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Geek Culture / A new site design...

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Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 04:53
Trying to make a bit of a news site and finally came up with a design. Please tell me what you think about it / what could be improved. Just trying to learn this whole web-design talent thing, thanks.

You know you want it Straight-Up

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Frozen Flame
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 05:10
[b]


Deep Thought 42
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 05:13
Better then what I can make. Really big text on the menu. Maybe you could make it a little smaller. Otherwise the site looks decent.

"There are no stupid questions, just a lot of inquisitive idiots."
JoelJ
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 05:27
the main part is teh p00p, to bland

Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 15:35
not bad at all... few points:
1) The logo looks too cramped. You've squeeze 9 characters into that space and given a nice gap to the edge. Quite like the golden bamboo look though.
2) are those drop shadows (like on the menu) done with Alpha and PNG? If so - they'll work and look LOVELY in FF and, i think, any browser other than IE. IE Cant do PNG natively. You have to use a filter and the AlphaImageLoder.
3) I assume the menu entries are temporary, hence the inconsistency between caps and non-caps. I do like the curved look - maybe you could exagerate the curvyness and order the words by length (longest at the top) which would make the curving even more obvious.

Is it a fixed width site or does it stretch to whatever the window size is?

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Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 16:09 Edited at: 4th Oct 2005 16:54
Thank you for all the input. The drop shadows on the menu and such is all .gif format images, and I agree the menu needs to be redone a bit. The site is currently set to expand to 100% but no smaller than 920 pixels. Still waiting for input from my boss

[EDIT]
I have uploaded the page:
http://leys.projectlance.net/LODE-SLICES/lode.html
Also, the final will be much longer vertically(with many more story previews and such)

as for the changing menu, i was planning on redoing that all with preloaded images and javascript so it will work much better(faster) than it does now.

You know you want it Straight-Up
Undercover Steve
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 17:34
tisk tisk leys, you are better than this. Simple javascript combined with bad stylesheeting..opinion: I think the right bar needs to be smaller, and the middle larger. The left menu is a little large. I also believe that the online lod logo is stretching the style. My opinion.
Jeku
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 18:00
Looks better than what I could do

But I would make the mouseover arrows on the left aligned with each other.

Kohaku
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 19:21
I think the images are too big. S'ok otherwise though.


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Jimmy
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 19:41
Probably the worst site I've ever seen.

Megaton Cat
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:28
Looks acceptable...


The future is here, and I can't afford it.
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:41
You need to pull it together and tighten it up, its overly... inflated making it look unprofessional. I can draw you out a layout in photoshop and you can mirror it if you wish, I do web design and hosting. CLICK MY BANNER! hehhe

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
DBAlex
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:49
Eww that is really disgusting... Im not joking...

Attached is a shot of my site design...

Remember sometimes less IS more!!

(IE: Dont overcomplicate stuff)


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Jimmy
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:53
Yours sucks too.

Benjamin
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:55
Quote: "Remember sometimes less IS more!!"

Yup.

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Peter H
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 20:56 Edited at: 4th Oct 2005 20:56
@TheIndy- no offense but, that logo in the upper left corner of yours looks like something from the 80s



"We make the worst games in the universe."

Megaton Cat
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 21:09 Edited at: 4th Oct 2005 21:14
Quote: "You know you want it Straight-Up"


And he just got it!

edit:

Quote: "Remember sometimes less IS more!!"


Amen brother!
http://www.seikensteel.com/megaton/PCM/index.htm
(An early testing version of my new design)


The future is here, and I can't afford it.
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 21:09
@Mind Storm - that would be a huge help if you could do that for me

Quote: "(IE: Dont overcomplicate stuff)"


Hmm...I thought I wasn't overcomplicating stuff(you should see my old work). I will work on it a bit tonight and see what I can come up with. The problem I always have is lack of creativity.

You know you want it Straight-Up
Peter H
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 21:18
megaton cat- now that is a website!

"We make the worst games in the universe."

Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 21:20
Quote: "Amen brother!
http://www.seikensteel.com/megaton/PCM/index.htm
(An early testing version of my new design)"


Yea, that is a great site. But I can not make anything like that for this site because certain requirements. Basically, my boss just wants something nice clean and professional, but not too "lite" as many of these "great" designs.

You know you want it Straight-Up
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 4th Oct 2005 23:22 Edited at: 5th Oct 2005 00:09
lite?

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Jimmy
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:22
Quote: "Basically, my boss just wants something nice clean and professional"


Well then you should be fired, because what you've created is bulky, dirty and amateurish.

Benjamin
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:24
TheIndy, some morons have spammed your blog. One of those morons wasn't me.

