Critique please -

Brian,

Looks good...like it better than the original.

I like the links the way they are, but probably wouldn't hurt to make them a little darker, maybe just one shade of grey. Think if you go much darker, you will lose the effect.

------------------
Dan
[email protected]
ICQ # 373465

Hi everyone, thanks for all the comments. Well, I will leave the grey as it is for now, and if I do change it I'll only make it one shade darker.
Jim: I don't know if I am going to redo the whole site like that... what does everyone think? Originally it was just for the hosting section, but we can definitely make changes to that plan. <plug>E-Tips is another site I am developing, unrelated to InfoStar. They basically provide webmaster resources, web design tips and tricks, web host reviews, and more. The URL is www.etips.net </plug>
One last question... What do you mean by highlighting the star logo in the same way? Do you mean that everytime someone moves over the link that portion of the logo should light up also?

Thanks again,
Brian Farkas

------------------
Brian Farkas
===============
Web Hosting - Design - Programming
http://www.infostardesign.com

Free webmaster tips, tricks, web host reviews, and more!
http://www.etips.net
===============

Hi Brian,
First off, I think you have a nice design, why would you have it done by another designer when you yourself provide/sell web design????
Your logo has some nice effects but almost too many in one graphic.

1.greyish gradient with 3-D gold star --nice effect
2.menu --nice
3.blue band with customer satisfaction.....and background text--very nice
(can't read the background text though).

lots of nice design "tricks" but too many for one graphic in my opinion --they don't all match/coordinate.
You can simplify and still maintain a nicely designed logo a number of ways if you want to:
Change gradient to plain blue and have it run down to the solid blue band--- flatten the star change it to blue or fade it to the background --or just get rid of that top band all together and put the star somewhere else. I could come up with more suggestions if your interested.

Same feeling with the left column, a background server, a red 3-d contact message, overlapping boxes---very cool "things" but I think they could be simplified to two "cool" effects? keep the server and the blue boxes, flatten the "contact us" not sure what to do with the little frustrated looking cartoon guy though .

Again, I apologise for all of the suggestions, your graphics are very well done but sometimes "less can be more"

oh last note, I would change the blue box with "included with all accounts" to just blue writing.

take care

------------------
Carolyn Jones

I like the new design much more than the old one. One thing though. It all looks perfect until your reach the bottom links where it seems squashed. Maybe separate these links with a horizontal line?
JP

------------------
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Site
www.what-next.com
The NEXT step in Designing and Promoting your Website

Thanks Carolyn and JP.
Carolyn: I was not talking about the hosting site being done by another designer, but the E-Tips site (it will probably need a new design). I don't really have too much free time on my hands, so that's why.

Does the top star gradient really look that bad? Anyway, I will change the text of the "Included with all accounts" to just plain blue, and add a <hr> at the bottom of the page to separate the links. The text in the blue bar just says InfoStar Web Hosting... it wasn't really meant to be read anyway . Maybe I will just change the contact us graphic to list the departments and their e-mail addresses.. (e.g. Sales: [email protected], Support: [email protected], etc.)

Thanks again,
Brian

Looks very very nice, and yes dar grey sounds good to me.
JP

------------------
The Webmaster Promotion and Resource Site
www.what-next.com
The NEXT step in Designing and Promoting your Website

Sorry for being confusing Brian. I meant to say that if you changed the light gray to dark gray you might want to change the blue mouseover to a color that matches the star. Not have the star change.

------------------
My goal in life is found in Phillipians 4:8-9

I really like the site layout. I kind of like the light grey. Dark grey might not be different enough from the blue highlighted links for someone who is using a lcd display. The color resolution is not quite as high as a real monitor. You could highlight with the same color in the star logo. Are you going to redo the whole site in a comparible style? What are e-tips and how will they fit into the design?

Great site. Great pricing. I'll be contacting you about some hosting questions.

------------------
My goal in life is found in Phillipians 4:8-9

lol... Don't worry about it. A lot of the stuff did help. Thanks for taking the time to review my site.

Brian Farkas

Hi again Brian,
I didn't say anything looked bad, in fact I said the gradient was a "nice effect". I like all of the graphics you have , I just think fewer "tricks" make for a sleeker design.

take care,

------------------
Carolyn Jones

Ok. I don't know... Maybe I should remove the gradient and star at the top. But that would leave a big empty space. That's the main reason it is there now, that and to tie that particular portion of our site in with our logo.

------------------
Brian Farkas
===============
Web Hosting - Design - Programming
http://www.infostardesign.com

Free webmaster tips, tricks, web host reviews, and more!
http://www.etips.net
===============

Hi again Brian,
Yes you need to keep the logo somewhere on the top there.
I think YOU should keep it the way that YOU like it , unless you are looking for ways to change it.
Art is a bit like food, you can feed 100 different food critics the same dish and get 100 unique opinions on that food, not like a hard science where there is just one perfect answer. If all the food critics said "too much salt" then adjust the recipe, otherwise take only what helps you and go from there .

looks like I've rambled on again.....
take care

------------------
Carolyn Jones