Need some constructive criticism

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Which do you like?

Site 1
0
No votes
Site 2
5
50%
Site 3
2
20%
Site 4
2
20%
All of em
0
No votes
Good God man. You call yourself a web developer?
1
10%
 
Total votes: 10

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infolock
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Need some constructive criticism

Post by infolock »

Critics everywhere, unite. If you want to flame, this is your chance :P

I have a few sites that i'm developing for a client. I've shown all 4 of the sites to them, but they have yet to make a decision..

So, since I hate having to wait for an answer, I thought I'd see which one you all would choose...

A little bacground on my client : no one in my area does web development, so good golly miss molly i got me a gold mine here :D

i want to present my development skills with the best layout that i can muster together... since i suck at design, i've used some css' that i've found flying around on the net, and also tried out post nuke.

well, anyways, here is the url. tell me what you think, and what would look better. i'm open to suggestions :)

URL - http://dbdc.no-ip.info

(Note : the site is slow as it's hosted on a dialup box... joy)

( also note, this is just a template. no logo's or static links have been just added... we're just deciding on a layout. )
microthick
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Post by microthick »

i like the 2nd of the 4 best.
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m3mn0n
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Post by m3mn0n »

I like the 2nd, and i think it would be better with #4's menu system. :)
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

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infolock
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Post by infolock »

PostNuke has been removed.. instead, i have placed the above link in it's place.


edit {
: just to clarify, yes, these are css templates... as i put in my description for those that think i'm trying to claim these are all my own personal designs...

i'm a coder, not a designer. so until i can afford to pay someone to do my designs, i resort to the open sources i can find on the net. :)
}
[/edit];
Nay
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Post by Nay »

8O 2 and 3 remind me too much of -> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/sear ... laylang=en

It's not really into graphics so I'll put that aside. Anyhow, it looks fair. Unless you would want to break the validator to use some CSS Filters to add gradients or something.

-Nay
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Bill H
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Post by Bill H »

The site is not just slow. My browser reads "opening page" and then it reads "done" and I have a blank screen.
Draco_03
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Post by Draco_03 »

infolock, i wish i could see it :)
my connection was "refused"
....
8O
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uberpolak
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Post by uberpolak »

I'd use number four, but the menu items don't need to be so tall.
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

sorry i had to shut down my server for the night as it's using my phone line... have to keep it open during the day. should be working now.

far as the menus, yeah i'm fixing that right now :P
qads
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Post by qads »

its not working..guess u went off to bed or something :P...sleepy head!!!!
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

shoulda done this before... thanks to phice, i have a place to upload to lol..

http://www.onlygeeks.com/jon/daniel/

this one is static and won't go down.
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dull1554
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Post by dull1554 »

i say 3, three is always the best choice, but then again who am i kidding, all those multiple choice tests that i put all C's on and got a 25 is not saying to much fo my system........
McGruff
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Post by McGruff »

Colour is one of the most important things in a design (particularly web design where really tight magazine-style layouts are hard to achieve and colour is about all that's left. It's difficult to say what is good and bad - and it's a matter of preference to some extent.

Every colour pallette has a "feel" which should tie in with the kind of site you've got.

Look at the page in terms of contrast. Strong tones (ie highly saturated colours, jet black) create high contrast and are much harder to work with. Balancing strong tones with subtler tints or shades defines the structure of a layout, places emphasis and leads the eye around the page. Getting that right is quite a skilled job. Different colours can create very strong contrast which has to be managed carefully. It can be a good exercise first to do the layout purely in greyscale, then add in colour one block at a time, matching the strength of the blacks, whites and greys. I'll always do a mock up in Photoshop or Freehand before I reach for the html editor - easier to muck about.

Sometimes it's good to cover the whole spectrum in a page. For example, if you have a predominantly blue colour scheme, one or two small areas of warmer reds or yellows round out the spectrum - sometimes that "feels" better.

When deciding a colour scheme, it's often good to duplicate something from the natural world - a winter sky would have pale blues, whites, some yellow tints from the low lying sun. Smoggy browns too, depending where you live :) A natural pallette looks more er, natural, because we're used to it and because you don't often get a lot of highly saturated colours.
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infolock
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Post by infolock »

awsome insight mcgruff. i'll try that out tonight and see if i can't come up with a new/better color scheme.
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