Please Critique My Site :)
Saturday, March 20, 2004 by wstaylor | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I would love some feedback...
http://www.bbpaudiodesign.com/webmaster/index.htm
http://www.bbpaudiodesign.com/webmaster/index.htm
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wstaylor
Reply #22 Monday, March 22, 2004 4:16 PM
Reply #22 Monday, March 22, 2004 4:16 PM
i need more critisism (umm... going to check the dictionary) 
DONT STOP NOW !!! http://www.wstaylor.net
DONT STOP NOW !!! http://www.wstaylor.net
wstaylor
Reply #25 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:30 AM
Reply #25 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 9:30 AM
http://www.wstaylor.net ... COME ON PPL... PLEASE !!! more more more !!! 
DesignCaddy
Reply #26 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 1:04 PM
Reply #26 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 1:04 PM
sorry wstaylor, been busy. i think i'm the critic around here so i'll give it a go. (by the way if anyone is ever wondering where in the hell i think i have the room to talk: i'm not a web developer. i'm a designer. i look at design, but i myself can't get beyond html and some perl. so don't fus at me 'cause my own stuff isn't very advanced. my credentials: www.balletnj.com www.mverzella.com www.nittanyentertainment.com www.lfriscoll.com) . that being said.
to touch on what other people have said, the gradient metal/chrome look is old old old and ameuture. the style now- and for good reasons on readability and hiarchy - are to use simple navigation buttons.. solid backgrounds or light gradients are preffered. or, make them all look like they belong together. the shifting between lights and darks and lights again without a texture just looks childish.
the most important thing on the page is the title and the content. your content is boxed in and all the shading around it and different colors are simply overpowering it, it gets lost and i don't know where i should be looking first.
the navigation should be the next most important thing.. i would calm it down big time keeping in mind what i mentioned above. you have the right idea docking it on the left but make it all smaller and 'push it to the back' as we say.
next, you can go to your references/credentials (the stuff on the right side). make that even less powerful then the navigation. this is where you get into 'footer' material - stuff that is good as reference but can afford to be pushed to the bottom of the page, tiny, or be placed on a different page altogether.
your browser compatability is the least important thing on the site. it is a 'colophon' which states 'this is the optimal way to view my site' and basically 'i appologize if you're using some inferior peice of crap like netscape'. a colophon in typography is in the back of the book and is smaller then the content info, it is kept out of the way of the imortant stuff but someone should be able to find it if the want it. on the web, i would place it at the bottom of the page, all text - no images - and make it smaaaall.
the animations - in the middle of the page was nice but in the header, i didn't like it. too much motion. one or the other and i would say in the middle, lose the one on top. that way you only have one peice of motion that is jumping out to say 'hello'.
i didn't move past the index page.. i got the immediate impression you weren't someone keeping up with modern web design and techniques because of the ameauture look, and likewise couldn't use you. you don't have to have a flash page to look like you know your stuff.. but you have to look like you understand hiarchy and presentation of material, and have an eye towards loading time and graphics design. granted this may be your first one, but that is exactly how it looks and i am indeed being harsh.
do the whole thing again with just boxes.. stroke color and fill color, lay it out exactly the same then begin moving things around as i have suggestion. i think you'll find by varying the importance of some objects over others, your page will fall into place as being clean and straightforward. it will also load quickly.
anyway i hope that helps. find me in #stardock i'm always looking to talk design.
to touch on what other people have said, the gradient metal/chrome look is old old old and ameuture. the style now- and for good reasons on readability and hiarchy - are to use simple navigation buttons.. solid backgrounds or light gradients are preffered. or, make them all look like they belong together. the shifting between lights and darks and lights again without a texture just looks childish.
the most important thing on the page is the title and the content. your content is boxed in and all the shading around it and different colors are simply overpowering it, it gets lost and i don't know where i should be looking first.
the navigation should be the next most important thing.. i would calm it down big time keeping in mind what i mentioned above. you have the right idea docking it on the left but make it all smaller and 'push it to the back' as we say.
next, you can go to your references/credentials (the stuff on the right side). make that even less powerful then the navigation. this is where you get into 'footer' material - stuff that is good as reference but can afford to be pushed to the bottom of the page, tiny, or be placed on a different page altogether.
your browser compatability is the least important thing on the site. it is a 'colophon' which states 'this is the optimal way to view my site' and basically 'i appologize if you're using some inferior peice of crap like netscape'. a colophon in typography is in the back of the book and is smaller then the content info, it is kept out of the way of the imortant stuff but someone should be able to find it if the want it. on the web, i would place it at the bottom of the page, all text - no images - and make it smaaaall.
