REVIEW REQUEST: Memphis Youth Symphony

This is nice but a little on the dull side considering the subject matter. With the topic you have to work with here (music) you should be able to think of many more creative options.

You should probably start over. Here are some ideas:

• Experiment with large musical notes, eiither faded out in the background or in different colours dancing along the right side
• Find pictures of musical instruments - Hemera Photo Objects would be a good collection to look at - and arrange them in a collage to make an attractive header. Arrange another one towards the bottom-right corner to add some balance to the design. (Hemera has a very affordable collections, you should check them out)
• If you can't afford a stock image collection, just take your camera to a symphony peformance. You could also try photographing the musicians individually or focus in on their instruments. Experiment with different camera angles. Once again, create a collage for the web page header.
• Try different colours. I could see a black, gold, and white scheme working well in this case. Something rich and bold that is more reminisent of the symphony. (black = intstrument cases, woodwind instruments, gold = brass instruments, reeds)

On second thought, I really don't mind the header graphics you have there (with the gradient). You could keep those. Is that french horn graphic their logo? Eeek. A good logo or header graphic would be a big improvement here. I also think that it would be a good idea to spell out the "Memphis Youth Symphony" rather than using the acronym which may not have a lot of meaning to everyone.

Quote: Originally posted by Megan

• Experiment with large musical notes, eiither faded out in the background or in different colours dancing along the right side

I'll try that. Any suggestions on where to find good images? I know I should know that but I don't lol

Quote:

Find pictures of musical instruments - Hemera Photo Objects would be a good collection to look at - and arrange them in a collage to make an attractive header. Arrange another one towards the bottom-right corner to add some balance to the design. (Hemera has a very affordable collections, you should check them out)

I'll look into this. Thanks!

Quote:

If you can't afford a stock image collection, just take your camera to a symphony peformance. You could also try photographing the musicians individually or focus in on their instruments. Experiment with different camera angles. Once again, create a collage for the web page header.

This I can do. Sounds like a great idea too!

Quote:

Try different colours. I could see a black, gold, and white scheme working well in this case. Something rich and bold that is more reminisent of the symphony. (black = intstrument cases, woodwind instruments, gold = brass instruments, reeds)

I played around with the colors, but in my opinion, the one that I have now was the best I could come up with (Sadly )

Quote: Is that french horn graphic their logo? Eeek. A good logo or header graphic would be a big improvement here.

It is... and I wouldn't use but I have to. I'm trying to get it redone soon. Hopefully they'll listen

Quote: I also think that it would be a good idea to spell out the "Memphis Youth Symphony" rather than using the acronym which may not have a lot of meaning to everyone.

Ok.. I'll also try this. Thanks for all your suggestions, and if you (or anybody else) have anymore, let me know!

Yep this needs work. Before I even opened the site, I was imaging a black background with colorful images.

Megan gave some great ideas.

You can download dingbat fonts with musical notes and instruments. Two that I can think of right off hand are "Destinys Music Dings" and "Music Fun". You can do a search for dingbat or font with either of those names included in the search and probaby find them.

Cary,

You may have already run across these but here are two forum threads that may be of some help.

Good Font Sites
http://www.webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?threadid=18785

Color Schemes
http://www.webmaster-forums.net/showthread.php?threadid=18863

Thanks!

Correct me if I'm wrong... but if you use a font on your site, but the computer viewing the site doesn't have the specified font, it won't show... am I right?

BTW, I updated the top left image from MYS to Memphis Youth Symphony as suggested

That's right, you'll have to do anything with specialty fonts as graphics. If you're careful it shouldn't be a huge problem in terms of download speeds.

I agree with everything that been said and especially that the colours don't really lend themsleves to the subject matter. You really do need some images of at least musical images on the page and Hemera Photo Objects are great as they have transparent backgrounds to them so they fit with any colour scheme/background. You said "I played around with the colors, but in my opinion, the one that I have now was the best I could come up with" but have you tried the black, white & gold that Megan suggested as I think that could be quite stunning.

I also look forward to reading your reviews of some of the other sites posted here for critique. We do ask that you hekp out others here first but I really will help you as well with ideas and colours etc.