand crafted using valid XHTML and CSS coding. A web site of high standard is a very worthwhile investment.

 

 

WORDPRESS FROM£99

 

Yeah, right.

You hand craft a wordpress site from a blank template with only base stylings to build a 'bespoke' design for £99?

You're either these guys

 

 

Or you're using wordpress themes.

 

I'm calling absolute BS on this.

Edited November 27, 201213 yr by MikeChipshop

I don't even know what a Meta Submission is. I'm going to chip in here about the SEO:

 

Every single web design company I come across offers SEO. Why? I think a lot of people see it as easy money. And it devalues the **** out of what honest SEO's do. Simply buying a ton of links off Fiverr (which this looks like it would be) just won't work. I've done experiments with gigs on there and there was only one or two that actually provide something that resembles good movements. IF you have amazing experience in SEO, or genuinley know somebody that has the results, then go for it. But simply blast a ton of ****ty links from Russian blogs won't cut it.

 

If design is your thing, stick to it. You might be good SEO's and you might provide an amazing service but looking at the list you're offering (none of which will provide much benefit to your clients website) then I'd seriously reconsider. A lot of potential clients will look at that, see big numbers and think "well, **** it. It's only £XX per month, lets do it!". 12 months later, they're ranking for their brand name and nothing else.

 

I don't see anything wrong with outsourcing; I accept a ton of work from agencies. But thinking you can charge that much for spammy services isn't the way to go. In the long run, you might make a few grand a year from clients but you honestly could make a hell of alot more by providing a better, more powerful service. I bust my balls for my clients and it pays off as they bring in more work because they rank/have ranked for high volume keywords.

 

I notice you have a ton of these links pointing to your website. I went on one website that has 4266 comments on. Even the energy of clicking a button to get that link isn't worth the time.

 

I'm not trying to be a prick, nor am I bitter or anything like that. If anything, keep going! I'll probably get those clients in 6 months looking to fix the problems. But if SEO seriously isn't your thing, don't do it yourselves. I outsource my design work because 1)I'm ******* terrible and 2) I can make a quid or two by managing the client and have a fully fledged design person do it for me.

 

Think about it guys. Coders can't generally design, designers aren't always great coders and just because you make websites doesn't mean you can "do SEO".

Looks like Rallport busted another one!

 

Original link removed from the OP due to claim reported that the company name is in use by another company and the OP has no rights to trade under that name.

 

Scrap ALL OF THAT!

 

http://www.webdesignerforum.co.uk/topic/65814-all-positive-and-negative-feedback-required-for-new-website/page__st__40#entry417178

Edited November 27, 201213 yr by MikeChipshop

Should we start taking bets on whether or not the OP will reply again?

I a

 

 

I just hate con artists and middle men who know nothing, uet act like they're some sort of authority in their niche. It's just a pet hate of mine

 

It's just a shame that people in general don't know anything about the web and what is quality design or service, so people like this will continue to get away with it and drive down opinion and prices of and in the industry.

 

I mean jesus, 'bespoke' WordPress managed sites for £99?

 

I'm in awe.

Sit down ladies and gentlemen and let me tell you a story, it's a good story, it's a story of possibly the best BS sniffing out community out there...

 

 

Well this user Adam Godsall has got himself in a right pickle. He was sniffed out as spouting crap, any surprise really considering we're a community of professionals for gods sake! Turns out the theme was a WP theme all along and the SEO was generated by a machine OK cool, at this point you'd own up, admit defeat, change your ways possibly? Nah, who am i kidding, what you would do is start a fresh account on WDF and send over a fake report as so...

 

We have been notified of this user passing the company off as Graphics and webdesign Ltd, we have registered so we can make a report.

 

This user is not affilliated with our company with our actual site located at www.gwd-webdesign.co.uk.

 

Can all posts and details be removed and the user deleted please. We have notified companies house of infringment and have forwarded details to them.

 

I would like this to be actioned at your earliest convenience, we have also contacted relevent hosting to have this removed.

 

Many Thanks

 

B P Steward

 

But obviously you wouldn't do that... nah, because being a professional in your field, you'd know that forum posts can be traced to IP's (which in this case match) and that all your details are on the WHOIS (which also match).

 

So Mr Adam Godsall of both graphicsandwebdesign.co.uk and gwd-webdesign.co.uk , i've taken it at my earliest convenience to out you and your sneaky ways. Please do not try to continue on as it's obvious you don't have the intelligence to pull it off.

 

Long may this thread rest on Google.

 

Just think, if you hadn't of tried to be smart, your other domain name would have remained unblemished.

Love a good bust! Welldone team! Go Go Powerwdf'ers!

 

edit from double post:

Rall thats the 4 pricing boxes (one of them)...isnt it? Or am I missing something?

Edited November 27, 201213 yr by jamesosix