Hi everyone! Ive been working the past two weeks on a new website for the firm I work at and was interested in recieving some feedback. Its not completely finished, but you can get the idea now. For example, the project page we are hoping to do something more interesting at the beginning. Also we plan on adding some icons above the top nav links. Let me know what you think!
You broke your rigor on the projects page. Where is the scrolling text box in the left? It is a bit open until you click on a thumb. The text in the box on the other pages is a bit daunting, anyhow. It may need to be one or two points larger, and maybe justified. I like being able to preview an image. Some I wanted to see even larger. Perhaps the ability to click an image and have it open in a new window at full size. The navigation is quite nice and streamlined. Good visibility, and I can see what I want to see without having to dig. I would just question the link taking me to the news page as opposed to the info page. Also, I think some contact information is needed on the info page.
please put more space between the 'd' in 'field' and the 'o' in 'office'. Even if they're meant to read as one word, that's tighter spacing than any of the other letters in those words.
I like the thumbnails that appear at the top under the 'projects' section so much that I'd like to see them become a part of the banner on every page.
chili davis, I am semite my self, and critizing Israel's actions is not racist, saying what most Jews say them selves as, "There are too many Jews in hollywood, for there to not be biasm" is also not racist.
There are a new wave of Jewish people, a small number of them in hollywood are LOBBYING FOR ARABS, you will see that the Arab stereotype will soon change, Riz Khan on Al Jazeera interviewed a Jewish Hollywood-businessman, on of that small group; today.
can we please try to keep this thread somewhat on topic? I really don't feel like reviving this whole discussion, but if you must, do it elsewhere.
Clemson's interface is not ambitious, certainly, but it gets the job done. I guess a question to ask is how big of a critique he's looking for- one that could help you redo the whole thing, or one that can help you clean up what you already have?
rationalist, dont try and put me in the same category as chili, you can see who started all of this, i commented to the topic until chili started this row
rationalist - just clean up and tweak what i have. the people i work for wanted to keep the site very simple and easy for them to update by themselves. also im quite a novice at flash , just started using it two weeks ago, but im learning!
Indy, while I appreciate the level of intelegent discourse you have brought to this thread (it looks crap, nowadays you need an upto-date graphic/multimedia designer to get your website anywhere), it would pain me to be in any category with you. I had first grouped you into a category with per correll, or vindpust, as a constant, yet bearable, pain in the ass. At this point, I must apologise to per for disgracing him like that. Good day sir.
Rationalist - Do you have any suggestions for a good book on typography? I know my use of type isnt that great :) but i dont know much about it and would like to learn more. Thanks!
Two things in the projects section (from a layman):
1. There should be some sort of clue as to what the projects are when you move your mouse over the initial thumbnails. Right now, I have to open the project just to find out what it is. For example, maybe I only want to look at the houses. It is annoying that I have to open all of the projects just to find out which ones are houses.
2. Once you open a project, it is annoying to me that when you move your mouse over an image at the bottom, the little preview image pops up and covers part of the image that I was looking at.
But there are people here that are much more website design savy than I.
chilli you are SOOO pathetic, "You may have problems" i find my self getting drawn into your pettyness, i.e. having last pathetic comment.
Clemenson : Crappy fonts can look good, but your aim is to how to use them, USE macromedia fireworks, which is a great program, that helps create current-style logos, using any font. give it a try, as Fireworks is an essential tool to Flash
Your website looks OK, not outstanding but not bad. It's very clean and simply laid out.
However you do need to sort out the both the font and sizing. I personally found myself having to get up close to my monitor to read some of the descriptions in the projects section. Also, and this thing annoys the hell out of me but I'm not sure if it was intentional, is that you're not consistant with the usage of font, some of the project descriptions have totally different font to the main bulk of the website. The sub headings also need to be the same size throughout. A clearer, larger font and more consistancy is required.
