Feedback

[kellessdee 48]

Hey there everyone!

 

I have been slowly working on a website that one day (in the far future probably) will be for my indie game development group (right now there is only two of us..and I should more say "our" group, I don't like to take ownership of what more will be a collaborative art group than a company)

 

ANYWAYS, enough of that babbling. I just put together a template for the website (styles are complete, however I do not have a domain nor a host yet...nor is the website anywhere NEAR complete); and basically I want any feedback you may have (negative, positive, constructive whatever. Hate it/love it? I want to know xD).

 

Here is a screen cap of the home page:

 

 

 

nothing too fancy, kinda generic (and very blue) :/

 

Probably, my biggest question is: is the blue TOO much? (too much blue?)

 

Otherwise, I appreciate any other feedback you'd like to provide; and even more so if you have any suggestions/tips/advice. This is most likely not going to be the final design (especially since I am mostly just practicing my web dev techniques xD) however, I do like the direction this is going and would really like some external input on the matter.

[Marked 197]

It's a good start :)

 

To answer your question, yes it is too blue lol. You need at least two colors in your theme, preferably 3. For example, what color are your links going to be?

 

The main text is also pretty large.

 

And personally I do not like the gradients for the background. They kind of look like bars. You can do a number of things there. Sidebars, a tiling background, a repeating background either vertically or horizontally. I can give you some backgrounds if you want to take a look at some. I kinda got tons of resources for websites, as I've been planning new rmxpu since December.

[kellessdee 48]

:3 Thanks marked.

 

Yea, I knew it was too blue. haha, I got a little carried away. I orginally (before actually working on site graphics in photoshop, etc.) had a darker grayish/purplish theme going on. I dunno why I strayed away from using online color schemers lol. *goes to work on new scheme*

 

As for the links/etc., that's a good point; I have yet to get that far into those aspects of the styling. forgetful me.

 

And yea, I think the main text is a bit too large; I went with the default size as I thought users may not like my site if the text was too small (I generally prefer smaller text myself, it looks nicer)

 

If you don't mind sharing some backgrounds, I would really appreciate that! That was what I was REALLY having difficulty deciding on. I didn't like plain black, and didn't have enough inspiration for a simple, good background.

 

Thanks for the feedback! I think I got an idea for a new color scheme :)

[Marked 197]

That's default? Surely there's CSS affecting the text somewhere. Looks like verdana (maybe?). I think if you were to run just plain text without html at all you would get size 12 with times new roman. What program are you using to write it?

 

Also, free to ignore this, but what you would want to have at the top of your CSS is the following:

/* reset styles
--------------------------------------------- */
html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre, a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code, del, dfn, em, font, img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, tt, var, b, u, i, center, dl, dt, dd, ol, ul, li, fieldset, form, label, legend, table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-size: 100%;
vertical-align: baseline;
border: 0;
outline: 0;
background: transparent;
}
ol, ul {
list-style: none;
}
blockquote, q {
quotes: none;
}
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
}

You will notice if you make a list, for example:

• item1
• item2

, then your item1 and item2 are indented by like 40px. Some browsers have a few default styles that they will render differently. This bit of code simply puts everything on an evening playing field for cross-browser compatibility. But you probably don't need to worry about that until you get into developing your site for going live.

[kellessdee 48]

Good ol' notepad. (only cuz I was too lazy to right-click >open with > programmer's notepad lol)

 

And you are right, it is verdana itself. Verdana seems to be a larger-than normal font. The original image is verdana, 12pt.

 

I just can't not use verdana, I <3 verdana xD

 

anyways, I mucked around with it a bit. The colors are still primarily blue, However I messed with the contrasts/saturation so it wasn't so much of the SAME blue. I still need to mess with getting a simple background that stands out(without, of course, detracting from the content), but even with black alone i think the background is WORLD's better. I dunno why I didn't just keep it black in the first place; I thought I didn't like it cuz it was boring, but it still looks better than that gradient :/

 

 

 

 

This is verdana 10pt. Notice how it is still slightly larger (almost the same though I think) than times new roman 12pt.

 

IMO, it looks better; but I am sure there is still many improvements I can make. Is the color scheme nicer? or do you think there should still be more variation? I am deciding on changing the header font colors (well, deciding WHAT colors)

[Chief 30]

I guess I should add my thoughts here.

First of all, anything I say here is not meant to belittle you or even insult you in any way. My criticism often comes off as harsh, but I mean thebest, and expect you to learn from it and grow..

