shadowx 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Ok, the story goes that im trying to improve my design skills to match my development/programming skills, along with that im looking at possibly going on a course, as generally my design work is terrible! But this, this is different.... i really like this and im seriously considering using it as my own website to advertise my skills and business. What do you guys think?Needless to say the design in copyright me from now until infinity, and may not be used in any way (unless you contact me in advanced and ask nicely and are granted my permission) Thanks, see the attachment and be honest with your views! The brighter tab is the active one, EG the view is as if you are on the contact page and the highlighted tab shows which page you are on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonesay 7 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Apart from the header logo and the bottom right hand corner pattern everything else looks too generic. Your solid background color and the transition to the page content is too abrupt in my opinion. I think if you added a smooth gradient background it would ease that a little. Go ahead and build the design. Make sure you split images and layout out in a way where it will be easy to make further adjustments and tweaks. Cant wait to see how it turns out. Edited February 4, 2009 by sonesay (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truefusion 3 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Too simple, it needs more. Try adding some sparkles near the top that flow away from the logo to the right. In the same area, centered, in the background add an omni gradient, but with a very low opacity, giving it some form of light or place for the text to "sit." Perhaps stretch the omni gradient till the left edge reaches the left edge of the content area and the right edge to the right of the content area. I also see there's a little red near the bottom, somewhat like a gradient, that'll cause some problems when slicing and coding, as the screen resolution of the user will likely be bigger than the layout, and it'll seem like the layout got cut off there. For the design at the bottom right corner, that may interfere with the text, since they have the same color, so you might want to consider modifying that part a bit. There are other things you can do with the tabs and content area, but if i tell you everything, how would you work on your creative side? Nice design on the site name by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ash-Bash 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Yeh sorry to say,Its too simple, Needs some more images as its kind of boring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Xalor 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 I don't want to seem rude buts its really been done so many times that its not even a gimmick anymore. I would suggest trying to make it flow more, make it larger and start separating sections into modules, and other parts. Click Here for an Example, now this is something that may be based on another program integrated with a theme, but has all the parts. You need a way to organize your information so it doesn't seem too simple like not a single section but with side boxes with information. Its all easily done with a Table Layout its hard at first, but if you get it you can get a great theme going. Once you achieve the table level, try making it without tables and do the pieces yourself, and see how it turns out, so you can make it look better. Overall its a good design, the content and areas need work, as in more sections and creating a true front page and portfolio, I wouldn't say no to converting to a theme for a CMS system like WP or Joomla!, or even a Forum. Hope to see more work and improvements. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadowx 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 (edited) Well i want the design to be simple, given my graphic skills i think its really good compared with my usual stuff!!Im coding it up now, i did have issues with the reflection part at the bottom there, but managed to get around that with a background image that is as wide as that reflection but the exact length so that it brings the white reflection down to the right level and ive filled in the gaps to the left, right and bottom of that image with a standard <body bgcolor=> so it looks how it does in the design. I had to remake the gradient reflection so it fades out smoothly. On the more standard screen sizes it looks similar to the image above where the gradient goes off the screen and i think it looks ok. On large screens the gradient is shown (depending on the screen size) to its full extent and it also looks fine.Im hoping to use this to advertise myself as a web developer, so i need something simple, modern and slick, i dont want it crowded up i want it minimalist so im fairly happy with the layout aspect. The logo is very simple and it does need something, some sparkles arent a bad idea! I like the effect on the bottom right of the panel, ive had to turn the opacity down though because if the text goes over that area it became very hard to read as they were the same colour, but with 50% opacity its is a lot better. Im very tempted to put some flares either side (but not on the same horizontal level) of the central panel, have some nice "tentacle" brushes, one of which is the brush to the left of the logo text, i add them in and they look good, but then i take them away and it still looks good! So i dont know what to do about those!Ive designed it so it fits perfectly within an 800x600 screen. In firefox the central panel fits perfectly in the avaliable space and of course on bigger screens it displays perfectly too. I have a widescreen and its perfect!The only problem i have is in IE the tabs seem to have a 3px or so border to the bottom, separating them from the central panel, which is really annoying and i cant seem to kick it. In FF i had that issue but border-collapse killed it, but not so in IE :DI could easily use the white (or brown) space to the left and right to display extra info, maybe an animated gallery of previous work etc... but on smaller screens it will mean horizontal scrolling which is something i cant afford!I want to stay away from using images, the only images i want to use on the site are going to be things like the logo, the background of course, and screenshots of designs/previous work in the portfolio section, going to have to be creative with that page to fit it all in! Perhaps expanding divs, slideshows or a slight re-design for that page.RE: XalorI dont want to use a broken up layout as the information i have to display (i think) wont work with such a design. It will be 2 paragraphs max of text