Finally, your firms name in the top left is written in lowercase i.e. 'fieldoffice' yet in the publications section you refer to the firm as 'FieldOffice' which one is it? I suggest that it should be the same as whatever your firms letterhead suggests (if you have one) as this is the company identity, again consistancy is the key.
Anyway, not bad, like you said I think it needs cleaning up.
P.S does the firm have a company font? If it has you might want to use that if it is suitable. I'm a huge believer that branding is extremely important. It allows clients to identify a lot easier.
my only problem is the images seem to take a long time to load...
but maybe that's me. and i don't quite get the point of scrolling over
small images to get a slightly larger image that then gets blown up into
a still slightly larger image. if it's already flash wouldn't it be easier to
just change the large image as you scroll over the thumbnails?
darren- thanks for your comments. the fonts are all the same , but i noticed on some pages they look different. its something with the way the text box is set in flash.. if i make it dynamic so it scrolls, it changes the look of the font for some reason, and thats something i have to figure out just in the program. And i dont know which is actually correct for the name of the firm. haha, i think its supposed to be lowercase, but was just typed wrong in the publications section.
silver- yeah its the default scroll bar in flash. im working on making my own, but just wanted to get it launched for now.
lars- yeah i think thats possible :) probably easier... ill look into it. i agree with you. the thumbnail previews i thought would be cool to quickly look through the images if you wanted to choose one, but i think they just become pointless. thanks for the comments!
got to disagree w/ silverlake on the font. A techy slab-serif is a great choice for digital interface since serifs are actually easier to read, but curvy serifs don't display well in pixels. On the other hand, that particular one was extremely popular in the nineties, so some may think it's a bit dated.
Taking another look at it, esp. since you want to learn more about typography, I'd say it would be worth seeing whether tracking the headings ('info', 'news', etc.) out a bit more, similar to the airier spacing of 'fieldoffice', would be a nice touch. And now that I look at 'fieldoffice', the whole kerning needs touched up, not just the two letters mentioned. More space between 'd' and 'o', less between the two 'f's, and maybe a taaaad less between the 'f' and 'i', in both instances of it.
since you're doing the lower-case thing, I would make the subheadings ('MARCH 2007', 'PHILOSOPHY', 'BIO', etc.) all lowercase, and track them out similar to 'fieldoffice' and what I suggested on the main headings.
As far as books for typography go, I've learned a TON from Thinking with Type, but have been told by some that many find it over their head for the first exposure to typography (it doesn't teach in the order one would expect, so multiple readings may be necessary). I've also had recommended to me Stop Stealing Sheep and The Elements of Typographic Style, though I haven't read either of them yet. Find a good bookshop that carries these books and browse through to see which suits your learning style best.
personally... i understand what indy is trying say. it looks poor. i believe that is not your main activity in this company... so, few suggestions:
> try to loose these borders... maybe it could do something... and align all content without it.
> small pictures with bad quality too... this is a portfolio presentation... show something!
> is there any reason to use only such a small part of screen? you are running on 800x600 or what?
> i think that doing a page like this in flash is senseless...
rationalist - thanks for the links! im going to pick up that book.
martinsson-
haha no im not a web designer by any means. Im not using an 800x600 , but some people do and i like white space, i didnt want a lot of stuff going on. i looked at a lot of architects websites and found many to be extremely frustrating to navigate and find things.
the borders arent necessary to align content, i just used them to divide space. i dont know, maybe i could get rid of them? whats everyone else feel about them?
some of the images are bad quality.. im working on those. its something with the slideshow resizing images that is causing the poor quality on some, hopefully ill figure that out soon.
im hoping to add more interactivity and thus that is why it is flash based. but im still learning so right now its pretty basic.
re the website: It's way too small. The text is too small, the thumbnails are too small. You can't even buy an 800x600 monitor anymore, and while your clients may not have honking huge design monitors, 1024x768 should be a safe bet. Or get fancy with the flash and provide some adaptability.
I think your website design is pretty good - way better than a few architectural website. I like your font selection alot. 600x800 is not a bad size - not to small but you might want to increase the size of image a little larger. I don't like the black border frame - a little to heavy and too dark - gray+ smaller might be an option.
in general website convey feeling of a architectural studio - not a coporate office or fancy graphiccal design.
