Well, hello everyone...:-) It has been quite awhile (6-8mos) since I was last here. It was obvious I still had a ways to go with trying to create a portfolio and I'm hoping I have done better than previously. I took everyones comments from the first site and tried to keep in mind while designing this site. This "newer site" is still incomplete, but I wanted to get some opinions on what I have done so far. The one thing that really bothers me is that my work is "layed out" on one page, whereas, I would like to incorporate some kind of image viewer/sldieshow (avoid scrolling) instead. I just need to find a great script/code for one I have in mind and have not been able to find it yet...:-( I may be dreaming...:-) In any case, please tell me what you like or dislike so i can take it into consideration as I continue to build and design. I started basically from a template which eventually became a blank template...:-) Then I went at it with the layout and design.
I also have a link to another design I am working on which I like alot better
(Joomla/Mambo template), but I am kind of stuck where I am on the site. I have been studying Joomla for about a month, and hopefully when I better understand it I will be able to use that site as my portfolio instead...:-)
Here are the links
www.kshdzines.com
http://test.getthereeasy.com/
Thanks ev1!
Revised site
Well, hello everyone...:-) It has been quite awhile (6-8mos) since I was last here. It was obvious I...
&nsbp;
#2
Nicholas
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- Designer
- 164 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 10 October 2006 - 04:10 AM
Very good site. I like the textures, to me it has an older book appeal to it and for some reason an egyption feel as well. There are a few broken links for pictures and I'm not sure if it's just my monitor or just me - but is the whole thing not centered and actually off-set to the left some?
For your banner up on top, it's kind of hard to read where it says "logos, ect..." maybe if that were white, it would blend better with the white drop shadow on your logo.
As for the slide show - this is one that I am going to implement onto my site once I have it finished on my local drive. -- its from http://blog.triptracker.net and the link to the slideshow code and how to is http://blog.triptracker.net/?p=17
I think you will be pleased at how nice it actually is! I love the features on it - stop play pause first/last - next/previous - and it doesn't open up in a new window - instead it opens in the same window and you can see your website through it - because the last thing we want people to do on our sites is click and get diverted somewhere else because it pops up in a new window ect... - the slideshow is has a Very Pro Feeling to it as well - and you can tweak it however you want.
All in all I think your site is awsome - the second site looks alot more clean in my opinion as well
Nikoli
For your banner up on top, it's kind of hard to read where it says "logos, ect..." maybe if that were white, it would blend better with the white drop shadow on your logo.
As for the slide show - this is one that I am going to implement onto my site once I have it finished on my local drive. -- its from http://blog.triptracker.net and the link to the slideshow code and how to is http://blog.triptracker.net/?p=17
I think you will be pleased at how nice it actually is! I love the features on it - stop play pause first/last - next/previous - and it doesn't open up in a new window - instead it opens in the same window and you can see your website through it - because the last thing we want people to do on our sites is click and get diverted somewhere else because it pops up in a new window ect... - the slideshow is has a Very Pro Feeling to it as well - and you can tweak it however you want.
All in all I think your site is awsome - the second site looks alot more clean in my opinion as well
Nikoli
#3
kshdesigns
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- Designer
- 16 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 11 October 2006 - 04:11 PM
Thank you for your comments...:-) they are taken highly into consideration. As for some links, as I mentioned, I am still in design process and have quite a few more things to tidy up. I was looking for some opinions as I reach completion and yours is deeply appreciated. Thank you. I'm not sure why no one else is replying....:-( I was beginning to think they were being kind not posting at all rather than down it. But, I have one positive feedback...:-)
Sincerely,
karen
Sincerely,
karen
"kshdesigns"
#5
bbaker
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- Designer
- 16 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 12 October 2006 - 04:51 PM
kshdesigns.....Hi, I'm new to these forums and don't have the graphic design experience that must others have here (that's why I'm here....to learn). But I do have website design experience, so, if I may, I'd like to focus on your website design.
Please note ahead of time that I'm not trying to rip your website apart, I'm just trying to be helpful to you and your visitors.
the http://www.kshdzines.com site:
Right off the bat, I noticed it took a long time to load. Then I figured out why, because all the text on the website is actaully an image. You would greatly decrease the loading time if your text was actually text, instead of an image. It would make it easier to edit too. Would also take up less space of the visitors browser cache.
I looked at this website in Firefox, IE6 and Opera. Looks good in all 3, but in IE6 and Opera, there is a lot of leftover space at the bottom of the page. You can scroll down for quite a bit with no content being visible.