and is specific. For example the home page will be a short intro to the services offered, the contact page will simply be a contact form, the info page will be things like rough estimates of price, how things work (eg communication channels, payment methods/deadlines) etc.... and i dont think this sort of stuff can be broken into boxed segments as in the style of the site you linked. I also want to avoid pre-made things. Im a website developer and the only time i resort to pre-made things are sophisticated galleries (eg flash), e-commerce solutions and forums as virtually everything else i need i can hand code. I also dont want to be like the rest of the web with pre-made solutions, i am after all trying to advertise myself as a website developer! Edited February 4, 2009 by shadowx (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truefusion 3 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 The only problem i have is in IE the tabs seem to have a 3px or so border to the bottom, separating them from the central panel, which is really annoying and i cant seem to kick it. In FF i had that issue but border-collapse killed it, but not so in IE This implies you're using a table for the design, probably due to any generated code from the slicing. If you go with a more table-less design using "float: left," it should be easier to get the desired effect in both browsers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadowx 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 I sliced it up manually, i used the GIMP to design it so i just copied and pasted the various elements out and into individual images.I am indeed using a tabled skeleton for it, the original plan was to have 3 rows, one for the tabs, one for the content and one for the reflection, keeping all three linked together. I always have problems with DIVs when it comes to positioning and sizes but with tables its a breeze. I might try converting it tomorrow. The simpler solution is for all web users to use firefox But that wont happen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonesay 7 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Do not suggest pre-made solutions especially for a site that is going to be promoting someone who is going to work as a specialist in the web development industry. If you use pre-made CMS it will show you have no creativity. Sure there is no need to re invent the wheel but you need to differentiate yourself from the rest. Write your layouts and do your designs from scratch you will learn more this way.Shadow the layout problems you are having in IE are common and they should be expected. You will begin to remember what works and what doesn't for IE the more you make layouts from scratch on your own. Use specific CSS fixes for that that affect IE only. You didnt mention what version by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadowx 0 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Do not suggest pre-made solutions especially for a site that is going to be promoting someone who is going to work as a specialist in the web development industry. If you use pre-made CMS it will show you have no creativity. Sure there is no need to re invent the wheel but you need to differentiate yourself from the rest. Write your layouts and do your designs from scratch you will learn more this way.Shadow the layout problems you are having in IE are common and they should be expected. You will begin to remember what works and what doesn't for IE the more you make layouts from scratch on your own. Use specific CSS fixes for that that affect IE only. You didnt mention what version by the way. Well ive tested it using my IE tab addon for firefox, which as far as i know simply renders the page using the version of IE's engine you have installed, which in my case is 7, though i havent tested in within IE7 on its own, ill do that tomorrow as ive spent too much time on it today The design is completely from scratch, i started following a tutorial for a blog layout which gave me the idea for the light panels and tabs, so i borrowed that idea but apart from that its 100% original, so im pretty proud Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sonesay 7 Report post Posted February 4, 2009 Great, If you have hosting there I would suggest you setup a folder to test it on Xisto as well. I work on a local version and upload easily to my hosting. That way you can share with others what stage your up to easily. code and layout is there to view you know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
contactskn 2 Report post Posted February 5, 2009 Ok, the story goes that im trying to improve my design skills to match my development/programming skills, along with that im looking at possibly going on a course, as generally my design work is terrible! But this, this is different.... i really like this and im seriously considering using it as my own website to advertise my skills and business. What do you guys think?Needless to say the design in copyright me from now until infinity, and may not be used in any way (unless you contact me in advanced and ask nicely and are granted my permission) Thanks, see the attachment and be honest with your views! The brighter tab is the active one, EG the view is as if you are on the contact page and the highlighted tab shows which page you are on.Dear friend I think its a cool and good looking design. I think a bit can be worked on the colour change. Obviously a view on colour may differ from person to person according their choices of colour. Rest every thing is cool in it. The design at the top is really having a professional look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadowx 0 Report post Posted February 5, 2009 I quite like the colours myself, i wanted to go dark, i was tempted with black and to try a glass effect but i just can do that, it just doesnt work for me! Once i have it coded ill stick it up on T17 and link it here so i can get some input and finalize it. I tried adding some sparkles to the logo text but it just didnt work! Im sure it can be done nicely but it seems i lack the skill and experience at the moment! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brandonjbegle 0 Report post Posted February 24, 2009 There isn't enough to the design. and the colors are a little boring. if you added some color and some other features to the template, im sure it would look ten times better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Echo_of_thunder 1 Report post Posted February 24, 2009 very nice but for me to I would have to see a working page to give me thoughts. Just from a JPG of it though I do like the design. But for the colors again this goes to a working page. so on the Echo Meter you sadly get a 3/10 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