the animations - in the middle of the page was nice but in the header, i didn't like it. too much motion. one or the other and i would say in the middle, lose the one on top. that way you only have one peice of motion that is jumping out to say 'hello'.
i didn't move past the index page.. i got the immediate impression you weren't someone keeping up with modern web design and techniques because of the ameauture look, and likewise couldn't use you. you don't have to have a flash page to look like you know your stuff.. but you have to look like you understand hiarchy and presentation of material, and have an eye towards loading time and graphics design. granted this may be your first one, but that is exactly how it looks and i am indeed being harsh.
do the whole thing again with just boxes.. stroke color and fill color, lay it out exactly the same then begin moving things around as i have suggestion. i think you'll find by varying the importance of some objects over others, your page will fall into place as being clean and straightforward. it will also load quickly.
anyway i hope that helps.
find me in #stardock i'm always looking to talk design.
wstaylor
Reply #27 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:03 PM
Reply #27 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:03 PM
thanks, DesignCaddy... I appreciate your candid response and I will take all of your points into consideration... I have seen many websites that have the exact same appearance of your credentials and of the style that you have explained to me... I wanted my site to look like no other and I believe it does. I have skinned my site to match the look and feel of windows xp (Silver Luna).. I wanted a skin on my site so thats what i went with... I could change that.
I have been working on the navigation and layout for a few days... the layout I believe is not exactly the way I would like it, but im working on different designs... I am very consious of what other sites look like and how they interact with users... I had this site in mind for people who wanted a toally different look, than the normal solid colored background with tables that are symmetrical and artsy colors...
However, i understand the "childish" point... and take that to heart because I am truly a child deep, deep, down inside... I will make an alternative site for YOU and link the two sites together... I have One for visually impaired people you want to see solid colors and use a dialup modem... and one for people such as myself who are tired of seeing Adobe style templates and boring sites with 4 links...
j/k...
Really, with that said, I am working on templates with exactly the look and feel you have described above and I am planning to showcase them on the index in time to come... I will continue to work on my site and it will NOT stay the same for more than 24 hrs... so check back often and let me know that I have reached YOUR potential, IF and WHEN i ever do...
I need people like you to tell me what needs to be changed... So i that i can work on it and hope that it will get better and better...
btw, I do this merely as a hobby and have NO intention of making a living at it as you would have probably noticed... I am by nature a network administrator and I know more about hardware than i do about software... I am paying $45 a YEAR for the site so I thought it was an excellent waste of money... I hope to learn more so if you have any more suggestions please forward them to [email protected] so that i may be able to respond to you one on one...
Thanks,
Shawn,
www.wstaylor.net
I have been working on the navigation and layout for a few days... the layout I believe is not exactly the way I would like it, but im working on different designs... I am very consious of what other sites look like and how they interact with users... I had this site in mind for people who wanted a toally different look, than the normal solid colored background with tables that are symmetrical and artsy colors...
However, i understand the "childish" point... and take that to heart because I am truly a child deep, deep, down inside... I will make an alternative site for YOU and link the two sites together... I have One for visually impaired people you want to see solid colors and use a dialup modem... and one for people such as myself who are tired of seeing Adobe style templates and boring sites with 4 links...
j/k... Really, with that said, I am working on templates with exactly the look and feel you have described above and I am planning to showcase them on the index in time to come... I will continue to work on my site and it will NOT stay the same for more than 24 hrs... so check back often and let me know that I have reached YOUR potential, IF and WHEN i ever do...
I need people like you to tell me what needs to be changed... So i that i can work on it and hope that it will get better and better...
btw, I do this merely as a hobby and have NO intention of making a living at it as you would have probably noticed... I am by nature a network administrator and I know more about hardware than i do about software... I am paying $45 a YEAR for the site so I thought it was an excellent waste of money... I hope to learn more so if you have any more suggestions please forward them to [email protected] so that i may be able to respond to you one on one...