- about the font: this font for section buttons is good and with its size big enough to be effective, the text for project description a little difficult to read
Clemson, any good website is measured by the content foremost. That said there seem to be some images that need some help, either scanned from a magazine - too dark to show substantial detail. I suspect these are no fault of your own. Added that the loading of the page are dreadfully slow. Like Martin... I don't think the use of flash is benefitting the website instead hurting its message. Overall I think the technology has gotten in the way of the work, and it was difficult to access the quality of the projects.
That said, I think the design as a physical element was beautiful and on par. The works, heading and borders existing as an object in the centre of the screen gives good focus, and allows the headings to read - despite what was earlier said about the font, spacing, etc
New Website
Hi everyone! Ive been working the past two weeks on a new website for the firm I work at and was interested in recieving some feedback. Its not completely finished, but you can get the idea now. For example, the project page we are hoping to do something more interesting at the beginning. Also we plan on adding some icons above the top nav links. Let me know what you think!
fieldoffice
First impressions...
You broke your rigor on the projects page. Where is the scrolling text box in the left? It is a bit open until you click on a thumb. The text in the box on the other pages is a bit daunting, anyhow. It may need to be one or two points larger, and maybe justified. I like being able to preview an image. Some I wanted to see even larger. Perhaps the ability to click an image and have it open in a new window at full size. The navigation is quite nice and streamlined. Good visibility, and I can see what I want to see without having to dig. I would just question the link taking me to the news page as opposed to the info page. Also, I think some contact information is needed on the info page.
it looks crap, nowadays you need an upto-date graphic/multimedia designer to get your website anywhere.
haha thanks indy... your critique really helps :)
please put more space between the 'd' in 'field' and the 'o' in 'office'. Even if they're meant to read as one word, that's tighter spacing than any of the other letters in those words.
I like the thumbnails that appear at the top under the 'projects' section so much that I'd like to see them become a part of the banner on every page.
Don't mind indy. Rumor has it he's a racist.
ClemsonDnB, only for you to do beta.
I think the logo with that font is far too dated, and the whole user interaction is too mechanical, look up some newmedia websites.
check out www.netdiver.net
Ooops. Wrong thread. Here you go:
indy_is_crap_is_crap
Wow, indy, you have been successful in your attempt to show Clemson what not to do.
chili davis, I am semite my self, and critizing Israel's actions is not racist, saying what most Jews say them selves as, "There are too many Jews in hollywood, for there to not be biasm" is also not racist.
There are a new wave of Jewish people, a small number of them in hollywood are LOBBYING FOR ARABS, you will see that the Arab stereotype will soon change, Riz Khan on Al Jazeera interviewed a Jewish Hollywood-businessman, on of that small group; today.
if you still wanna hurt me, coz you have this overwhelming patriotism for Israel then go ahead.
I only have an overwhelming patriotism for Michganistan.
can we please try to keep this thread somewhat on topic? I really don't feel like reviving this whole discussion, but if you must, do it elsewhere.
Clemson's interface is not ambitious, certainly, but it gets the job done. I guess a question to ask is how big of a critique he's looking for- one that could help you redo the whole thing, or one that can help you clean up what you already have?
any one who ACTUALLY analyses what me and you have said, will realise that your a d*ck-head.
chili- thanks, i completely forgot the contact info! hopefully the pop up larger images will come shortly :)
rationalist- i like that idea a lot. thanks for the suggestion. i think it could help tie the other pages together as well.
rationalist, dont try and put me in the same category as chili, you can see who started all of this, i commented to the topic until chili started this row
rationalist - just clean up and tweak what i have. the people i work for wanted to keep the site very simple and easy for them to update by themselves. also im quite a novice at flash , just started using it two weeks ago, but im learning!
