The Scrutinizer (redesigned)

[phileplanet]

Please let me know what you think of [url=http://www.scrutinizethis.com/]The Scrutinizer[/url]. I've added almost 100 new links and I've made the height of the different sections not fixed.

[moberemk]

Aside from the white-on-red here and there (I'd tone that down a little bit were I you), this looks good.

[cmgmyr]

Looks good overall.

- Some of your longer text sticks out of the red sections.
- When you look at it in a smaller resolution your boxes seem out of order.
- After you click on something, when you are at your "please wait" page your footer doesn't stay on the bottom.

-Chris

[448191]

As you might remember (I haven't visited this board in quite a while) I critiqued v1, saying it was very intimidating. I didn't explain myself much, since to me it was obvious. I see now I should explain myself.

If I remember your original design correctly, you haven't really changed much. The only difference on the design I can note is that you used a less bright red. While this was part the problem, I don't think your changes have improved the design.

One thing that has improved by changing to a lighter red is readability of the text in black. This is a mayor, perhaps the most important point (and perhaps not), but in this case it comes at a price.

Forget about text not positioned perfectly, for now, it not your biggest problem. What is? Your colour scheme. You've gone from an unreadable potentionally frightening Ferrari-red blur, to a flat boring "grey of reds". You need to find the correct compromise between them.

It does however reveal the real problem with that region on your page: it's too monotone. You are in need of a little variation in colour down there. When dosaged correctly, you can get away with many colours. You want this to stand out (you've made that clear by choosing the bright red), but you need to keep it readable and pleasurable to look at. My suggestion (you might have to fiddle with the idea a bit): use the bright red for a thick border around the boxes, fill the boxes with a gradient or mask. Try to find the colour that doesn't curse with the red (so definitely not the lime green) but keeps the text readable. Change the text colour if needed.

About the header and footer. Although there might very well be people who like that type of thing (there are even people who paint their hair this colour  :P), I think the green is a bad choice. Change it to a colour that isn't associated with toxic waste.

Choosing the right colour scheme (and design in general- not just web design) is all about psychology and human associations in particular. If you want the viewer to experience disgust, you use doo-brown or toxic waste green. If you want the viewer to feel romantic, you use oak brown and/or rose- and sofa red. If you want them to feel happy or carefree you use orange and/or particular variants of yellow, blue and green. So on so on. Take a minute to see what comes to mind first with yourself when you focus on a specific colour.

Overall, you need to work on your ability to choose colours. If I go to http://www.network.phileplanet.com/ I discover that the scrutinizer is not an exception in your work. You can't use blue on a black background, it won’t look good, no matter what variant you use. If you can't see this, you need outside help.

The bigger part of the colour scheme on http://www.phileplanet.com/ does look more appealing however, so I guess you're not colour blind and have what it takes to make proper colour choices (I'd reconsider the sea blue however).

Assembling a colour scheme can be a time consuming, and to some, tedious task. However it is absolutely necessary to take your time and do it right (even if that means starting over until you're ready to throw you head through a window), if you want a large group of people to have the experience you want them to have.

Damn, I keep on rambling... Anyway, goodnight, I hope this was of some use to you.

[pixy]

The bright color hurts my eyes and I don't like the way you laid out all the options. They should be more orginized in not so bright tables or something.

Like the idea, though.

[phileplanet]

Thanks for all the comments guys, especially 448191; wow dude, wow.

I know that the red on white is really hard on the eyes but no other colour seems to work well in my eyes, and after about 5 seconds, I get used to it; if I lower the opacity of the red by just a few percentage points, it looks faded.
Could you perhaps suggest a hex value and I'll try that.

Also, what is wrong with the way my text is positioned?

[448191]

Your problem is not with the choice of reds. Did you read my post at all?

Your text "sticks out" with certain links in both FF and IE.