Thanks,
Shawn,
www.wstaylor.net
DesignCaddy
Reply #29 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:43 PM
Reply #29 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:43 PM
don't get me wrong, i'm not nearly a guru if and when my potential? its a difference in style only-i'm sure you'd kick me if you knew the extent of my coding skills. you made it sound like you're going to construct a site just to satisfy exactly what you think only i'd want to see, because i'm an elitist or something. please consider my comments only recomendations based opon what i know of information design, heiarchy, and..well, as a constructivist designer (all function, no flashyness).
believe me i feel the pain of seeing hundreds of sites that all look like.. in my opinion 90% of all flash sites look exactly alike. blinky boxes, sharp animations that are unneeeded, and overall- very flat. go to www.nasa.com and look at the m2k4 site. aaaahhh i want to have a seizure. everbody loves 2advanced studios, i can't stand their home sites. you can acheive clarity and sharpness without going flat, and without conforming to every other site. my own site, for example, went against all the rules but i tried to maintain an order. the other sites i tried to break up flatness with color and shadowing.
my main issue with your design was how busy everything was. simply toning down the contrast of shapes will soften the impact. i suggest going flat only to look at the arrangement of information and see how clean it looks, and that will give you an idea of what to pimp up and what to leave simple. i can see how you were angeling this to be something unlike all others but in doing that, its in a style that is actually very common around WC. i had thought you were promoting this as a buisness and just thought you'd want to look as clean as possible there is nothing wrong with having fun and being a kid with it.
if and when my potential? its a difference in style only-i'm sure you'd kick me if you knew the extent of my coding skills. you made it sound like you're going to construct a site just to satisfy exactly what you think only i'd want to see, because i'm an elitist or something. please consider my comments only recomendations based opon what i know of information design, heiarchy, and..well, as a constructivist designer (all function, no flashyness). believe me i feel the pain of seeing hundreds of sites that all look like.. in my opinion 90% of all flash sites look exactly alike. blinky boxes, sharp animations that are unneeeded, and overall- very flat. go to www.nasa.com and look at the m2k4 site. aaaahhh i want to have a seizure. everbody loves 2advanced studios, i can't stand their home sites. you can acheive clarity and sharpness without going flat, and without conforming to every other site. my own site, for example, went against all the rules but i tried to maintain an order. the other sites i tried to break up flatness with color and shadowing.
my main issue with your design was how busy everything was. simply toning down the contrast of shapes will soften the impact. i suggest going flat only to look at the arrangement of information and see how clean it looks, and that will give you an idea of what to pimp up and what to leave simple. i can see how you were angeling this to be something unlike all others but in doing that, its in a style that is actually very common around WC. i had thought you were promoting this as a buisness and just thought you'd want to look as clean as possible
there is nothing wrong with having fun and being a kid with it.
wstaylor
Reply #30 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:58 PM
Reply #30 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 2:58 PM
thanks man, Disregard the e-mail...
I'm glad that you understand my point and I know its busy... i wouldnt really say its in the WC style... but thats okay. I think that it is young and exciting... not tooo hard to read, but not for Old-Timers either.
I'm glad to get feedback as suggestive and as straight forward as WC can dish out... It's awesome but promotion is not something i would need... i really have nothing to promote. If you would have made it to the web design page you would see that I havent really been very busy...
But I AM working on trying to please every facet of people's imaginations without exceeding the normal standards of web design by tooo much. I hope that the site gets better and that we can remain in contact with eachother... You have a very valuble opinion as far as I am concerned...
Thanks again,
Shawn
I'm glad that you understand my point and I know its busy... i wouldnt really say its in the WC style... but thats okay. I think that it is young and exciting... not tooo hard to read, but not for Old-Timers either.
I'm glad to get feedback as suggestive and as straight forward as WC can dish out... It's awesome but promotion is not something i would need... i really have nothing to promote. If you would have made it to the web design page you would see that I havent really been very busy
...But I AM working on trying to please every facet of people's imaginations without exceeding the normal standards of web design by tooo much. I hope that the site gets better and that we can remain in contact with eachother... You have a very valuble opinion as far as I am concerned...
Thanks again,
Shawn
Shameless Designs
Reply #37 Wednesday, March 24, 2004 5:36 AM
On occasion, one thread may even be a surfeit.
This post is in no way directed toward you, wstaylor - just a general observation.
Reply #37 Wednesday, March 24, 2004 5:36 AM
| One thread is sufficient |
On occasion, one thread may even be a surfeit.
This post is in no way directed toward you, wstaylor - just a general observation.
Jafo
Reply #40 Wednesday, March 24, 2004 8:40 AM
Reply #40 Wednesday, March 24, 2004 8:40 AM
Titling a thread in all caps, spamming for comments and a second thread to boot....all a bit much, so one is definitely enough...
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Reply #21 Monday, March 22, 2004 12:21 PM
added a sitemap