The Edinburgh Pen Shop

Quote: Is the logo too big?

The logo is not too big. It is too bland though. There are quite a few things that could be done with more than text. Maybe lay some pens in the logo to reinforce what the site is about.

Quote: Is the navigation bar on the left with all the brands too big?

The Navbar is not physically too big. The main problem is that it looks a bit disjointed with all the different logos and text styles. What you may consider is to make a navbar with some mouseovers. When they come to your site, they see the same text and color on the navbar but when they mouseover, it shows the logos and all.

Quote: Is the site too graphic intensive?

Not on my cable connection.

Quote: Do you like the background or would a plain colour be better?

I almost always prefer a plain background.

Jiffy

Speed is good on 56K. Logos look good.

Your logo - I would consider changing the font to a handwriting one - after all, you are selling pens. Maybe something in old style fountain pen italics?

Navigation bar - I like this and think it's a good idea to display them like you do, it is something that would attract the eye of your typical customer. But I would like more space around the logos, like some cell spacing for the table.

It's not too graphic intensive for my taste, and I like the way you have the graphics on the right in a blue box as well. More space around the graphic here too please.

I think the background is great but agree that the text could benefit from being on white.

Other quibbles:

The navigation bar at the top - I don't know why but I don't like the italic font for the page links - possibly it's to do with the way the colour and style clashes with that of your logo immediately above; the mouseover tags don't add anything useful; and they should not be self-referencing (e.g. on home page the hyperlink on 'home' need not be active).

The navigation bar at the bottom - some space between the items please.

I like the way you use the status bar to describe the hyperlinks within the text, you could do the same for your main links.

Good luck with it.

Stephen

I too have fast access via adsl so no problems for download times for me.

I would have to agree with the others, I prefer a plain background and it is not clear that the manufacturers logos are links. The logo I would have expected to be in calligraphy, or matching the shop sign.

Personally I would have the home page being about you and have the news as a link rather than the way you have it.

One other thing is on all the pages there is oodles of space at the bottom with nothing on it! You are making me scroll to find NOTHING even on my 19" monitor. Get rid of it & that'll tidy things up.

Quote: Although we are called the Edinburgh Pen Shop, our services are called on by pen lovers from around the world. We'll be happy to ship your order to you wherever you are.

Great Great Great! As I was complaining in the general chat, there are way too many commercial sites that don't even think to tell their visitors where their product or service is availble. Good for you!

Overall the design kind of reminds me of the first site I made back in '97. You know - patterned backgrounds, 3D rules, beveled logo text. You need to modernize.

Wow! Loadsa great advice! Thanks!

I think I'm gonna change the background, the logo and the nav bar on the left. Hmm, why don't I just redesign the site! That's what I'm gonna do. I'm learning valuable lessons all the time. All these comments you've made are helping to open my eyes up to better design and now I can see clearly how it could be better.

Due to time commitments, I'm just gonna focus on fixing the niggles and adding all the content. Then, when I come back from my 2k mile tour of Europe, I'll do a redesign.

Thanks for your comments, everybody. I read them all carefully.

Megan Jack: I think you hit the nail on the head. The sight doesn't look modern at all.

The WebMistress: Good point about the main page being about the shop and the news on another page. I'll do that.

Citron: I'll stick a little more space around the logos. That won't take long and it'll look a little better.

Mairving: I think I'll do that with the logos apearing on mouseover.

How does this sound:
A white background, a new, less bland logo and a redesigned layout. Text links on the left for the brands with a box at the bottom where the logo appears on when the mouse goes over the text link.

Once again, thanks!

Sounds good to me.

What's the trip for - holiday, business? Where are you visiting?

The page functioned well. I know you were looking for "design" advice but I just wish the page had pricing info.

I was wondering how much these pens cost. Except for exclusive offers I didn't see any pricing. Also, can they deliver overseas etc?

I hope you will add this info to satisfy the curious.

Nice work!

Andrew

I'm not too fond of the Brand navigation bar. The fact that it is on every page makes your Products page somewhat irrelevant. Perhaps if it was JUST on the Products page?

Not too keen on the background either - everything else looks good though.