Early template critique

demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

Please give comments on the following template to be used by a forum member in case he decided to use this and would like some early critiqueing before proceeding...

Thanks!

http://www.demonhale.com/template/ace/

He has: 388 posts

Joined: Apr 2005

put some lipsums in so we can see the font

02bunced's picture

He has: 412 posts

Joined: May 2005

I don't know if this is the image currently or not, but it isn't very sharp. It lacks definition and just blurs. There is also a slight unbalance towards the left of the website. Other than that, it looks nice Smiling

He has: 698 posts

Joined: Jul 2005

I don't get the two boxes in the body section, and I don't like the blue on rollover, perhaps a different shade of violet. Wink

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

I just get all broken images and no text

demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

Hmmm... Interesting Busy, What browser did you use?
Thanks guys/gals...
To Do:
Some sample Texts
Sharpen images later
Balance in FF; slightly imbalance in IE (check that out, special request of member to use CSS & Table Combi) It would have been better if it was pure CSS...
Rethink the Rollover color...(Two boxes are special requirement for the welcome page, maybe use a different text box for contents)

Thanks Again!

demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

Done Some changes...

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

firefox
I see the text (wasn't there before) but all images are broken.
I can manually view the images so is a coding problem, I'd suggest using a full mouseover script for your images.

whats with the tags at the beginning? preloading? if so, loose the and preload via javascript as these images are creating dots in some browsers and also pushing the content right - namely IE

timjpriebe's picture

He has: 2,667 posts

Joined: Dec 2004

My biggest issue is that the color fading is not smooth. It shows banding greatly.

He has: 123 posts

Joined: Jan 2005

I like this template, it looks very modern and exciting. I would shorten the navigation bar so that you don't have those two empty boxes at the end of it and change the top text to the same blue you're using for the bottom text. The only other thing I would suggest is that you remove ad.gif since the demonhale link at the bottom right is enough. Overall, an awesome job.

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Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I'm going to be honest here, basically because you probably wont' pay attention to me anyway so it doesn't matter that much.

This is pretty bad. It reminds me of this mini site I did for a conference report about 7 years ago. Only mine had some neat dHTML scrolling and stuff (in those days dHTML was really cool). And it had more of a 3D interface on a black background. 3D interfaces were cool then too.

The gradients and drop shadows on here are just awful. Drop shadows should be used conservatively and only in certain cases (such as when you want something to pop out from the background). They should always be subtle, never overly fuzzy or big and never for an entire design - just selective parts. Gradients should only be used for masking and subtle effects, never for whole blocks of colour.

The logo reminds me of a caligraphy set I had when I was a kid (and not in a good way). Really, I think it's appalling that somebody offering web design could have a site this bad.

demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

First off the first preload script I used have some issues with IE so I opted for the latter...

Yeah Ive got problems with the colors...

Thanks Tom...

Hey Meg I always like sarcasm, it makes me driven... Anyways what would you suggest?, the requester want it as it is, and im putting in some tweaks to make it work for them, incase you hate me that bad, then it doesnt matter... I always like some criticism, especially from a LADY...

I dont mind putting up a web development service, mind you its NOT web design... anyways, I didnt try putting up behind my personal site written in wordpress and actually making a web design service page in the background...

02bunced's picture

He has: 412 posts

Joined: May 2005

You could always tell your client that if she is serious about having a website, then she should be serious about how it looks and her personal preferences have nothing to do with it. A bit of plain talking to a client works wonders Smiling

JeevesBond's picture

He has: 3,956 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

What I find strange here is that you're creating a template for a web design company. Why does a web design company need someone to make a website for them? I find that bizarre in the extreme.

As for the design, well I'm afraid all I can see here is a fuzzy mass. Those drop-shadows are badly overdone and there are too many of them! The blue gradient seems to be an excuse for not picking some more colours, the shape simply isn't appealing - far too jagged with random boxes, then random curves meaning there's no consistency.

Just don't know what to suggest with this one, recycle bin and start again IMHO.

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demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

Yeah I talked to him and decided to trash the template...

Anyways hes trying to put up a web template site where other web developers can post their templates and make them available for those in need of them... More like bja888 business strategy... Anyways, I guess Itd be better off to wait for the one he made (graphically) and translate it in the Web... Thanks All! Mods, You can Purge or delete this whole thread now...

He has: 43 posts

Joined: May 2005

Other than the slightly bland style I would say the template is a good one!

They have: 140 posts

Joined: Jan 2003

It reminds me too much of a site we might see from 1995, if that. The fades almost look like there were designed with 256 colors in mind as they certainly don't fade very well. Also, the text on the buttons is too close to the edges. Try adding some spacing between the button edges and button text.

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richplay's picture

They have: 19 posts

Joined: Sep 2005

Sorry,

But I think that color choice is not the best. Also, graphics look pretty amateur to me.

demonhale's picture

He has: 3,278 posts

Joined: May 2005

This thread is dead, I trashed the template... Anyways... I gave it another go incase the client wanted me to implement it directly...
Feel free to critique me on the other thread I listed about my site. demonhale.com

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Sep 2005

It looks like a great site but could maybe do with a border or a bit more colour.
P.S you need to change your title

They have: 8 posts

Joined: Sep 2005

Try to put other colors, i think you use much blue.

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