ClemsonDnB if your new to Flash try this out: -
www.swishzone.com
its ace
Indy, while I appreciate the level of intelegent discourse you have brought to this thread (it looks crap, nowadays you need an upto-date graphic/multimedia designer to get your website anywhere), it would pain me to be in any category with you. I had first grouped you into a category with per correll, or vindpust, as a constant, yet bearable, pain in the ass. At this point, I must apologise to per for disgracing him like that. Good day sir.
I am was wondering before coming back to this thread if chilli would actually giving this pointless argument a rest.
Chili, Its funny how ignorant you are in potraying only that quote, whilst any fool on this forum can realise that you are trying to start a fight,
Clemson, try to download SwishMAX, from www.swishzone.com
You may have problems.
Rationalist - Do you have any suggestions for a good book on typography? I know my use of type isnt that great :) but i dont know much about it and would like to learn more. Thanks!
Two things in the projects section (from a layman):
1. There should be some sort of clue as to what the projects are when you move your mouse over the initial thumbnails. Right now, I have to open the project just to find out what it is. For example, maybe I only want to look at the houses. It is annoying that I have to open all of the projects just to find out which ones are houses.
2. Once you open a project, it is annoying to me that when you move your mouse over an image at the bottom, the little preview image pops up and covers part of the image that I was looking at.
But there are people here that are much more website design savy than I.
chilli you are SOOO pathetic, "You may have problems" i find my self getting drawn into your pettyness, i.e. having last pathetic comment.
Clemenson : Crappy fonts can look good, but your aim is to how to use them, USE macromedia fireworks, which is a great program, that helps create current-style logos, using any font. give it a try, as Fireworks is an essential tool to Flash
Clemson,
Your website looks OK, not outstanding but not bad. It's very clean and simply laid out.
However you do need to sort out the both the font and sizing. I personally found myself having to get up close to my monitor to read some of the descriptions in the projects section. Also, and this thing annoys the hell out of me but I'm not sure if it was intentional, is that you're not consistant with the usage of font, some of the project descriptions have totally different font to the main bulk of the website. The sub headings also need to be the same size throughout. A clearer, larger font and more consistancy is required.
Finally, your firms name in the top left is written in lowercase i.e. 'fieldoffice' yet in the publications section you refer to the firm as 'FieldOffice' which one is it? I suggest that it should be the same as whatever your firms letterhead suggests (if you have one) as this is the company identity, again consistancy is the key.
Anyway, not bad, like you said I think it needs cleaning up.
D
P.S
P.S does the firm have a company font? If it has you might want to use that if it is suitable. I'm a huge believer that branding is extremely important. It allows clients to identify a lot easier.
Looks good... Two things bother me though.
-the sarif font (but any sarif font usually does)
-the scroll tab - it looks like a default one. Maybe something without the 'grip lines'
my only problem is the images seem to take a long time to load...
but maybe that's me. and i don't quite get the point of scrolling over
small images to get a slightly larger image that then gets blown up into
a still slightly larger image. if it's already flash wouldn't it be easier to
just change the large image as you scroll over the thumbnails?
darren- thanks for your comments. the fonts are all the same , but i noticed on some pages they look different. its something with the way the text box is set in flash.. if i make it dynamic so it scrolls, it changes the look of the font for some reason, and thats something i have to figure out just in the program. And i dont know which is actually correct for the name of the firm. haha, i think its supposed to be lowercase, but was just typed wrong in the publications section.
silver- yeah its the default scroll bar in flash. im working on making my own, but just wanted to get it launched for now.
lars- yeah i think thats possible :) probably easier... ill look into it. i agree with you. the thumbnail previews i thought would be cool to quickly look through the images if you wanted to choose one, but i think they just become pointless. thanks for the comments!
got to disagree w/ silverlake on the font. A techy slab-serif is a great choice for digital interface since serifs are actually easier to read, but curvy serifs don't display well in pixels. On the other hand, that particular one was extremely popular in the nineties, so some may think it's a bit dated.
