just curious

Mark Hensler's picture

He has: 4,048 posts

Joined: Aug 2000

hey,

I made this for a final in a web course. I don't pride myself in my design skills. I often get someone else to design something for me and then I'll do the back-end. But for this class, I had to the design myself.

The only thing that the class said about it was that it needed more color. One person said I should make my eyes glow red when the content changes. I can't believe that's the only that could be improved... What do you think?

(flash required)
http://maxalbert.thepushpin.com

Mark Hensler
If there is no answer on Google, then there is no question.

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

I would definitely agree that you need more colour. Otherwise there's not much else to say since there isn't all that much there. One thing you really need to work on is your text alignment and use of headings - this is something that's not easy to do in Flash (I should know - I do it every day!). You should also make things that are links look more like links (although I do like the mouseover effect).

On your resume, you should probably move your education and high school achievements down, below work experience and summary of qualifications. I figure that a potential employer is more likely to care about what you can do in a practical environment than high school accomplishments. Also check your spelling and grammar - on the "contact" page you've used "your" instead of "you're" for example.

Also, change the page title (it just says "Blah!" now), and put your flash on a grey background to match the HTML page background so you don't see those white corners there.

They have: 43 posts

Joined: Mar 2001

Is it just me or is it really choppy when completing an action such as extending and retracting the information layers?

To be honest with you, the background isn't too attractive. I feel like I am being stared down when I attempt to read the print.

The site desperatly needs a title or a heading.

I don't mind the colors. Its relaxing and easy on the eyes next to some sites I have seen. The colors make it enticing to read.

Graham Hurlburt

They have: 9 posts

Joined: May 2001

Hi,

I liked the site and did not have a problem with the color. I did have a difficulty scrolling on the "projects" and "resume" pages. It just didnt seem to scroll down smoothly.

Chris

Mark Hensler's picture

He has: 4,048 posts

Joined: Aug 2000

welcome ot TWF, chris_anto.

That was really my first (and only) try at a flash website. I had a low frame rate, so I think that is why is seems choppy.

The course taught the whole macromedia web studio (except freehand). The final was just do demonstrate some knowledge of flash. That's why the site is incomplete, such as my eye catching title "Blah!", hehe.

Megan, I'm not surprised that I have grammer/spelling errors. I have the reading level of a preschooler. I usually through text in to Word, but I didn't even bother to check that page. Thanks for the suggestions.

TFE, haha! Ya, I took that background while I was making that site. I lack creativity and can't even draw a crooked stick figure. I saw my digital camera there and just took a quick shot of myself.

Mark Hensler
If there is no answer on Google, then there is no question.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Oh, so that's what you look like! hehe

I would have added just a touch of colour to possibly the links which would help them stand out.

But for the kind of site it is I think it is good, especially of this is your first attempt at flash!

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

Jack Michaelson's picture

He has: 1,733 posts

Joined: Dec 1999

I would try to make the corners gray (same gray as the sourrounding area) in stead of white, but overall I like the site, especially for a first try.

Shakespeare: onclick || !(onclick)

Mark Hensler's picture

He has: 4,048 posts

Joined: Aug 2000

We had maybe 4 3hour clases before I made the site. Mainly teaching us how to draw figures, use masking, make simple animations, links, etc.

That scrolling text was quite and adventure. I grabbed a few tutorials from websites, and spent 5 hours on a friday morning trying to get mine to work. I got so frustrated that I gave up and went online to play Counter-Strike (first person shooter). Later that evening, I solved the porblem in 15 minutes. ARGH!

I see the corners as gray. I made them gray both in the HTML bg for the flash, and in the flash itself. What else to I need to do?

Mark Hensler
If there is no answer on Google, then there is no question.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I see the corners as grey as well!

They have: 32 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

Is this a browser thing? I know NS renders greyscales differently to IE depending on whether the image is a background or foreground object. I can never get greys to match in NS even if the HEX codes are Identical.
I'm using IE5.5 and I see lighter grey corners that do not match your HTML BGCOLOR.

Apart from that, I think this is a damn good site design, especially for a first attempt.

Hen & Frog, review forums.

The British Sci-Fi & Fantasy Forums
_________________________________________________________

They have: 383 posts

Joined: Sep 2000

I think you could improve the looks drastically by using a more technical font. The standard bold text is a bit heavy looking and takes away from the simplicity and directness of the rest of the design. Take a look at hi-type.com and fontsavvy.com for some ideas.

Otherwise the basic design is straightforward and simple, which I like. You could obviously add some color (maybe assign each section a complementary, but obviously different color, that shows up behind the mouse-over on the navigation and transparently behind the content box).

They have: 43 posts

Joined: Mar 2001

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