April 9, 201412 yr Hi guys and girls, I'm just looking for a bit of general feedback on the latest site I've developed. The brief was for the site to follow their original design but more information needed to be added and a general bit of a re-vamp. It also had to not cost too much and be put through a CMS. With costs in mind I didn't go down the responsive route and tried to keep things as simple as possible. I like to use modX for my CMS sites so it is running through modX revolution 2.2.12. Site URL: www.ghfisheries.com It would also be interesting to get some feedback on a ballpark costing for this kind of site if anyone is willing to contribute. Thanks, John
April 9, 201412 yr It looks ok.I don't want to sound negative, but it just feels like the site is incredibly flat and I don't really know what I should do with it, should I read the content, click links or just sit and stare. Hope that makes sense?
April 9, 201412 yr Author Yeah I here you. Thanks for that. I tried to keep the focus on the rotating images at the top and keep the rest really simple but I think it's 'too simple'.
April 9, 201412 yr It feels very 1990's, it needs a serious update, sometimes when a client gives you a brief like that you need to convince them that the best thing for their business is something more up to date, clients have no idea what is best for their own website, that's why they employ a designer The colours are completely wrong and the layout is boring, the widgets are distracting and if I were to visit I would click away. Sorry
April 10, 201412 yr I read the comments above first and I expected it to look worse than I felt it was, if that makes sense. I think simple is good and I don't think the overall design is too bad but the text seems too small to me, including the tiny menu text at the top. I'm not sure why you need exactly the same menu repeated at the top and in the sidebar of the homepage. Since I'd have done WordPress because (rightly or wrongly) that's what I do, I'd have gone for a responsive theme. I think having the facebook feed works OK, so long as they do post to facebook fairly frequently. I found the way the captions to the slides keep sliding up quite distracting. I'd be reading something further down the page then my eye would be caught by a black caption bar sliding up at the top.
April 10, 201412 yr ditto the small text and i would have gone for a responsive theme too! wordpress would have been straightforward to do this - doesn't modx offer anything similar in basic templates? think more padding on the text (left and definitely on the right - let's ti breathe and reduces the measure (line length) and the main image on the front page (main with fish) has the logo over his face and is clumsily blended together with the other pic.
April 10, 201412 yr Sorry but I have to agree with the others, font sizes are too small, why have an identical side menu and top menu, it is flat and un-interesting, very outdated, non-responsive, to many widgets and gadgets. I do appreciate that the brief was restricting, but producing a site like that just because the brief was not loose and inspiring is poor form. I would recommend producing some mock-ups that can be used to inspire your clients into doing something that is current, has a CTA, has considered UX, etc etc. You never know your clients might even be inspired enough to get the check book out and offer a real budget. I was very surprised to see 'the-coding-guys' at the bottom in small print.
April 10, 201412 yr I was very surprised to see 'the-coding-guys' at the bottom in small print. It's just a shame that 'the-coding-guys' are certainly not 'the-designing-guys' by the looks of their work Edited April 10, 201412 yr by Fuzzy Logic
April 11, 201412 yr Author It's just a shame that 'the-coding-guys' are certainly not 'the-designing-guys' by the looks of their work Yeah I guess it's also a shame a banana is not a pear!
April 11, 201412 yr Yeah I guess it's also a shame a banana is not a pear! Without putting too finer a point on it, when you eat fruit you always get a nutritious snack no matter what fruit it is, when you design a bad website it can affect a while business and peoples livelihoods. A very poor analogy I am sorry to say, I have said around here and I will keep saying it because it's true, just because you can (or think you can) draw pictures it does not make you a designer. Edited April 11, 201412 yr by Fuzzy Logic
April 11, 201412 yr Author Without putting too finer a point on it, when you eat fruit you always get a nutritious snack no matter what fruit it is, when you design a bad website it can affect a while business and peoples livelihoods. A very poor analogy I am sorry to say, I have said around here and I will keep saying it because it's true, just because you can (or think you can) draw pictures it does not make you a designer. That's probably why I'm a developer. I'm looking for tips on design and the first thing I've learned is that designers are rude, obnoxious and unhelpful. I was looking for feedback on the site not an attack on my ability. You should learn the difference between providing feedback and criticism, and in all fairness just don't bother commenting if you have nothing to offer.
