review request - sk photography

The logo is a bit boring, is there nothing you can do with it? I think that the photos on the first page would look better if the were all the same size. It is a very basic layout which is good for showcasing photos but it's hard to say what it'll all look like until the text is on there.

That logo definitely needs work. Even as a basic type layout there are problems. Firstly there is too much space between the "sk" and "photography". There is no relationship between the two elements. Secondly, the relationship between type sizes and faces doesn't make sense. If the "sk" is going to be lowercase, then "phorography" should be all lower case as well. Thirdly, something should be done to provide more contrast between the two parts. Either "photography" should be smaller, or one of the elements should be done in a colour to add some interest. This covers some pretty basic graphic design principles that anyone designing logos should all be aware of.

Once again, something different should be done to the navbar to make it look like a navbar. It's too plain text-ish right now and the grey doesn't stand out at all.

That's all I have to say right now.

Thanks, the text is their logo, I did goof and use a capital P in photography, should be small p. Their colors are black and white, so I added the coloured line to try brighten it up some.
the font (times new roman) on the logo is what they use as well ("sk" and "photography" are both the same font, just different sizes).
Hard choosing link colors with a black and white layout, maybe I'll try swap the link colors around, link, hover etc.

Hi Busy,

I looked at the site last night but was too tired to post a review.

I think it looks good. Not sure I like the image of the woman on the top left. It looks sorta goulish and scairy.

I am wondering what it would look like without the black background in the nav part.?? Just seems like it would look more inviting without the black bg.

Quote: Originally posted by disaster-master
Not sure I like the image of the woman on the top left. It looks sorta goulish and scairy

HAHA thats actually a pic of the owner, I wont tell her She is having second thoughts about having her pic on there, woman lol

without the strip (nav background) it kind of looks naked.

When I first started doing this site I use a black background and another womans pic as a sample, but then switched colors, here is the old one verses the new one

black on white
white on black
screen captures

Might sound daft but for me the background of the black on white one is a kind of off white colour and I think that looks better as it takes away the starkness

Seeing the white on black scheme, I wonder how it might look if you put a white "sk" in place of that ghostly image, but generally stuck with the rest of the black on white scheme...

You should really ask the client if you can make some changes to the logo. Minor changes, like moving the two words closer together and changing to a more distinctive (but still serif) font would make a huge improvement without compromosing existing branding.

P.S. I actually prefer the white on black scheme, I think...

I think I might try a lil of what everyone has mentioned and combine them. Have to get another site finished today so I'll try throw something togther and post it tonight.

The spacing I can do, the font I don't think I can change, but I'll try and I suppose as long as I keep blackish and whiteish it could be ok.

Thanks everyone

Very plain I think. Maybe spice it up with a few colours here and there?

hmmm dunno, why not keep the black and white, and utilize more photo's in a montage style? black and white offers excellent contrast, great impact, and highly detailed photography, check out some of the photographic sites out there. Some nice high res closeups with some montage effect, would look spesh:D

color is ncie to break things up, but sometimes, you gotta be different;)

I agree that photography sites look best with black/white/gray. If you choose to go with colours, use very muted ones.

Two things..

The "photo" in "photography" looks.. grainy? garbled? Can't quite find a word for it.

The images are a tad small to serve as photography samples. Are they merely thumbnails to larger versions that have yet to be coded?

Am having trouble getting what I want to work and teh time to do the new layout.

I tried a white and grey layout, I really liked it, but then i guess I have to say that worked well as it fulled the space and pics were well placed, here is a sample of the it here, ignore the background. Can't find the white background sample, but this has similar pics on it.

The pictures are an issue by themselves, they don't want to have "sample" or anything written across the pictures and doesnt want full sized images to be abled to be downloaded, so have to try find a happy medium which is to use bigger than thumbnails, but smaller than with a watermark. this site is becoming a nightmare

Keep going, you know you'll get there in the end

From a design perspective I don' tmind those photos-over-photos, (colour over black & white), but they are obscuring the larger image so it might be better to just leave them plain. I also think that the black & white is too pale. What if youleft those pictures plain, maybe with a thin gold outline border around them. I also think that the white bar along the left side is too stark - maybe that could be done in gold as well. Or did the client decide that the colours chould be black & white only? That is kind of tough to work with from a design persepctive. What you could do is blow up a big dingbat of a camera in the background to give some more depth and create a transition between the black and white.

Thanks for all your help so far, I'm going to put this one on hold for a few weeks, The client is busy and wont beable to get any text to me for a while yet so it's a good chance for me to try catch up on some other jobs and my own stuff.

I know that you have this on hold for a few weeks but I wanted to say a few things. First of all I know how you feel - just hang in there and you will get it.

You know the 2nd look that you did at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~white2us/sk/sksample2.jpg

What about extending the black all the way so there is not any white around the sides? This is definately one time where black and white really work well and they are powerful. I really think you should go with that!

Good job and let us know how it goes!

Brooke

outside of the images or the layout itself? the link you choose is only a screen capture that doesnt fill the screen properly, it would normally be complete black background with just white strip for links.

Thanks