Critique me too.

[JRundle]

I liked the responses on ayersart's webpage; very constructive. I recently posted my site to:

http://jonathan.rundle.us

Take a look and critique it for me. This is my first flash page, hopefully that isnt obvious. (An HTML page is the redirect for those w/o flash.) The Download PDF link on the portfolio page doesnt work, but I'm not at home so I cant fix it right now; I'll get it later. Thanks for your time.

 

[cLFlaVA]

The first thing that comes to mind is the color scheme. I like the gray background, but the text should stand out more, especially in the top navigation area (portfolio, resume).

Secondly, when I click on portfolio or resume, I get confused. How do I get back to the main page? How do I get to the resume from the portfolio section? How do I get to the portfolio section from the resume section? You need consistent navigational areas site-wide.

The thumbnails in the portfolio page need to be brighter. To me, they kind of get lost in the background, and they're too dim. Maybe give them bolder or brighter colors so they stick out more.

*cLFlaVA
----------------------------
[tt]Sigs cause cancer.[/tt]

 

[JRundle]

Oh and theres a problem with mozilla and frames I havent figured out yet. So Mozilla users will lose the navigational frame.

 

[trollacious]

Using graphics for your text is a good way to make the site difficult to maintain and get poor search engine results, too.

Lee

 

[taylorantone]

First, for being your first flash site you chose NOT to overdo it! Nice!! People tend to go nuts on their first anything, especially things like Flash that have so much potential, so keeping yours simple is a big plus!

Second, trollacious is right about the text. Use plain text wherever possible to decrease the site loading time and increase the search engine hits.

Third, try to, at the very least, code for IE and Mozilla to cover the majority of all web users out there. Even if you don't hack it up to fix IE5 issues, IE6 and Mozilla should produce the exact same page. Perhaps avoid the frame altogether?

Nice job.

 

[JRundle]

Thanks, I gotta figure out a way to fix my mozilla frames issue and I definately will.

I'm not too concerned about search results, just overall look and feel - I wouldnt be happy with the look of plain text; the flash fade-in is very important to me. Kind of a designer 1st programmer 2nd type thing.

I really just use the site as a link from business contacts and things of that nature, not so much out for mass audiences.

Thanks for the comments so far and please keep the comments/critique coming!

 

[warby1212]

I love it, I like the gentle movement at the beginning and love that seawater sort of banner. As you say you're designing rather than programming.

Cheers Stephen

 

[TruthInSatire]

I thought it was easy to navigate (except for the "home" button was your name).

I'm not too concerned about search results, just overall look and feel - I wouldnt be happy with the look of plain text; the flash fade-in is very important to me. Kind of a designer 1st programmer 2nd type thing.

you can fade text in and out using flash, they don't need to be an image.

reguardless, to my knowledge SE's have a hard time with flash anyway, text or image. If i'm right the issue is moot, you can use whatever your heart desires (foregoing load time). if i'm wrong, 1)look into fading text not images, 2) someone tell me so i don't sound stupid again.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
-Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

 

[AtomicChip]

I haven't read all the posts here, so if I'm duplicating someone else's comments, oops!

Under your portfolio page, the images. I think (remember, only my opinion ) that the mouseover takes too long to complete (the lighting and the scaling of the image) - I think it should be done faster. Also, I think it would look a lot slicker with a fadeout/scaledown on mouseout.

Otherwise, I think it's nicely done

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http://www.liquidfuzion.com

"The night sky over the planet Krikkit is the least interesting sight in the entire universe."
-Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy

 

[Foamcow]

Google (and possibly other major SEs) can, and do, index text in flash content. You need to make sure the "text" is text though and not an image of text.

http://www.foamcow.com

- Web design and ranting

http://www.toccoagames.com

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