Can I get a "gut reaction" to this site? 2

[AncientTiger]

I've started work on a new site, and was just curious if anyone would be interested in taking a look and giving likes/dislikes on it:

http://www.ancienttiger.com/ASBB4/

I just started the site a few days ago, so very little is actually working yet, but I'm interested in seeing what your gut reactions are to the look and feel of the site are..

Thanks!

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18 years of programming, and still learning every day!

 

[GUJUm0deL]

AncientTiger, hi, took a look at your site on IE6, 1024*768 resolution. Here are my comments:


1) Like the navigation menu, nice color schema and mouseover color schema. However, try to align it all. Your banner, your nav menu and the reb under the nan bar are all different sizes, looks kinda awkward. Have them all the same size, in this case make it all the same width size as the reb bar under the nav bar.

2) Have the blurn on the main page centered. Keep some distance from the image on the left and the blurb section. You have soooo much room to spare, use some of it.

3) login.asp - center align the whole table, once again you have room, so embrace it don't shy away from it. Also, the link to the "forgot password" does not work.

4) joinup.asp - take out the border around the 'membership' buttons. The border looks out of place.

5) joinfree.asp - your step1, step2, etc. buttons are left aligned, while everything else is center aligned, use consistancy. In other words, center align it all. Also, i'm assuming that ASSB is the sites name, if it is then shoudn't it be ADSBB?? And, lastly (for this page), the bgcolor for your "Membership Agreement Form" looks hideous. No offense, but the other site colors look nice and sleek, then you have this pukish color. Oh yeah, also get rid of the border. Makes it looks out-of-place.

6) While the other pages are 'under construction", i'll leave you with one last comment, you need some kind of a bg color for the site, or a bg image, perhaps a logo of the site as a background??


Hope these helped.

[sub]
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Just Imagine.

http://www.imajinarts.com

[sub]

 

[Guru7777]

I JUST happened to be surfing on my kids' computer while my wife is on the real one. It runs on a 800 * 600 resolution and your site doesn't quite fit on the screen. The content is good, but the menu is too wide. Also, the over state on your menu buttons are in green while the rest of the site has a mostly red hue to it. Red and green are opposites on the color wheel and baring Christmastime, are generally considered clashing colors. I hate to be picky, but you wanted a gut reaction, so here it is. Take it for what its worth.

 

[GUJUm0deL]

To accomidate for the different screen resolutions out there (most popular are 1024*768 and then 800*600) create all your tables in %'s rather then pixels. %'s enclose themselves no matter what resolutions.

As for the image, best thing i've learned to create the image with the width as 780 pixels, so it fits in nicely on 800 resolution, and also looks decent on 1024 resolution.

[sub]
____________________________________
Just Imagine.

http://www.imajinarts.com

[sub]

 

[cian]

Gut reaction?

1. Way to many images.
Try text navigation instead of images and a smaller main logo
2. Too white
Try an off white background like #f5f5f5
3. Too brown and blocky
Try using more colours, you can still maintain the "brown" look but you need 2-3 colours IMO.

Try surfing the net for a few hours and take some snapshots of various sites (or parts of sites) which catch your eye. Try to figure out then what makes those sites work, layout, spacing, colour scheme etc,


Sorry if that sounded to harsh..


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[AncientTiger]

Not too harsh cian, honest... and that was what I'm looking for. Thanks! And thanks to everyone for taking a few minutes to look things over. It's easy when I'm doing a site for a client because they know how they want it and I just pitch in my two cents worth here and there. But when it's one of MY sites.... well I always value a second opinion!

Thanks again
AT

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Nearly 20 years of programming, and still learning every day!

 

[Guru7777]

I like the changes that you've made... a lot. I think that the new colors on your buttons are very good. Excellent work taking the suggestions and working them in to your design. I know it is hard to ask for and take criticism, but you seem to be taking it in the right spirit, so I salute you.

 

[AncientTiger]

My thanks Guru... if there's one thing I've learned over the years it's that NOONE knows it all. A good designer has an open mind and actively seeks out others opinions on their work.

I'm going to make a major change to the layout and look using the advice given here... If y'all would like, I'll post when it's ready for a re-review.

