My Personal Site A silent movie feel :)

[Herbert1405241469 0]

Just thought I'd get some feedback on the basic design of my site. I was trying to make it feel like it was a silent movie theme, and I think I didn't do too bad. I have a bunch of photos and videos I've made over the years, including an uncompleted Back to the Future parody entitled "George's Week," in which the Older George McFly was the one who went back in time instead of Marty. I ran out of inspiration on it, mostly due to the lack of actual footage of "Old George" in the first movie. Worth a look anyway if you're an avid BTTF fan

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Thanks.

[twitch 0]

Background:

A background is very important when desiging a site. A portrait would look stupid if there was no background (IMHO) and it is the same for a website. Afterall, it is just another form of art and requires the time and effort that artists put in (except those messy bed artists ). All designers need to take there time when coming to the background. I personally like to do it first, because it is logical and also helps sets the mood of your site.

Your background is excellent, although it might not be the most intracate, it is indeed very well suited to your site genre. It compliments your site well and shows your skill as a designer, even if you didn't make it, you knew which one would look the best.

Header:

It's the first thing people see. So make it worth-while. Put plenty of thought and time into it, afterall you do want people to come back to your site. The header, in self-explanatory terms, is the heading of your document or in this case web page. It needs to make a statement and needs to give the visitors an idea of what the site is all about.

I think your header needs a little work. People often rush their headers and don't spend the required time on contemplating on what it needs, and it would appear as though you are one of those people. When making headings, always use a sans-serif font, and make sure it follows standard sizes.

Your header has a lot of information, perhaps too much for its size. I suggest you make it slightly larger an apply some real information to it, stuff that is suited to a header. Information, basic yet subtly intelligent.

The woman on your header is fine, infact it is perfect for your genre, however the colour needs some work. At the moment it is too dry, I think a subtle gradient of the tones of black would suite well, even if it is just a gradient.

You could make it a little wider to improve the eye-candy aspect.

Content:

Within webpages, content to many is the most important factor in drawing in the crowds. However, I believe that content is as important as every other part of the website and requires as much thought as the design.

Your content is a little bare. I know it is probably still under construction, but you could have a distinct intro paragraph in order to show visitors exactly what is going on (assume that everyone hasn't the foggiest what your site is about, keep it short and cheerful, but don't treat them as idiots).

Something that really annoys me is an explanation of what each menu link means. It is pointless and uses up valuable space. If the description came in the form of a short message (e.g using DHTML to construct little inline tooltips) then it would be fine.

Your menu is a little bear. As a logical person, I always like to see a well structured menu that takes me to the root page (index) and throughout the site. At the moment, you only have a half-complete menu, which, doesn't help when you want to return to the homepage.

The content you have displayed is centre aligned. Please note that content should only be designed in this way in the following instances:

Your website is based around one product (e.g. a book) and is selling it in an un-designed/pre-formatted way.

You are giving the header of a simple report.

You want to make a shocking statement or to break long lines of text with a quote.

All content should go from left to right (unless it is arabic).

You don't need to put the updates to your site, they are obvious (even if they aren't people will notice eventually).

I can't stand adverts, but they are essential to growth. So, if you do use them, make sure they are in-line with the design. The better way to do this is use AdSense (whatever provider) and customize it to your site colour scheme.

Finally, unless you have official documentation, you can not legally hold anything against someone for copying your content without consent. Although it is intellectual property, you may not have it sealed by the court.

[Herbert1405241469 0]

Whew, I appreciate such a complete review, and I will take it to heart. Yes, it's still under construction... due to the lack of content Thanks.

[twitch 0]

No problem, however I wouldn't call it a complete review. There were many more problems, but you need to discover them for yourself.

[curare 0]

Hi,I am not in the position nor do I have the time to analyze your site as profoundly as guy did. Nevertheless I want to let you know my personal impression of your website. I'd like to mention that I have no relationship with the topic of the website. I surf a lot and I look about 90% for content, not so much layout, style, etc. Having said that, I THINK IT LOOKS AWESOME. It smoothly transcends the look and feel of silent movies and the time we associate with it, while it has a mimimalistic setup. I like simple setups a lot. I am no expert on left-bound versus centered paragraphs, and I can't judge if a slightly different gradient would make this or that impression. As guy will certainly agree the most important thing is the first impression a visitor gets. It's the first one or two seconds, the visceral thing that decides wether you'll go on looking around the site. For me, your site works very well in that respect.Another thing I like about the site is that you let your fine work speak for itself. Not too much explanation, no blabla. The visitor is therefore forced to dig into it himself, and that will keep him on the site if he is interested. He doesn't have to wade through endless explanatory texts. To sum it up, here are my 2 cents: COOL curare

[Quatrux 4]

I agree with what other said, the site is no so bad and not all of them should be profesional looking, but i did not like the borders around images.. especially i liked the hitman hairspray assasin image, I am still laughing