New (well re-used) Site

[JR]

<ramble>My friend asked me if i wanted to start webdesign with him and i agreed so we got a domain name. I now have been making a quick site - re used from a previous site a never finished for the company - which i don't want to take too seriously, i am in it more for the experience - possibly do my first few sites for free. I re done the old site over the last few days whilst learning php and mysql.</ramble>

So i just want feedback, i know it is very trendwhorish and i designed it for 800x600 i seem to remember (mistake), i like the colour scheme, but i am not very happy with it on the whole. Also i think the banner is plain and need something in it, i don't know what though.

click here to check it out (none of the links work) yet

[TheGAME1264]

You used the Pixel font. filburt's gonna be all over you for that one.

Seriously, I find the font too hard to read where you've used it as black on blue. (Oddly enough, the white on grey is easy to read and that's usually what I find hardest to read). I'd suggest a different font, but I'm not totally sure what.

I'm on 1024x768, so I find your site is too narrow overall. My suggestion is to widen it and center it on the page so that the white space on the right is minimized.

[JR]

yes, as i say i reused it so i want to change it a lot and make it bigger for larger resolutions. I also want to get rid of the pixel font but i haven't found a suitable font yet

[JR]

on the other hand i might do a different site alltogether if you think this page isn't worth saving

[smoseley]

It's got some interesting design elements that are worth saving. Here's what I think you should dump:

1. I don't like the baby blue with the gray. Try using cobalt blue, and a lighter gray (steely color).
2. I don't like that it's left justified, or that it's designed for 640 wide resolution. Center it, make it wider (I know you were planning to) and put another black line on the left
3. I don't like the white text on gray. I don't find it legible like Game. I would make the area between the two blue strips white bg or light light gray bg with black text.
4. Pixel fonts on the whole don't bother me, but this one in particular sucks.
5. Your banner needs more to it if it's gonna consume that much real estate. Make it impress us graphically.
6. Your content panes don't scale to the width of the main area. Also, the spacing between panes and between the outside is different, and the spacing of the colored portion of the banner to the outside is different. I would space everything equally (about 10 pixels, like you're using in your banner)
7. The angle on the bottom right of the banner / top nav isn't continuous. It would look cool if it didn't have the vertical break in it.
8. There's a drop shadow below your banner that looks totally out of place on this extremely 2 dimensional website.

Other than that, it's a good start. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

[JR]

ok noted, i am considering to redesign it alltogether but i think i will keep the colours - i did use a darker blue but i altered the transparency so it became lighter.

Which elements do you think are worth saving?

[iphong]

I think the site is too narrow in my browser with 1024x768 res.
All your NAV links seem are not working?I think you havent finish you site yet
I like your design but the banner quite big though,smaller it could make your site looks better i thought!!

[filburt1]

Originally posted by jravenscroft
yes, as i say i reused it so i want to change it a lot and make it bigger for larger resolutions. I also want to get rid of the pixel font but i haven't found a suitable font yet

Lucida Sans Unicode is what I use here and it works perfectly fine, at least IMO.

[JR]

not modern/futuristic enough

[filburt1]

It doesn't have to be futuristic, it just has to be readable and usable, something that a lot of these supposedly preteen-awing sites don't get.