I'm not sure.... is this a template, or not? I'm gonna guess no.
On the menu, I would put more space between the links. I hate it when I can't tell when one link ends and another begins. Also, add some rollover color to them. Same with the titles.
Speaking of the titles, they don't quite seem like news headers to me. I don't know why. If this is a database driven site, try adding a snippet below them.
You're logo also seems hidden. Try to put it on that sky somehow. Really bring it out, instead of just hiding it in the corner.
The page also seems a little bit sparse, but it's not terrible.
heebiejeebieclu posted this at 09:21 — 25th August 2004.
This design seems to be really incoherent. Overall it's well co-ordinated but there are a few pieces that just break up the design and give a disjointed appearance The main problem is the header graphic. It doesn't co-ordinate with the colour scheme at all, and really cuts up that part of the page. This would be much better if that photo was tinted to match the more muted grey-blue of the background. The google ads also stand out in a bad way. I think it's possible to style those to match your site design.
The logo is okay, but I think it would be better if it brought in some of the orange used in the navbar. Try doing part of the "triumphantGEAR" in orange.
I agree with Dragon about the news headlines.
Now, my biggest problem with this site is the co-ordination of concept. When I first saw the title I assumed this was a sportswear company of some sort. Triumphant Gear. What else would it mean? I don't know, but I didn't expect a bunch of news items. I don't really see the point of that. Tons of other sites have news links. If you want to orient it around the Christian news side, that might be okay. But the site needs to be designed to emphasisze that. It would also be good to have something more than news links. Orienting them around a discussion forum might be a better idea.
initially the site was intended to focus on apparel, but i dediced to include news headlines that would be of interest to the more conservative, religious market. in comparison to the site i am emulating, drudgereport.com, this is site is much more appealing. however, it does need work and that is why i'm asking for input.
dragon of ice, i've never used templates before, so you're right, this is not one. i have been making plans to change the menu so it blends better with the layout. the headlines might be changing as well. as far as snippets, i did have them at first, but removed them because they just didn't look right. i think most of you mentioned something about the logo, so i'll probably work on that as well.
megan, i think i'm going to highlight the gear and then add the news features to a different section. what i'm trying to do is draw repeat traffic to the site, and news is the best way to do it next to the gear of course.
again, thanks for the comments. i'll be making changes shortly.
heebiejeebieclu posted this at 13:37 — 26th August 2004.
It appears that you are offering "news" for your content. That is OK, but compared to the news sources on the Web it does not stand out has it offers stronger news // in others words news that is difficult to find, and that would give your site the edge.
What I like is your shop for buying hats and shirts.. but that is buried.
I hope I am not sounding like a old goat, but content is as important as design.
some changes have been made to the site bearing some of the comments on this thread. please take a chance to review the changes as they will be activated soon, http://www.triumphantgear.com/new
I don't want to sound harsh here because I think you have an interesting idea going, but...
First I have to ask you, do you really need all those ads on your page?
You have 2 ads (or places for ads) at the top, a whole column of ads on the right and links to sponsors on the left... There's barely any room for your content.
Second, I understand that why you might want to open a new window for the cafe press shops but, you have a new window opening for the store's front page then another window for the shop. Now I have 3 seperate open windows... that's too much for me. I really like the simple design you have for each of the store's front pages! Can you do something like that for the homepage and (at least) have the front page for each store open in the same window?
You also have each of your news items opening in a new window. I can understand this also since it's from someone elses site. Honestly though, it looks like you don't have any original content at all when EVERYTHING opens a new window.
I would suggest (just my opinion now) concentrait just on the apparel items. Create a great store front and pages for each apparel section (Men's, Women's, Hats, etc.)
Don't add items from other people's sites just to fill space. You'll have enough of your own content before too long and you'll be more satisfied knowing it's all yours!
*Edited to add: I noticed that you said that you were after repeat customers which is why you have the news. I honestly feel that your customers are more likely to bookmark the site where the news item is at than yours, so I'm not sure that's going to work. Discussion forums, blogs, "submit your story", etc.... those are the type of unique items that can be on your site that will keep people coming back again and again.
gotta finish redesigning my sites so I can show them again.
I'm writing this without looking at the other comments:
I'm not sure what this site is about? The title makes me think of camping/ mountaineering gear; and there is a man who seems to be sitting on top of a mountain -- but I see nothing else referring to that?
