Brian W Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Please check my site out and post thoughts. www.signature-block.com Feel free to try it out. Right now most of the features aren't complete... so what I'm looking for is points and thoughts about the appearance and navigation. My signature here is being ran from the app... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Well, I guess it must not be interesting enough to catch attention... that's critique by itself. Still would like some feedback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
only one Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I find it looks very cluterd. You could make better use of headers and use set margins. Maybe introducing a few more colours would make it easier on the eye. The random quote thing sometimes overlaps half of the page. And I'm not a really big fan of things moving about when I hover them. Maybe you could set your nav links to certain dimensions. Don't forget to run it throught the validator. http://validator.w3.org/ You have a few errors. Wont take long to clean them up. Apart from that I love the idea. Some of the quotes are really good like and Anyway hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Help a lot, thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpf Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Just to let you know- the title of the "Advanced Tutorials" nav link is "Advaned Tutorials" You might want to fix that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Appreciate it! Can't make changes till later this evening. Thanks for the input. I was fighting the caching in IE earlier today with no avail. I'll need to conquer that before marketing the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrydesign Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 You're providing a specific and good service, but I think your website will hold you back from being successful with it. It is very cluttered, the colors are off, to me it just isn't professional enough to inspire me to use it. I'd recommend reading some web 2.0 design tutorials and concepts, and choosing a brighter color palette that stands out and works together. Also, you have about zero branding. Make a logo that is more than just some text in a very generic font with a Photoshop layer style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWater Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 The site seems pretty bland, design-wise. It's a great idea, but you really need to spruce up the template as it seems very generic at this point. I'd definitely make a real logo and make the design wider with colors that stand out more. Also, I have a functionality suggestion. I don't know if you're already planning this (as you said some features weren't ready yet), but I'd suggest letting each user set up their own personal quotes that it can cycle through for their account. It wouldn't be too hard to implement, and it would be pretty cool. If you need an idea of what I'm talking about, it's kind of like Crayon Violent's signature box, only each user could establish their own set of quotes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 I will read up on web 2.0, I'm not familiar with form so much, I'm a function guy. Guess I won't go far if I don't pick up some for design. What do you mean cluttered though?? Or will I figure that out when I read up on 2.0? Not even Photoshop, fabrydesign. Paint.net :-P But I did already plan on revising the logo, its was just a place holder. Again, not a design guy so much. I have photo shop and twisted-brush on my other system, just haven't got any inspiration for the logo. DarkWater, think bland is cuz its not 2.0 or does my lack of artistic talent show? lol I'm still working on it, but yes I will have customizable lists of quotes, haiku, bible verses, and potentially jokes which I am calling for now "playlists". That functionality needs a few more hours followed by serious beta testing. THANKS for all the input guys, I appreciate it very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpf Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I think we should all take a look at my wonderfully designed site and take it from there http://www.jackpf.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrydesign Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 I think we should all take a look at my wonderfully designed site and take it from there http://www.jackpf.co.uk Uh... how about let's not. I remember this site giving me a pretty clear idea of what to do when I read it: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-2.0-design-style-guide.php You want to simplify your site as much as possible, add in some color, and reduce unnecessary content. Make it streamlined and simple. You want your site to make itself clear; you don't want to have three paragraphs on the home page explaining what it is. You've got the domain name already, with a good logo and some major redesigning, it could easily work. Instead of a page explaining queries and how to use them, make a simple form that will generate the URL string for users. Make a clear navigation, make a clear login box, make a clear content section, and don't fill in space with quote boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrydesign Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Here, I did a draft for you and wrote an explanation, highlighting why I did what: http://fabrydesign.com/blog/2009/02/how-id-design-signature-blockcom/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 22, 2009 Author Share Posted February 22, 2009 I've made some major revisions on style this very late night... still not finished but getting closer to something that looks decent. I've focused on more white space and went with orange, like fabrydesign had but mostely because I saw that lime-green and orange were THE 2.0. lol ugly if used wrong if you ask me, but I'm only familiar with old school designs and color pallets. I've spent too long focusing on function, its kinda nice to do a project with some form. Still haven't replaced the text with easy to use wizards, but that will take several hours to get rolling which I will do during the weekdays. My beta testers (friends and forum buddies in a different community) have been screwing with it figuring out what features I need, but they don't give much helpfull information about the design. So thanks guys. I hope I didn't offend fabrydesign in anyway.... I do really appreciate the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackpf Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Looking better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian W Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 As a form of bump, I'd like if I could get another wave of crituque. Thanks for the prior input, and thanks ahead of time for whatever other opinions I receive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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