REVIEW REQUEST: Squash Club

...anybody...?

The navigation box seems too far into the main section to me and I'm not sure about the black font there, maybe blue with red hover or vice versa??

The font for the 'College Rifles Squash Club' at the top is very plain, have you tried any other fonts for that part? and the logo on the left look srather fuzzy.
I'm also not sure about the olive green colour with the blue. What are the clubs colours?

I kinda had to juggle around with the widths to make the logo a reasonable size and also keep the nav margin good... I'm still trying to figure out a better combination.

I'm also still trying to persuade the client to get a better quality logo. This is the best I have ATM.

Black font gone. It's now the same colors as the links in the box on the right. What do you think?

The olive green color is supposed to be gold. I just used the color picker to get the shade from the logo. That will change as soon as I get a better logo.

Yes, I've tried various fonts for the title but, for some reason or other, none of them look right. I don't quite know how to use all that space to create a title. It's got to be formal and yet sporty. Any suggestions?

basically everythings are fine. what i think is only you need to put more effort on the design part. such as more attractive images, choose some other more attractive and sharp colour scheme..... and also a copyright notice is also important

Quote: basically everythings are fine. what i think is only you need to put more effort on the design part. such as more attractive images, choose some other more attractive and sharp colour scheme..... and also a copyright notice is also important

Yep, I am adding images as I get them. I just have a tough client who doesn't really want to see many images on the site — someone misinformed him that this would seriously affect load time.

I can't really change the colors as they are the colors of the club, except for the green, as I mentioned before.

I already have a copyright tag at the bottom of the page... what more can I add?

I don't think this has been mentioned the on the far right, a spacer I think it is, isn't working. It may be because I have a pretty big browser, 1620x960 or somthing...

How about making the background 'squash' bigger to fill the height of the top box and wider to fill more of the box. By keeping it faded it shouldn't overpower the red text but will fill the space up a bit more?????

The navigation box looks better but I still think it looks too far right. The other thing I just noticed is the grey box on the far right, where on the home page is the 'What's New' etc, are you going to put something in this on all pages? I would either have it white or a definite colour as it looks a wee bit odd as it is now and when it pokes out from the bottom of the tables it looks like something is missing.

The first thing that struck me about this site is that the layout seems unbalanced to me. Kind of lopsided. This is because of that left side blue margin being bigger than you've got on the right. Either make them the same or make them very different from each other. It's the principle of contrast - a little bit of difference isn't a great contrast, but a big difference can be. Eh, or maybe not. It does look better at smaller resolutions

The other thing I was thinking was that something needs to be done with the navbar to make it look a little more like a navbar rather than plain text. IEven if those entries were bold instead of normal it could help them to look a little more exciting. I do like the way you've used that pale yellow there - it really breaks up the red/blue which otherwise may have been a bit overpowering.

As others have mentioned, something seriously needs to be done with the logo. Maybe try moving that player graphic closer to the text to combine them into one logo. Or maybe putting the crest part from the left side along with the text.

I also agree that more photos are needed - if not to make the page layout more interesting, at least to give the potential member a better idea of what this place is like. Maybe you could create a separate photo gallery off the facilities page. That way people wouldn't be forced to wait for the photos to download, but they would be there if someone wanted a closer look.

I'm still experimenting with the title... I'll figure something out soon.

I'll probably extend out the tables to the left and overlay the logo atop the left semicircle. That way, I have more room for the logo and the nav is moved back a bit. Could even help with the title. We'll see...

That gray box... on almost all pages there will be something in a red/gold box, but those will usually not take up more than a ¼ to ½ of the screen height. That leaves an odd white space underneath.
Previously, that's how I had it looking, so I added this gray thing to fix that problem.

It looks somewhat odd on pages with little scrolling, but even that will change (more content to be added).

Josh, how does the page show at that resolution? What does the spacer look like where it's going wrong?

Olive Green/Pale Yellow/Gold ??? lol isn't it funny how different people are describing that colour!