I can't tell if the 3Howards ad is part of this site, or an ad from another site.
Ok, now I see the Triumphant Gear shop.
The other links seem to be news (& open in new windows) -- is this a news site then?
Basically, I don't know what this site is about. The Family History link, which I thought might take me to information about the site owner, instead takes me to a genealogy site -- another ad?
****************
Now I've read the comments, and see I've done some repeating.
After some recommendations from previous reviews/critiques, TriumphantGear.com has been redesigned. Any comments or suggestions on the new design would be most helpful.
Thread merged. The posting agreement says something about not posting a site more than once in three months. We don't like to have more than one therad about the same site floating around.
Looks a lot better. One thing that stands out for me here is that the logo is really, really tiny. There's lots of space there so make the logo bigger to fill that up. I also think the navigation menu could stand to be bigger (in text size), and higher contrast.
Personally, I would use the red/yellow colour scheme of the "TRUTH" gear rather than the boring shades of blue you've got going here. That would be really eye catching, maybe with a beige or grey text background.
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Dragon of Ice posted this at 20:56 — 24th August 2004.
He has: 578 posts
Joined: Jun 2004
I'm not sure.... is this a template, or not? I'm gonna guess no.
On the menu, I would put more space between the links. I hate it when I can't tell when one link ends and another begins. Also, add some rollover color to them. Same with the titles.
Speaking of the titles, they don't quite seem like news headers to me. I don't know why. If this is a database driven site, try adding a snippet below them.
You're logo also seems hidden. Try to put it on that sky somehow. Really bring it out, instead of just hiding it in the corner.
The page also seems a little bit sparse, but it's not terrible.
heebiejeebieclu posted this at 09:21 — 25th August 2004.
They have: 527 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
Hmmmm. just for a fight, I'm guessing yes
Megan posted this at 13:45 — 25th August 2004.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
This design seems to be really incoherent. Overall it's well co-ordinated but there are a few pieces that just break up the design and give a disjointed appearance The main problem is the header graphic. It doesn't co-ordinate with the colour scheme at all, and really cuts up that part of the page. This would be much better if that photo was tinted to match the more muted grey-blue of the background. The google ads also stand out in a bad way. I think it's possible to style those to match your site design.
The logo is okay, but I think it would be better if it brought in some of the orange used in the navbar. Try doing part of the "triumphantGEAR" in orange.
I agree with Dragon about the news headlines.
Now, my biggest problem with this site is the co-ordination of concept. When I first saw the title I assumed this was a sportswear company of some sort. Triumphant Gear. What else would it mean? I don't know, but I didn't expect a bunch of news items. I don't really see the point of that. Tons of other sites have news links. If you want to orient it around the Christian news side, that might be okay. But the site needs to be designed to emphasisze that. It would also be good to have something more than news links. Orienting them around a discussion forum might be a better idea.
Megan
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heebiejeebieclu posted this at 17:17 — 25th August 2004.
They have: 527 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
megan, what's that LOREAL (R) thing 'You're worth it'?
banners4pennies posted this at 18:33 — 25th August 2004.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jul 2004
thanks for the comments.
initially the site was intended to focus on apparel, but i dediced to include news headlines that would be of interest to the more conservative, religious market. in comparison to the site i am emulating, drudgereport.com, this is site is much more appealing. however, it does need work and that is why i'm asking for input.
dragon of ice, i've never used templates before, so you're right, this is not one. i have been making plans to change the menu so it blends better with the layout. the headlines might be changing as well. as far as snippets, i did have them at first, but removed them because they just didn't look right. i think most of you mentioned something about the logo, so i'll probably work on that as well.
megan, i think i'm going to highlight the gear and then add the news features to a different section. what i'm trying to do is draw repeat traffic to the site, and news is the best way to do it next to the gear of course.
again, thanks for the comments. i'll be making changes shortly.
heebiejeebieclu posted this at 13:37 — 26th August 2004.
They have: 527 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
Yeah, I think the site has alot of potential
Dirty_Dawg posted this at 19:52 — 26th August 2004.
He has: 64 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
It appears that you are offering "news" for your content. That is OK, but compared to the news sources on the Web it does not stand out has it offers stronger news // in others words news that is difficult to find, and that would give your site the edge.
What I like is your shop for buying hats and shirts.. but that is buried.
I hope I am not sounding like a old goat, but content is as important as design.
