REVIEW REQUEST: seemecreate.com

Overall I like the design but a couple of things are bugging me:
- The hover for the links in the nav where the text dissappears
- The colours seem a bit stark
- I expect to see screen shots for a portfolio and found yours rather confusing
- Width of the page jumps wider for the dossier which makes it feel odd

I was expecting the picture of the butterfly to change on each page which would have given some life to the site but as it is I find it quite bland and I don't know there is something about the colour scheme that just isn't working for me, it gives me an odd oppressive feeling!

As usual a very clean design though

Nice design, very clean and the colours hang together nicely (if - as Webmistress says - a little oppresively).
Webmistress has a good idea regarding the butterfly, different colours for different pages would liven things up - without ruining consistency of the design.
Also the white line going between the menu and main part of the site seems to break the page up a little too much, I would remove the line where it divides the banner and leave this looking like a consistent horizontal line.

Also the hover background colour for links should not be the same as the text colour.

Hope this helps

umm, it doesn't really catch my interest that much. All that holds my attention is that butterfly.

The text is quite small for content and navigation...

Don't know if the small white strip seperating the navigation and the content is ment to be there but I don't like it.

Looking at your source, there are a lot of things that can be done to reduce it dramatically. For one, the navigation can be done with CSS and if you want to be fancy with lists.
Speaking of the nav, I don't think the red background on hver with red text is a good effect, maybe try something like red background with white text?

Having a 800*600 window open at the moment the navigation links are all squashed up together, maybe apply some padding to the cells to seperate them or something?

Aren't butterflies just the best insect to use in this context? Just be sure to add a shadow in that photo (a copied drop shadow that's distorted roughly to suit the hand). Looks like a 70s movie cut-n-paste job without a shadow.

The Webmistress:

Fantastic review as always...

- You are not the only one that does not like the "disappearing act" on the menu links. I think I'll keep it that way for just a while, maybe I'll start a new trend =)
- The color scheme will be rotated, this is the first, but I want to change it every week or so. Next I'll try something a little more "esteemed".
- I'll ask for further explanation here. Specifically, what is confusing, I may be re-working the flow of the dossier
- *See above*

JeevesBond:

- Like I said before, I am going to investigate changing color themes, doing it for different pages is a possible idea, thanks!
- I removed the break, but kept the space for the menu/content speration. It looks better this way, you are right =)
- I know I should'nt, but I guess that's why I did it =) I'll keep it this wy a little longer

Renegade:

- Well, I think text size for the most part is subjective. I personally love small font. For the content section, I used percentages, so a user can increase it's size if they wish. Maybe I could put a button on the site to allow for this with out going to the browser toolbar?

- The white space has been removed, it was deliberate, but nobody saw it that way, so it's gone =)

- The site will be over-hauled and refined with CSS, I agree the source is a mess, but I had to get this up.

- I'll take a closer look at what I can do for the bottom nav and it being squished.

Abhishek Reddy

- I see what your saying, but you it's funny, that butterfly is actually in the original photo! I thought it was wierd that it didn't have a shadow as well.

Thanks for the reviews so far guys, great to come here and know your getting usefull critiques.

Ok, so I am not a big name on this site, but, I thought it was a bit bland, the butterfly added a lot. I like the use of highlighting on the links. It was a very good layout, and as much as I hate to quote my Internet II teacher, there is too much blank space on both sides. But other then that, I like what I saw.

I've taken a closer look at that menu - I know you said you're going to leave it that way for a while, but I can't help myself - it would be a lot better if you used a list with CSS instead of a table and JS. This will stop the problems of the link and the text being the same colour, and will make your code a lot cleaner.

I look forward to seeing the finished product, with valid and cleaned-up code!

Oh, nearly forgot...The page looks a lot better without the vertical break in the banner, nice

Sorry to bump this back up guys, but I made some "flow" changes and I think another look would be useful to me. I am interested in the look and design, I still have yet to go back and convert this to CSS (*ahem... JeevesBond*), but I'll get to that once I have decided I am happy with the site.

So once again, I'd appreciate a look =) Thanks in advance!

http://www.seemecreate.com

Oh, and PS:

The Webmistress, your SEO tips have paid off well! I have improved my alexa rating to 675k and am now getting a steady load of referals from Google and Inktomi without paid inclusion.

Well done with your SEO!

I still find the colours to be very oppressive and I still don't like the portfolio section, it doesn't encourage you to click on anything. Overall it is a slick looking site and I like the way the pictures change now but I think they are too big and overpower the middle section which is your content!

I know it was mentioned, but I don't mind beating a horse, dead or otherwise. The text is too small. Specifically, the first line on the home page, "See Me Create is the interactive think tank for Freelance Web Designer Joe Nicora: " is very hard to read on my current setup: 1024x768, flat panel monitor, and Mozilla 1.6.

Just my $0.02 worth.

85% of small is the default font size on your site, and that one piece (that is actually illegible) is made smaller still by using a tag.

http://www.zerocattle.com/examples/images/seemecreate.jpg

Ok, last bump, I promise.

I have re-done the site in CSS, tried to increase the font size while maitaining design integrity, and I have tried to work out some of the other issues (sorry webmistress, haven't gotten to the dossier yet.) I would appreciate another glance... let me know if it's better this way, more user friendly... intuitive, etc...

Thanks agian

http://www.seemecreate.com

Well, I really like the site, it has a nice calm feel to it. However, the dark, think, black borders on the top and bottom of the header jut out too much, maybe you can try reducing the size of them. The top one isn't quite so bad but the bottom one definatly. Maybe have the bottom border the same height as the top one?

I like how the whole site is fluid. Good job there.

Nice too see that the text size has been enlarged, it was farily hard to read it last time I looked at it.

On your Interface Design page, I like how you have used the floats so that it fits on everyones screen. I would like to comment on two things about it though.

1, Be sure that they are all the same height, to avoid what you have now - floats "all over the place." Haveing them all the same height will ensure that they are all in perfect columns.

2, Have another block element after your floats. Doing this will stop the overflow from happening on lower resolutions. Maybe just a small paragraph or two. Be sure to clear:both; the element too.

Nice work with your site

PS - Bump it (this thread) as many times as you need

Ok then, one more bump.

Well, that last site was a great way to learn CSS a little better, and even though it got fairly good reviews, I wasn't seeing the page views per visitor I wanted. Plus, I knew I could do a lot better graphically. So, I am very happy with this site, and plan on keeping it, but I still may modify it a bit, so comments are very welcome.

There are a few issues I will be working out:
1.) Will convert this to a fluid site in the future
2.) I'll build a better function for setting font size (right now I set a cookie and use JavaScript to control font size, Monday I'll simply switch the style sheet)

I'd appreciate a look over, thanks!

http://www.seemecreate.com

Not too sure I quite like this design as much as the other one but I guess it has potential

To me, it seems like gradients have been put all over the place, try not having so much, it also gives me a visual overload looking at the site.

I like the image you have in the header. A few suggestions though. Reduce the space that the logo takes up. Try keeping it the same size, it is just the blue is taking too much space and looks very unbalanced. Again, the gradient, don't think it is really needed there, try removing it and see what it looks like.