 

So, that being said, here I go...

 

The site, first off, looks straight out of the late Nineties. It looks more suited to be a forum theme than an actual site. The banner on top is something to try and grow away from. Modern sites now use smaller set logos (often in the upper left), and then the site follows. It looks much too bulky and graphic-heavy, even for what little graphics may be there. Most of that site can be made using just CSS.

 

The logo is actually pretty neat, but like stated in the above segment, you should size it down, simplify it, and put it in the upper left corner, instead of on a large banner.

 

The navigation is really bulky. There are a few different things you could do instead. Something I would suggest doing would be to go to http://www.themeforest.com/ and browse the sites there to get some inspiration. But be careful not to get too caught up on a design and end up copying it. I, myself, still have this problem occasionally.

 

Other than that, the layout isn't bad. Maybe a better font choice for the ehaders would be in order, and possibly a better colour scheme, but its a great start. Consider adding a side bar to the layout? I dunno what you would have in it, but it would help fill the empty space.

[Noob Saibot 38]

 

The site, first off, looks straight out of the late Nineties. It looks more suited to be a forum theme than an actual site. The banner on top is something to try and grow away from. Modern sites now use smaller set logos (often in the upper left), and then the site follows. It looks much too bulky and graphic-heavy, even for what little graphics may be there. Most of that site can be made using just CSS.

 

The logo is actually pretty neat, but like stated in the above segment, you should size it down, simplify it, and put it in the upper left corner, instead of on a large banner.

 

The navigation is really bulky. There are a few different things you could do instead. Something I would suggest doing would be to go to http://www.themeforest.com/ and browse the sites there to get some inspiration. But be careful not to get too caught up on a design and end up copying it. I, myself, still have this problem occasionally.

 

Other than that, the layout isn't bad. Maybe a better font choice for the ehaders would be in order, and possibly a better colour scheme, but its a great start. Consider adding a side bar to the layout? I dunno what you would have in it, but it would help fill the empty space.

 

It's like you read my mind.

[Marked 197]

Good ol' notepad. (only cuz I was too lazy to right-click >open with > programmer's notepad lol)

As in, not notepad++? D:

 

You should use an IDE, just coz they show your possible options (eg when you type http://netbeans.org/downloads/index.html Not sure its for html, but php sites of course need html so you can download the version on that page for php if you like. I discovered it from a commercial php tutorial series, so it should be alright.

 

Oh, and the text and background look heaps better.

[Noob Saibot 38]

You could also try HTML Kit (which is also free).

[kellessdee 48]

I guess I should add my thoughts here.

First of all, anything I say here is not meant to belittle you or even insult you in any way. My criticism often comes off as harsh, but I mean thebest, and expect you to learn from it and grow..

 

First off, I have no issues with any kind of criticism. Even if non-constructive, everything helps. Especially with website building, it is for the users not for me. If I just wanted something that I thought would look nice, I would make a desktop wallpaper (which i do often LOL), so I appreciate any criticism (one thing I have learned in design, is just because I think my design is awesome, does not equate to it actually being awesome).

 

Anyways:

 

I was thinking the banner was a little much. I have a bad habit of going overboard with photoshop (now that I am learning how to use it properly)

 

I'm glad you think the logo itself is neat :)

 

Would it be better to do away with a graphical banner (background) and just have a logo (on a plain colored background)? or make say, a smaller banner to set the logo on?

 

I appreciate that link, I think I will be able to get ALOT of inspiration in general for a more professional feel (despite being clearly amateur and not really even a company, I still want a professional presentation)

 

And, perhaps instead of a sidebar, would it be better to just design the website and layout to fill the browser width; instead of specifying set widths?

 

@marked:

 

I meant just notepad..... :sweatdrop: the funny thing, is I have soo many IDE's, my excuse was laziness...although I can access any of my IDE's just as easily as notepad :o

I have: Programmers Notepad (very similar to Notepad++ I just like it better for some reason, I had one once upon a time, but long forgot why), NetBeans, Eclipse, SharpDevelop, EditPlus (which I REALLY need to get rid of, I only have it because my school made me get it in TERM 1)

Actually I could/should probably do away with a few of them...

 

Oh, and the text and background look heaps better.

 

Thank you :) I thought so too.