Good Luck
411 Locate.com - city-yellowpages.com
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www.city-yellowpages.com
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www.411locate.com/adpage.htm
banners4pennies posted this at 20:00 — 27th August 2004.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jul 2004
some changes have been made to the site bearing some of the comments on this thread. please take a chance to review the changes as they will be activated soon, http://www.triumphantgear.com/new
thank you
KarenArt posted this at 22:24 — 27th August 2004.
She has: 354 posts
Joined: May 2001
I don't want to sound harsh here because I think you have an interesting idea going, but...
First I have to ask you, do you really need all those ads on your page?
You have 2 ads (or places for ads) at the top, a whole column of ads on the right and links to sponsors on the left... There's barely any room for your content.
Second, I understand that why you might want to open a new window for the cafe press shops but, you have a new window opening for the store's front page then another window for the shop. Now I have 3 seperate open windows... that's too much for me. I really like the simple design you have for each of the store's front pages! Can you do something like that for the homepage and (at least) have the front page for each store open in the same window?
You also have each of your news items opening in a new window. I can understand this also since it's from someone elses site. Honestly though, it looks like you don't have any original content at all when EVERYTHING opens a new window.
I would suggest (just my opinion now) concentrait just on the apparel items. Create a great store front and pages for each apparel section (Men's, Women's, Hats, etc.)
Don't add items from other people's sites just to fill space. You'll have enough of your own content before too long and you'll be more satisfied knowing it's all yours!
*Edited to add: I noticed that you said that you were after repeat customers which is why you have the news. I honestly feel that your customers are more likely to bookmark the site where the news item is at than yours, so I'm not sure that's going to work. Discussion forums, blogs, "submit your story", etc.... those are the type of unique items that can be on your site that will keep people coming back again and again.
gotta finish redesigning my sites so I can show them again.
The purpose of education is... to get more jokes!
dbliss posted this at 23:49 — 27th August 2004.
They have: 2 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
I was confused instantly what was the purpose of the site.
Outdoor gear or newsfeed.
What's worse, nothing stands out in terms of site identity.
Footer seems lacking in what you would normally expect, placement to left odd ( to me ).
Rich
urbizanywhere posted this at 12:10 — 28th August 2004.
He has: 4 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
The site design is not much appleaing. You should place spacing btw the header and the navigation. It is not place properly.
Color theme is good The logo is nicely written and the bg of the looks great.
But over all its like an ordinary site design.
Regards,
Urbizanywhere.
http://www.urbizanywhere.com
sbmontana posted this at 22:17 — 28th August 2004.
They have: 21 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
I'm writing this without looking at the other comments:
I'm not sure what this site is about? The title makes me think of camping/ mountaineering gear; and there is a man who seems to be sitting on top of a mountain -- but I see nothing else referring to that?
I can't tell if the 3Howards ad is part of this site, or an ad from another site.
Ok, now I see the Triumphant Gear shop.
The other links seem to be news (& open in new windows) -- is this a news site then?
Basically, I don't know what this site is about. The Family History link, which I thought might take me to information about the site owner, instead takes me to a genealogy site -- another ad?
****************
Now I've read the comments, and see I've done some repeating.
~ SB ~
Watermark
heebiejeebieclu posted this at 10:46 — 29th August 2004.
They have: 527 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
Yeah, you have but the comments are still valid and the fact that more than one person has spotted them indicates that it's an obvious issue...
banners4pennies posted this at 01:38 — 9th September 2004.
They have: 11 posts
Joined: Jul 2004
After some recommendations from previous reviews/critiques, TriumphantGear.com has been redesigned. Any comments or suggestions on the new design would be most helpful.
Thank you.
TriumphantGear
Dirty_Dawg posted this at 02:02 — 9th September 2004.
He has: 64 posts
Joined: Aug 2004
Much better.. best of luck
Megan posted this at 13:13 — 9th September 2004.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Thread merged. The posting agreement says something about not posting a site more than once in three months. We don't like to have more than one therad about the same site floating around.
Looks a lot better. One thing that stands out for me here is that the logo is really, really tiny. There's lots of space there so make the logo bigger to fill that up. I also think the navigation menu could stand to be bigger (in text size), and higher contrast.
Personally, I would use the red/yellow colour scheme of the "TRUTH" gear rather than the boring shades of blue you've got going here. That would be really eye catching, maybe with a beige or grey text background.
Megan
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