Programming and Graphic Design Haven

Your site looks just like any other typical game site. You must give a reason to the viewers as to why they want to visit your site and not anyone else's.

Most game sites out there have the typical black background with small white text with a fixed width design. Which is exactly what your site looks like.

did you even read the title its a programming/graphic design site (yes i do a have a section "gaming news" but thats it) it actually does have a focus on game programming but its not a site about gaming and its a dark blue background and the white text just shows up good. I did this cause the look defines it as more than just your average IT site which is what i was going for

The header graphic seems a bit tall. Also, if the site is primarily about programming and graphic design, I would remove the game names from the header graphic. The first thing that jumped out at me were the words Warcraft and Starcraft. If I hadn't read your message here carefully, I would have assumed it was a gaming site. Also, it's hard to read the words in that graphic. They really blend in with the background, color-wise.

Other than that, the text is just slightly small, and it seems weird to have two right "columns" when you don't have a left one at all. Can you move one of those two columns (either the one with voting or the one with the main menu) over to the left?

I think this actually looks quite unique. The double right side column is an interesting variation on the typical three-column layout that you see everywhere. (and no, don't move it! Then this site would look like a gazillion other sites.) We've seen a lot of gaming sites around here but not so many sites that combine topics that gamers would be interested in (programming, music etc.)

Normally I would start a tirade about tiny text and why it's a bad idea, but in this case I think it's probably fine. Your target audience probably prefers small text, and also dark backgrounds.

One problem I can see is the discord between the colours in the header graphic and the colours used elsewhere. I think it might work better if the middle column, with the polls, was coloured more in the green range used in the header graphic, rather than a quite different blue.

The next thing you need to work on here is creating a consistent look and feel for all site components. I clicked on the wiki, chat, and forum links on the right side and all three brought me to very different interfaces. The user shoudln't feel like theyr'e leaving the site when they go into those sections. You might want to look into more comprehensive software packages that would bring all, or at least some, of these components together. PHP-NUke would probably do it (but php-Nuke sites are soooo unoriginal. That would also make your site look like all the other ones of its genre). There might be other options out there too - even add-ons for phpBB might be possible.

One more thing - I've noticed some centering of text here and there on the front page - in the polls and the "latest news" areas. Those would be easier to read if they were left aligned.

BTW, welcome to TWF! I've noticed your active participation already

I'm sorry, I realise that your site is a programming/graphic design site. I was simply stating that your site looks like a game site

Forgive me, Megan, but I think the reason so many sites have one column on the left and one on the right is because it's symmetrical and makes it easier for the eye to scan through everything. At least, I find that's true for myself.

But, hey, I've been in the minority before.

You call it subtle, I just find it hard to read.

That game names make sense, then, if it's going to focus on game programming.

First off Welcome to TWF...
Cool scheme for this graphic site... First-off ; I noticed that it looks a bit like a BLOG, I dont have anything against blogs, (I use it Too); but I suggest that since you are selling your graphics skills as well as displaying polls in programming, you should build this page with a less like "template" look...

The header or title graphics at the top is cool, but is kindof taxing to the loading time of your site(good thing that content loads first). ANyways I was having the same comment to the different content pages on the links looking different than the rest of the site as megans...

the Spelling to DIABLO 3 is spelled DAIBLO 3 check it out (is it supposed to be spelled this way?) The Shoutbox is a good addition (I use one in one client site) as far as the whole image of being a graphics site quite escapes a bit... What I have gripes for is why the name "ihategargen.com/" has to do with graphics and programming...

Well these are just my two cents... I hope ive been helpful...

what do you mean spelling its diablo 3 thats what it is on every game ive bought every site ive gone on but yea thanks for you comments i got a to do list now

I love the color scheme but have to say I'm not a fan of that blue you have chosen for the links

Nice site though
Regards
JohnT

What I mean DUDE is that your SIte Spells DAIBLO 3 insted it should be DIABLO 3; as I can see youve corrected this already... dont tell me you didnt spell it wrong...

im asking where cause ive used the phrase diablo 3 alot coughseocough and im just wondering where the only places i can think of would be in the article which i checked the header article which i checked if you say its corrected then one of my mods might have corrected it (im not that good with typing, i type fast and make thousands of errors)

Thats why im telling you its already fixed; its bout 10 hours now since i first checked your site with the Typo; definitely fixed now... Search DAIBLO in google and you can see your site appears with those exact words...

overall i think the site is pretty good. I am not very fond of you header/logo. It's hard to read and not very eaasy to see.

This site has a great layout. I like the header (except i think it needs to actually fill the wholespace and not leave a gry gap to the side.

The 3 column thing is a nice touch

I would remove the game names from the header.

Are you going to cover game development using C++ nad the Microsoft DirectX SDK? I'd be interested if you are. I write games using those 'tools' and microsoft make it very hardwork, esp with DX 9.0 seeing as they seem to break backwards compatibility so many times in each revision of the same release!

I really like the site tho Will add it to me favs and check back occasionally to see how your getting on.

Forgive me for spoiling the fun. That's MAMBO with one of the 3 default themes that com in the "package". The only contribution the webmaster did was to alter the header banner. THAT'S ALL. Sorry, I have nothing to review here A script that's easy to install and the modding of an image are not that hard to do.

Gargen wrote: http://ihategargen.com/

umm yea my site check out poke around a bit and tell me what you think, and tell me how to fix it instead of just it sucks

I like your site and I am no color expert, but the first thing that I felt is a bit of eyestrain trying to distinguish the different elements of your site. It would be helpful to have more contrast.

I do like the colors and the banner, but it seems very cluttered to me. It kind of looks like you're trying to fit everything on one page, which definitely isn't necessary. If people are truly interested, they will browse around to see what you offer.

I'm not a big fan of the Google ads, especially where they are and how many there are. Perhaps you could cut down on those a bit.

Besides those few notes, it looks pretty good. I'm not really interested in joining, but good luck with it!