Opinions wanted: New website desgin

[digitalchaos]

I recently redesigned my website and would like feedback on the new appearance & functionality.. constructive, positive, or negative. The site can be found at the link below. Thanks in advance;

moveon.com2.info (http://moveon.com2.info)

[filburt1]

Gripes:

1. The header is a real visual mess
2. The translucent gray box (kinda cool BTW) should be centered; for that matter the whole page would look better centered

Other than that, pretty nice. :)

[digitalchaos]

Thanks for the reply! Those two things were exactly changes I had on my mind! I had attempted to make the header graphic 3D not too long ago, but it ended up just looking bad. I think I might change the logo into a mask with something showing through the letters..

I've been looking at several options for table width, and I think I might go with 750. I would like to use percentages so the windows will resize for different resolutions, but I don't think it is supported in Netscape. Perhaps I can override the HTML settings with CSS settings for ie.

[Prometheus]

1.He's right, the logo is a killer, and not in the good sense.
Note: Regarding the percentage value to table length and width, that is suported in all browsers, IE, Netscape Nav, Opera, NeoPlanet, you name it.
2. The static bck has a few problems too: First it's static and static bck are not suted for seriouse sites. Second, I'm using a 1152x864 res
on my machine and I can clearly see where the bck ends. A good bck should not leave the impresion of a single picture but that of a continuum.
3. I also don't need to know what day today is, Windows can tell me that at any time.
4. From a first look, I have no ideea what youre site does, you're forcing me to read the text and not a lot of people have enough patience for that. Try a logo that states your mission like "MoVeOn - Latest Automotive News" or something like that.
Hope you find this useful in any way.

[digitalchaos]

Thanks again for the useful information! I have now changed the logo, and tommorrow I will refine it further by adding to its description & putting it into a gray box, similar to the rest of the page. I will center the page & use percentages for all table widths, so that they may change accordingly with screen resolution.

As for the background, I have had trouble with how to design a single image for multiple resolutions. I would like all of it to show up on all screen sizes, yet I can only make the image one size. Does a script exist which would detect user resolution and either resize the background or display a different sized image for each resolution? Perhaps there is another solution. I originally had a tilable background, but wanted something more complex. File size has also proven some trouble. All help thus far is appreciated!

[digitalchaos]

Ok final refinements have been made; only the background resolution remains to be changed.. so tell me how it looks!

[filburt1]

Much better now :)

Check out http://www.webdesignforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4428 though, it's a bad idea to have a fixed background image ;). If you don't want it to repeat you can use CSS to force it in a certain position and repeat mode.

[digitalchaos]

Ok I have now added a new background. It is not what I originally intended as the previous would have used a top & bottom table in conjunction with a convential bg image; unfortunatley the image did not stretched well in the table after I altered it. This one is still simpler than I would like, so if anyone has a more creative design your suggestions are welcome!

[Scarab]

In my opinion, the page is too bright, and the background is a little too distracting.

I for one in this case would probably rightside justify the site, with a graphical background reflecting the content. I'd have the graphics stick pretty much to the left, be faint but still prominent, so at higher resolutions, they stand out to the left, but don't pull away from the content too much.

Another option would be to separate the header logo from the buttons, by adding some sort of contrast between the two areas. If you're sticking to greys, then perhaps use a darker grey (#333333) behind the buttons. It would make them stand out a little more, while enhancing their effects.

I've attached a file so you can see what I mean.
If you'd like help making it like this, just email me and I'll show you how I did it, but as you can see, if offers just enough contrast between the buttons and the background to really enhance them and make them stand out more.

One other thing, I'd recommend a schematic diagram of a car for a background...at the very least, it would offer a visual association between the topic and the website, and perhaps make the buttons look like gauges in a car's dashboard to tie it in further.