April 11, 201412 yr I think you alt to learn the difference between criticism and facts, you are providing what you call a 'professional service', you are selling websites and you are obviously aware that your designs are not up to scratch so excuse my question but what are you doing offering services you are not qualified to do? I know design but am a little less aware about development, although I can code it's not up to the standard I would consider selling, unless it's my own site I pass that bit of the job to someone who works in that area. I am glad you want to learn more about design but you won't learn anything by people telling you what to change, more useful to you would be resources where you can learn the principles of design rather than getting someone else to do it for you, if you want to learn some of this I would be the first to jump and help you Just to add to put it in your terms, which is simpler to you, to teach little bits of a coding language or would it be to teach the syntax and then point them to the resources where they can learn more? Edited April 11, 201412 yr by Fuzzy Logic
April 11, 201412 yr Author That's how I work - I develop other peoples designs. Hence the coding guys as apposed to the designing guys. On my portfolio the only site's I've 'designed' myself are The motor company one and the Guitar one. I was looking for feedback on this site in particular as it's done for a friend with a tiny budget that is absolutely non negotiable. It's basically his old design (not by me) put through a CMS with additional content added. I am looking more into learning about design and doing my own designs. My background is purely as a coder - html, css, javascript & php. The resources you mention sound helpful and I would really appreciate something like that - just as I would help out anyone getting in to writing their own code.
April 11, 201412 yr Sweet, ok, I would love to help.. Ok, a few resources to get you started Colour theory - http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory Grid system - http://eyelearn.org/ma-stu-gallery/gridEssay-2013/esam/ Form follows function - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/23/does-form-follow-function/ Figure ground - http://www.andyrutledge.com/gestalt-principles-1-figure-ground-relationship.php Rule of thirds - http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/rule-of-thirds.htm Mind mapping - http://www.tonybuzan.com/about/mind-mapping/ Website planning - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/06/09/a-comprehensive-website-planning-guide/ Typography - http://speckyboy.com/2013/06/13/the-principles-of-typography-back-to-basics-2/ Contextual theory of design - http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/contextual_design.html Hopefully these resources would be enough to send you well on your way into curiosity to enable you to improve your designs, although these are only some of the basics Edited April 11, 201412 yr by Fuzzy Logic
April 16, 201412 yr Jeez! Some people are so harsh. I like the site man. It's about fishing, it's not youtube or facebook. As long as it's easy to surf and the customer focus is in mind then I don't see many major improvements to be made. The text size in the content section and the horizontal navigation bar is a bit too small. I would also space the content out a bit more with a bit of padding and bottom margin to push the video section down maybe 10-20 px just so the content doesn't look too 'squashed' together. That's all I can add for a project on a tight budget. Good luck!
April 17, 201412 yr Jeez! Some people are so harsh. I like the site man. It's about fishing, it's not youtube or facebook. As long as it's easy to surf and the customer focus is in mind then I don't see many major improvements to be made. The text size in the content section and the horizontal navigation bar is a bit too small. I would also space the content out a bit more with a bit of padding and bottom margin to push the video section down maybe 10-20 px just so the content doesn't look too 'squashed' together. That's all I can add for a project on a tight budget. Good luck! harsh or fair? if some one asks for criticisim then that's what they get, constructively with links and ideas to help address those issues. whilst limited budget does mean some design contraints it's no excuse for poor design or design that can be eaily tweaked. honest useful feedback is better - even if it's perceived as harsh - whether there is time or funds to implement any of the good advice is up to the OP. this isn't Facebook where you can only 'like' something calling a spade a spade is what you get when you ask for a review from your peers and it shouldn't be seen as harsh when it's fair just because it's not a huge multinational site doesnt mean it can't be based on good design principles. fair enough the OP is a coder but the client is buying basic design with a basic budget and that's what they should get - and i assume why the OP has sought review and advice on this forum. we would be failing them and the client if we didn't give it as it is
April 17, 201412 yr Except for the very small font and lack of white space. It's not to bad for someone without design training. As a freelancer you can't be specialized at everything. That's why we have frameworks. Some people are good at coding and some are more gifted with design. Just think about it the other way around: How many good designers havn't delivered solutions to clients with way to inadequate code (tons of links to js libraries and plug-ins and with poorly structured databases ect.) Instead trying to grasp design principles like the rule of third, the grid and the gestalt laws right away I suggest you make use of Bootstrap or a similar framework. That will allow you to deliver responsive and structured layouts while you study design at your own pace.
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