Taking another look at it, esp. since you want to learn more about typography, I'd say it would be worth seeing whether tracking the headings ('info', 'news', etc.) out a bit more, similar to the airier spacing of 'fieldoffice', would be a nice touch. And now that I look at 'fieldoffice', the whole kerning needs touched up, not just the two letters mentioned. More space between 'd' and 'o', less between the two 'f's, and maybe a taaaad less between the 'f' and 'i', in both instances of it.
since you're doing the lower-case thing, I would make the subheadings ('MARCH 2007', 'PHILOSOPHY', 'BIO', etc.) all lowercase, and track them out similar to 'fieldoffice' and what I suggested on the main headings.
As far as books for typography go, I've learned a TON from Thinking with Type, but have been told by some that many find it over their head for the first exposure to typography (it doesn't teach in the order one would expect, so multiple readings may be necessary). I've also had recommended to me Stop Stealing Sheep and The Elements of Typographic Style, though I haven't read either of them yet. Find a good bookshop that carries these books and browse through to see which suits your learning style best.
personally... i understand what indy is trying say. it looks poor. i believe that is not your main activity in this company... so, few suggestions:
> try to loose these borders... maybe it could do something... and align all content without it.
> small pictures with bad quality too... this is a portfolio presentation... show something!
> is there any reason to use only such a small part of screen? you are running on 800x600 or what?
> i think that doing a page like this in flash is senseless...
keep working, good luck...
rationalist - thanks for the links! im going to pick up that book.
martinsson-
haha no im not a web designer by any means. Im not using an 800x600 , but some people do and i like white space, i didnt want a lot of stuff going on. i looked at a lot of architects websites and found many to be extremely frustrating to navigate and find things.
the borders arent necessary to align content, i just used them to divide space. i dont know, maybe i could get rid of them? whats everyone else feel about them?
some of the images are bad quality.. im working on those. its something with the slideshow resizing images that is causing the poor quality on some, hopefully ill figure that out soon.
im hoping to add more interactivity and thus that is why it is flash based. but im still learning so right now its pretty basic.
rationalist, good point. I'm gonna be a little more open to serif fonts...
re the website: It's way too small. The text is too small, the thumbnails are too small. You can't even buy an 800x600 monitor anymore, and while your clients may not have honking huge design monitors, 1024x768 should be a safe bet. Or get fancy with the flash and provide some adaptability.
Also, STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS!
I think your website design is pretty good - way better than a few architectural website. I like your font selection alot. 600x800 is not a bad size - not to small but you might want to increase the size of image a little larger. I don't like the black border frame - a little to heavy and too dark - gray+ smaller might be an option.
in general website convey feeling of a architectural studio - not a coporate office or fancy graphiccal design.
I like it
how long does it take you to do this site???
- about the font: this font for section buttons is good and with its size big enough to be effective, the text for project description a little difficult to read
Clemson, any good website is measured by the content foremost. That said there seem to be some images that need some help, either scanned from a magazine - too dark to show substantial detail. I suspect these are no fault of your own. Added that the loading of the page are dreadfully slow. Like Martin... I don't think the use of flash is benefitting the website instead hurting its message. Overall I think the technology has gotten in the way of the work, and it was difficult to access the quality of the projects.
That said, I think the design as a physical element was beautiful and on par. The works, heading and borders existing as an object in the centre of the screen gives good focus, and allows the headings to read - despite what was earlier said about the font, spacing, etc
contacts section
I can't see it.
I'm in front of my office computer and it might be the firewall, it might be that this pc is almost dead, but the page doesn't load.
how do you contact the office or know where it is?
filo - thats coming soon... a more up to date version should be up by monday...
matteo- it must be your computer, its loading on my personal laptop and at work.
The only issue at hand for me is the scrolling while viewing pictures.
1. It's small
2. I didn't enjoy the hover/pop-up pictures
3. Make the thumbnails bigger (the size they become after you hover on them).
And I'm a goon for Arial font, so that will most certainly impress me.
I just checked up on this to see what happened, and it's looking a million times better! Good work, Clemson.
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