It is possible to show a lot of your images without making them all one image. If you go to your "Gallery" pages, there are 5 samples on the right side of the page, but they are all 1 big image. Breaking these down into 5 seperate images with the background image as a separate image, would also decrease the loading time.
Not sure if his is a concern of yours either, but there a lot of validation errors on this website as well. Which may , or may not, mean that your website won't display correctly on some browser. If you go to http://validator.w3.org/ and enter your URL, it will show you where the errors are and how to fix them.
I think Nicholas already mentioned it, but the content is not centered in the browser window.
Last thing....there's really no need for navigation at the top and bottom of the page.
OTHERWISE
....I like dark websites. It looks nice. I'm not a fan of tiled images as backgrounds....but that's just me.
I do agree with Nicholas, the other site (the Mambo site) looks a lot cleaner. It also loads a LOT fast.
CONCLUSION
You're doing some very nice work here. Just giving you some things to think about. If you consider doing some of the things that I mentioned and you're not sure how to do them, feel free to contact me through the PM's here & I'll give you a hand...pro bono.
Please note ahead of time that I'm not trying to rip your website apart, I'm just trying to be helpful to you and your visitors.
the http://www.kshdzines.com site:
Right off the bat, I noticed it took a long time to load. Then I figured out why, because all the text on the website is actaully an image. You would greatly decrease the loading time if your text was actually text, instead of an image. It would make it easier to edit too. Would also take up less space of the visitors browser cache.
I looked at this website in Firefox, IE6 and Opera. Looks good in all 3, but in IE6 and Opera, there is a lot of leftover space at the bottom of the page. You can scroll down for quite a bit with no content being visible.
It is possible to show a lot of your images without making them all one image. If you go to your "Gallery" pages, there are 5 samples on the right side of the page, but they are all 1 big image. Breaking these down into 5 seperate images with the background image as a separate image, would also decrease the loading time.
Not sure if his is a concern of yours either, but there a lot of validation errors on this website as well. Which may , or may not, mean that your website won't display correctly on some browser. If you go to http://validator.w3.org/ and enter your URL, it will show you where the errors are and how to fix them.
I think Nicholas already mentioned it, but the content is not centered in the browser window.
Last thing....there's really no need for navigation at the top and bottom of the page.
OTHERWISE
....I like dark websites. It looks nice. I'm not a fan of tiled images as backgrounds....but that's just me.
I do agree with Nicholas, the other site (the Mambo site) looks a lot cleaner. It also loads a LOT fast.
CONCLUSION
You're doing some very nice work here. Just giving you some things to think about. If you consider doing some of the things that I mentioned and you're not sure how to do them, feel free to contact me through the PM's here & I'll give you a hand...pro bono.
#6
kshdesigns
-
- Designer
- 16 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 12 October 2006 - 09:08 PM
I'd give anyhting if I knew how to get past where I am with the mambo site...:-( As I mentioned, I am just learning Joomla and it is definitely tough for me by all means.
I appreciate all of your input and will definitely take it into consideration. I have been studying web design for about a year, but admit I still have ALOT to learn. My class coming up in a week is a "Web Design" course and I am hoping it will help me get past all of the things I dont know much about. Along with it I am taking an Algebra class. It might help and might not...:-) been 35 years since Ive had algebra. 5 more classes and I will have my associates in Web Design...:-)
The reason I have most of my stuff as "one image" is because when I tried to do each item seperate as a new layer it would never line up in the preview, but looked great in the design mode. I finally got frustrated and decided to do it that way for now. Maybe that is something I will learn in this class coming up.
I may take you up on your offer to help me fix it...:-)
Thanks!
karen,
kshdzines
I appreciate all of your input and will definitely take it into consideration. I have been studying web design for about a year, but admit I still have ALOT to learn. My class coming up in a week is a "Web Design" course and I am hoping it will help me get past all of the things I dont know much about. Along with it I am taking an Algebra class. It might help and might not...:-) been 35 years since Ive had algebra. 5 more classes and I will have my associates in Web Design...:-)
The reason I have most of my stuff as "one image" is because when I tried to do each item seperate as a new layer it would never line up in the preview, but looked great in the design mode. I finally got frustrated and decided to do it that way for now. Maybe that is something I will learn in this class coming up.
I may take you up on your offer to help me fix it...:-)
Thanks!
karen,
kshdzines
"kshdesigns"
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