 

@noob: HTML kit? I will have to check that out... (and I guess this is WHY I have so many IDE's I hear about one and feel it necessary to check it out lol)

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments! I will have to do a little redesigning and post again; but if anyone has anymore feedback, feel free to post, I welcome it all :D

[Marked 197]

And, perhaps instead of a sidebar, would it be better to just design the website and layout to fill the browser width; instead of specifying set widths?

You could do that. When i first started with websites I was all pffft fixed width, you have to make everything to specification, why not just have it expand to anysize? The answer is because of members reading. Once you read a line, you want it to be short enough that when you move your eyes back that you don't lose your place. Also with fixed width you can make banners fit perfectly and other layout benefits. I think they say 960px fits 98% of browsers.

[Chief 30]

I would love to design a fluid width website, but as Marked said, the content doesnt fit well within a fluid width site because of how wide some screens can be. I suggest staying with a fixed width site. 960px is usually the norm for professionals. I often go more with 950 though just so I can work in increments of 50px.

[kellessdee 48]

ohhh I just realized, what I have there is 960px, It's just my laptop is a 1366x768 resolution, so in my screen shot there is a lot of extra space. the resolution totally slipped my mind. I read somewhere that 960 is best for 1024x resolution; which is why I made it 960px; however I forgot to test it in other resolutions.

[kellessdee 48]

Alright, so I recently found out that my web tech teacher failed to mention CSS3 at all....and with a bit of playing around i think I have vastly improved the layout, and colors. I THINK anyways :S hehehe

 

So i uploaded the site to my public folder in my dropbox, so this *should* work, if you want to preview the site. If not, (or in case you do not wish to travel outside this thread) I have included some screenies :3

 

* I JUST NOTICED THAT THE POSITIONING OF THE LOGO NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, IN LOWER RESOLUTIONS THE END IS SLIGHTLY CROPPED *

 

wing gaming preview

 

SCREENSHOTS

1366x768

 

 

 

 

1024x768

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, I'd love some feedback if possible. Thanks guys :3

[Marked 197]

:shok: I can't believe you improved your design that much in such a short time. It looks really good, and you even used the reset CSS I gave you :)

 

I can't think of any feedback at the moment but as a personal preference, the headings are really multi-colored. If you changed header 2 and 3 from aqua, I think that would look better.

 

I'm not sure if this will help you out or not but you may want to look at this in the future, although admittedly I haven't read up on it yet (in relation to the CSS3 thing in this): http://www.rmxpunlimited.net/forums/topic/6869-html5-css3/

[Noob Saibot 38]

Yes I like the new scheme and checking in different resolutions was a good idea. Plus I personally would not worry about people using a resolution of 800 or less as it is not as comman as it used to be.

 

Common Screen Resolutions Survey 2010/2011

[kellessdee 48]

Thanks guys :) Glad you like the new design! Basically, the past few days went something like this:

 

-spilled a glass of fruit punch in my laptop (yes, right into the keyboard)

-freaked out a bit

-finished exams

-dedicated my time to rehauling the website and reading about design/looking at examples (since that's really all I could do from my mom's pc)

-learned about CSS3

-had a ball

-found out my laptop would be fine (I brought it into a shop)

 

And here I am, i fixed up the graphics, etc.

 

And I actually have changed the logo/navigation SLIGHTLY. (I haven't fixed up the heading colors yet marked :3)

I don't want to post updates every little change, but out of curiosity, do you think this looks better?

 

 

 

 

 

 

@marked: thanks for more links! I really have to get around to looking into HTML 5...but the link on CSS3 in IE < v9 is really awesome! That was the only thing I was kind of worried about...I haven't tested the website in anything less than v9; so I don't know how bad it would look without the CSS3

 

@noob: Yea, normally I would have, but originally I had completely forgot that my laptop is widescreen, and thus abnormally wide. And that is shocking, even 1024x768 is becoming rare! But really, it only makes sense.

EDIT: I also, just realized what EXACTLY the website you posted is...! Awesome, I was just changing my pc's resolution to check it :sweatdrop: this will be useful, thanks again

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone :)

[Noob Saibot 38]

@noob: Yea, normally I would have, but originally I had completely forgot that my laptop is widescreen, and thus abnormally wide. And that is shocking, even 1024x768 is becoming rare! But really, it only makes sense.

EDIT: I also, just realized what EXACTLY the website you posted is...! Awesome, I was just changing my pc's resolution to check it :sweatdrop: this will be useful, thanks again

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone :)

 

yes I fit into the 85% percent because I always use the highest resolution the computer/laptop offers. Like my desktop is set to 1920x1080.