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Nearly 20 years of programming, and still learning every day!

 

[AncientTiger]

Ok, I've made some MAJOR changes... see what y'all think now.

Thanks

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Nearly 20 years of programming, and still learning every day!

 

[GUJUm0deL]

AncientTiger, nice improvement. But still needs a little more work.

1) The color schema still looks awkward. You have the deep red for the navi menu and logo, but your site background color is purple-ish. You need find some color combo that doesn't hurt the eyes. Do a search on google fot HTML color chart, and go from there.

2) On the main page, towards the bottom, there's seems to be dashed lines appearing. Might wanna look into that.

3) On the Join Up page, theres a huge gap b/w the menu and the logo. Seems like the page is pushing the menu down.

4) The &quot;Join Up&quot; button has some white-ish border color.

Hope this helps.

[sub]
____________________________________
Just Imagine.

http://www.imajinarts.com

[sub]

 

[ChrisHunt]

I'm afraid I think this looks significantly worse to me than the old version. The rounded ends to the menu bar are much too jagged, and there's a slight white halo around the whole thing. Personally, I'd use a tiling background image to extend the bars down and across the screen, rather than make those stumps, but if you're set on them you should draw them with antialias switched on and the correct background colour. You might also experiment with a small drop shadow.

As Gujumodel says, that background colour doesn't really work. You've got rich reds and earth tones for your menu, I would suggest something similar for the background, say a paler version of the beige/brown that surrounds each button. Using CSS, you could tie the colour scheme together more by colouring headings the same dark red as your menu bar.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[AncientTiger]

Good points... and ones that I had pretty much already arrived at. Looked good at the time, but the longer I looked at it, the less I liked it.

I've opted for a less 3D look, and I think it works... what do y'all think?

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Nearly 20 years of programming, and still learning every day!

 

[ChrisHunt]

That's much better, though still need to fix the slight white line around the <Join Up> button, of course.

I think you should make the top bar remain in solid colour for the width of the menu column and then fade out to the right - that way you won't see the join between the horizontal and vertical bars. You should also put a curve in the corner between the two bars rather than the hard 90&deg; that's there now.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[GUJUm0deL]

Looks slightly better. The color schema still looks awkward, maybe its hard to find a color to balance off the rich-red menu color, :-/ Take a look here and see if you can find two colors that can be blended for the effect you want.

http://html-color-codes.com/

http://www.immigration-usa.com/html_colors.html

You can defiently see the border b/w the top image and the side menu image. Why not merge them as one image and then slice them up?? It'll give you a seamless effect. Your &quot;Join Up&quot; poage still has the missing space between the logo and the menu.

Hope this helps.

[sub]
____________________________________
Just Imagine.

http://www.imajinarts.com

[sub]

 

[hotfusion]

Coding and layout aside, on first visiting the site's home page it looks clean, steady and uncluttered - a pleasant change from the glaring, flashing mobile world of many commercial sites. Why do they do it? I find it exremely annoying.
The page seems to work well now at all reasonable resolutions, and the colours seem to be in harmony.
One point regarding content: On first visiting the site, it was only your mainlogo that really gave me a clue as to what this site was all about. The introduction is worded well as far as it goes, but seems to have been cut down to a minimum.
If you want a suggestion - and I assume you do - I would increase the font size a couple of points (maybe..) and add more by way of an introduction and explain in more detail how the site concerns itself with the whole adoption subject. I'd be sure to mention the word 'adopt' and 'adoption' a couple of times in relevant, well-formed sentences to give search engines such as Google something to quote under the title in search results as this helps people decide which of the search results they'll look at. Be sure it's yours they pick!
Also get something up on your 'About Us' link ASAP, even if it's just to explain about the new site and lack of completion - I feel people will be clicking that link a lot.
Looking good so far, nice work!

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My primitive attempts at designing a private web site can be laughed at here:

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/andyspatch

 

[johnwm]

Looks nice and clean - but check spelling on Join-up page!

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[AncientTiger]

Thanks to all for your thoughts! And, I plan on running my spellchecker BEFORE making the site publick.

Thanks again folks
AT

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Nearly 20 years of programming, and still learning every day!