Quote: I also agree that more photos are needed - if not to make the page layout more interesting, at least to give the potential member a better idea of what this place is like. Maybe you could create a separate photo gallery off the facilities page. That way people wouldn't be forced to wait for the photos to download, but they would be there if someone wanted a closer look.

A gallery is exactly what I want to add... but my client is extremely reluctant. So far, all I've managed to get from him is 2 photos of the club itself.

Quote: Olive Green/Pale Yellow/Gold ??? lol isn't it funny how different people are describing that colour!

Yeah, funny ol' color that!

Ok, I've added more space to the right. The layout should look a little more balanced.

If the logo looks out of place, don't worry. I'll get a new one and place it over the circular end.

Also changed the nav colors again. What do you think?

I haven't seen the old nav colors, but I do like the current colors.
It think this site is a good example of how a website should be designed, except for the things you already (or should I say alReddy ) mentioned, the gray boxes, the logo etc.
Maybe try to get some more photo content from them, I think some photos will spice the site up a bit.

Overall: good job man!

Heh, thanks for the reply, Jack.

If you want to compare the changes I made post-post , visit college-rifles.co.nz for the old version.

The only major differences you might notice are the nav, text-alignment and margin at the right.

From: http://whatiscopyright.org/

Quote: The proper way to place a copyright notice is as follows: Copyright © (first date of creation) (name of owner). Like this: Copyright © 2002 John Smith.

The first thing that popped out at me were the nav links at the bottom. They need to be a color other than black IMO. The little lines that are seperating the links are blue. Maybe blue and red on rollover?? Just a thought.

I was thinking the same thing about making the nav links bold but I see you are using bold to mark what page you are on. Good idea!! Not sure if I like the one with or without the white background. The nav links still need some UMPH though. But they are't bad really. ;

The only other thing that I will mention is the color of the links in the body text. They are a wee bit bland looking.

Nice work. I can tell you have put some thought into this one.

Hey DM,

Haven't seen you around for a while...

Quote: The proper way to place a copyright notice is as follows: Copyright © (first date of creation) (name of owner). Like this: Copyright © 2002 John Smith.

Thanks for that. I didn't know I had to put "copyright" as well as the (c) symbol.

Quote: I was thinking the same thing about making the nav links bold but I see you are using bold to mark what page you are on. Good idea!! Not sure if I like the one with or without the white background. The nav links still need some UMPH though. But they are't bad really. ;

Sorry, but I totally lost track here. Are you referring to the first link (sportsnz.co.nz/crs) or the second (college-rifles.co.nz)? And is that the nav at the left or at the bottom that you're referring to?

It's really early in the morning... my mind is very fuzzy.

Quote: The only other thing that I will mention is the color of the links in the body text. They are a wee bit bland looking.

I was supposed to use red for that, but for some reason that I can't recall I went for a washed-out brown color (client might have said somehting about it being good). I think I'll switch it back to red again.

Thanks for the reply.

Quote: Haven't seen you around for a while...

Um--yeah, did ya miss me???!!!
I have been suffering the after effects of a very painful dislocated shoulder. And it was my right arm to make things worse. (my mouse hand) Going back to work tonight for the first time since Aug. 9th. ARG!! Woe is me.

Anyway, what I meant about the nav links:
The ones on the bottom need to be a different color besides black. You may have changed this....haven't looked yet.

As for the other....I was actually talking about the left side nav on both pages when I said, "Not sure if I like the one with or without the white background. The nav links still need some UMPH though. But they are't bad really."
The one with the white bg meaning: http://www.sportsnz.co.nz/crs/

The one withOUT the white bg meaning: http://www.college-rifles.co.nz/

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I was probably fuzzy as well.

Quote: Um--yeah, did ya miss me???!!!
I have been suffering the after effects of a very painful dislocated shoulder. And it was my right arm to make things worse. (my mouse hand) Going back to work tonight for the first time since Aug. 9th. ARG!! Woe is me.

Ouch! Hope you're better now.

I'll be working on the site over the next few days... I'll take your suggestions into account.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Very nice
Get some css or more if you have some
I noticed its a nz site im from nz 2