Opinions/Suggestions please

[ivcho]

This is a new site for my mom so I want it to be as good as possible.. i'll be making a dhtml version for 56k users so file size isn't an issue..

I just started it but want to get some opinions

here's the link http://www.bgidesign.com/clients/VLIKOVNEWV3/main.html

home,about and buyers work right now.. i've also styled the components for the form in buyers.. any good?

also bottom part still hasn't been done.. just drawing down some ideas right now..

thank you

[splufdaddy]

I like what you have so far. A few comments:

The animation all over the site is a little much. I like the idea of a slide show, on the homepage consider making it user initiated. Have "left" and "right" buttons on it so users can control the speed, and so they aren't distracted by the flashing pictures while they are trying to read the text. You could do this either in flash, or w/ javascript. On the rest of the site, different static pictures would be less distracting.

On the "About..." page, instead of using dashes to list her philosophy, consider the unordered list HTML tag.

Overall, I think it's a professional looking site. Nice work.

[smoseley]

I don't hink you should make it all in flash.

Reasons:

1. She'll get indexed better with html
2. You can easily add properties in a databased application (pain in the arse to do with flash... snap with php

Other than that, nice work. I like the layout and colors a lot. Only change I'd make is maybe desaturate the blue a little and add a warm gray (like windows xp ButtonFace gray)

[ivcho]

Originally posted by transio
I don't hink you should make it all in flash.

Reasons:

1. She'll get indexed better with html
2. You can easily add properties in a databased application (pain in the arse to do with flash... snap with php

Here's a little real estate site i did quickly for a friend a while back:

Regas Realty

Other than that, nice work. I like the layout and colors a lot. Only change I'd make is maybe desaturate the blue a little and add a warm gray (like windows xp ButtonFace gray)

As I mentioned there will be a dhtml site so indexing isn't a problem..

and it seems like you're saying it's either Flash or PHP.. where are you getting that?

I can use a database very easily with Flash so I don't know what you're saying...

[JR]

i like it - some good flash work there :classic:, i like the menu

[Delerium]

Overall, a pretty nice design. Just a couple of things though - the animations are distracting and what's with the date & time in the upper right corner? That seems out of place and unnecessary.

The only other suggestion would be perhaps another colour to compliment the blue.

[TheGAME1264]

I'd agree with Delerium's assessment and I'd like to add a few things to it:

1) <Rant> I find it tacky when designers/companies who put their hyperlink at the bottom of sites they design. Picture if the advertising agency that developed a Ford commercial put their logo or their "Powered By X Agency" at the bottom of the ad. It'd look pretty dumb, wouldn't it? As self-promoting hyperlinks go, yours is one of the less conspicuous and distracting. Nonetheless, it really shouldn't be there.</Rant>

2) The animations themselves wouldn't be as distracting if they just appeared with no fadein/fadeout and were the same size. The resizing of the images is what makes them so distracting.

3) The borders on the contact form should be solid.

4) You should use the same font size for your text (see the About Vania page).

They seem like a bunch of things, but all that stuff's pretty minor and it's a good start overall.

With regard to transio's comments: ivcho said he was going to do a DHTML site. If he does this, and includes a dynamic site map where the property listings were linked directly, then he can just as easily get his site indexed by search engines and he would have the dual advantage of having Flash and HTML on the same site. And if he can generate database listings dynamically from Flash (that's something I have to play with some day) and finds it easier (or at the very least an equal difficulty level) then he should by all means do so, for his sake and for his mother/client's.

[billtani]

I see no reason why Flash is needed for this site. The animation of the images is totally unnecessary and adds nothing to the purpose of the site - to generate business for your mom. The overall "feel" of the site feels too sparse and empty, something that isn't good for a real estate agent. Perhaps you could add more real estate imagery to support her years of experience? If possible, I would also improve on the quality of the photos. They look too much like snapshots.