Review Request - openmindmedia.co.uk

openmind's picture

He has: 945 posts

Joined: Aug 2001

OK,

Just about to launch by design company and I just wanted a beady eye(s) cast across the site.

The url is www.openmindmedia.co.uk/proof

All feedback welcomed....

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

Hey I like that, a little slow to load on dialup thou. the top section and buttons were last to load.
I suppose the only thing I don't like about it is you don't really know what page your on, no page headings. it's nit picking Wink

Is the 'about us' page the index? cant find a home button or way to get back.

you like orange green and blue dont you Smiling looks great keep up the good work.

openmind's picture

He has: 945 posts

Joined: Aug 2001

Once it's cached it speed up though don't it?

Changed the About us to home Wink

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Very nice! Bright, fresh, welcoming Smiling

Small horizontal scrollbar at 800*600 though and definitely sort out your page titles, too long and they should be different on each page relevant to the page topic.

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

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Looks great overall but I'm finding some problems here and there. THe overall design looks great - is this a template? The reason I think so is that the logo text is extremly boring in comparison to the rest of the layout. You should at least change that to a different font so it works with the rest of the layout better. Also remember that if your business becomes successful you'll need to use the logo in places other than your website. Just keep that in mind.

I also think that the mouseovers should have more impact - a background colour change would be more effective. The layout gets to look a little messy in the bottom half.

Font sizes!! You knew I was going to say something, didn't you? That's too small. People can't read that. Remember that once you reach the age of 45 or so your eyesight starts to go. Ever notice how everyone over that age or so wears reading glasses? Wouldn't a large chunk of your target audience be in that demographic? Better to make sure everyone can read your text without eyestrain.

You need to have page headings on every page. Just another mental cue to tell the user where they are.

openmind's picture

He has: 945 posts

Joined: Aug 2001

Yes it was created from a template. I must admit with the logo text to just dumping something on there for the time being. I'll take a look at adapting it slightly.

Thankfully the PSD I'm working from is multi-layered so seperating elements from the design for business cards and other stationery is no hardship.

I'll take a look at the mouseover for the menu and of course the page headings itself.

Any more for any more?

He has: 1,758 posts

Joined: Jul 2002

Overall its nice looking, but i think it's a bit pointless asking us to review a template. I think you should make the whole button area clickable, not just the text link. You'd be surprised how many people would try to click on the icon first.

Andy

openmind's picture

He has: 945 posts

Joined: Aug 2001

The purpose of the review request was not just to test the overall look (which I am not attempting to take credit for) but more to test on as wide a variety of browsers and OS's. Throw in other peoples opinion of the layout, navigation and functionality and this goes way beyond the actual design. I know the design is good, that's why I bought it! Smiling It's the use of the design that I wanted to make sure was as acceptable as possible from as wide a range of professional opinions as possible.

I agree the whole area on the menu b uttons should be clickable and I'm going to work that in tonight Smiling

openmind's picture

He has: 945 posts

Joined: Aug 2001

ok,

Updated the menu bar to be a bit more interactive with a rollover effect and made the whole button clickable - thnx Andy Smiling

Gonna work in the headers tomorrow

They have: 12 posts

Joined: Feb 2004

Opera 6.01 like it. Pretty fast, too.

Abhishek Reddy's picture

He has: 3,348 posts

Joined: Jul 2001

I can see a few problems with the site.

1) I never know which page I'm on. There are no cues from the nav nor are there headings. I'm forced to sludge through lines of text to figure it out, or to read the URL.

2) The live chat image doesn't appear to indicate availability of operators. I don't want to click it if there's no one to talk to. And I don't want to click it to find out either.

3) The excessive dotted/dashed lines, of variable length, seem to clutter things up. I don't see any use for them. It only confuses my eyes more. If you want a separator, try a more subtle, muted line.

4) There's a minute error with the large "television" box in the corner. The farthest vertical to the right has a break in the middle. It seems the grey gradient layer has shifted left a pixel or two, over the box.

5) I see a white gap below the (orange|green) box image beside the intro text.

6) On the simplycfhost page, you have "XHTML transisitional coded". Check the spelling; it should be "transitional".

Smiling

They have: 17 posts

Joined: Feb 2004

looks great, but as already noted you dont know which page you are on.

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