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:29
LMAO.. One of

I agree that less is often very much more. Is your boss a web designer? If not - slap him and tell him that you'll make a good site and he'll like it! hehe

DISCLAIMER: I am not resposible for the outcome of doing that!

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Zero #43
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:32
www.darkangelgames.tk
www.freewebs.com/darkangelgames

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Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:52 Edited at: 5th Oct 2005 00:53
Quote: "Is your boss a web designer? "


Well no. In fact he know almost nothing about computers. He gave me the login to the ftp, and then it didn't work. So I asked, "have you tried the ftp yet yourself?" and he responds like, "i don't know much about this field and im not sure what this ftp your talking about is..."

He really isn't clear on what he wants so it's hard to come up with something nice and professional that he will like, especially when im not much of an artist.

Quote: " TheIndy, some morons have spammed your blog."


Yea, I cleaned it up a little bit.

You know you want it Straight-Up
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 00:59
I'll see what I can spit out while Im waiting for class.

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:32 Edited at: 5th Oct 2005 01:34
Best I could do in 15mins:


http://www.border7.com

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:34
that is very nice, are you charging me for the design?

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Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:37 Edited at: 5th Oct 2005 01:40
No its fine...
I'll take donations tho

"Design by Border7" some where in the credits with a link would be nice.

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:39
Well, i'd love to give you something, but I have no money right now, had to pay for school :/ , could you send me the images you used? or image if its just one big one? or is that all there is above?

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Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:42
I could send you the .psd file if you run photoshop, its kinda messy since I didnt bother to title anything. Other then that the image above is 750x550 (to fit in 800x600 resolutions) and you could splice as you see fit.

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:44
If you could email me the .psd file, that would be awesome. I can organize it myself...

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Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 01:48
Sent

Think what you like, you'll all be mine in the end.
Jeku
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 05:01
@Megaton

Quote: "(An early testing version of my new design)"


Wow, looks great! Just remember to add the a href link on my banner down there

Dave J
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 07:05
Quote: "(An early testing version of my new design)"


Urgggh, the text is way too small (especially the menu/header) and you're wasting a good 40% of the screen. If you're going to do that, at least center the content. Although, I really hope that's temporary because you're testing.


Quote: "Best I could do in 15mins:"


Very nice, although there are a few too many slight variations of colour. I.e. The Siberian Husky's border should match the colour of the 'Michigan' text as well as the yellow part of the curvey line. Also, you've introduced a grey colour (for the link and the logo underline) when you could've used another colour already on the page (perhaps the shadow of the key-shaped object?).

The other major niggle would be the inconsistent spacing, especially on the menu - the amount of space above and below the text of each menu item should be equal, and the extra line above the 'Front page' item doesn't really serve a purpose. Also, the variation in spacing between the letters in 'LODE' isn't really a good idea, I see what you're trying to do but it's not working at all. I'd make it evenly spaced. Other then that, it looks pretty awesome.


"Computers are useless, they can only give you answers."
Megaton Cat
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 16:42
Quote: "Urgggh, the text is way too small "


Have you ever browsed the internet? Or any other sites in people's sig for that matter?

Quote: "and you're wasting a good 40% of the screen. "


As DBalex said
"Remember sometimes less IS more!!"

Why do I bear the responsibility of filling the entire screen with crap? I like a modest minimalist and this is just another one of my styles. I am not saying it's on the same level with many other nice sites out there, but it's readable.




The future is here, and I can't afford it.
xtom
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 17:51
And sometimes less is not enough

I like the original design but with a few small tweeks it would be better.

Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 22:45
I love that new design! Not so keen on the left menu color and font, but that could easily be sorted. Maybe reduce the saturation on the menu background and chose a font thats more like the michigantech one?

Seriously though - dude that is good work for 15mins!!!! Wish I had such an eye for colour. I can do PHP and MySQL till the cows come home, but Art has never been my strong point.

My Website:
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 5th Oct 2005 23:19
Quote: "I can do PHP and MySQL till the cows come home, but Art has never been my strong point.
"


Well, i stole the cows. They are never coming back. Deal with THAT!

You know you want it Straight-Up
Undercover Steve
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Posted: 6th Oct 2005 04:25
get on yim theindy. I have so much to talk0rz ebout
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 6th Oct 2005 06:28
@Exeat
Keen eye you got there

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indi
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 03:13
leys would you mind changing your name, it "irks" me that your name is similar.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself &#63743;
Dave J
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 06:55
Quote: "As DBalex said
"Remember sometimes less IS more!!"

Why do I bear the responsibility of filling the entire screen with crap? I like a modest minimalist and this is just another one of my styles. I am not saying it's on the same level with many other nice sites out there, but it's readable."


That's what I'd call 'blind love'. You've got the content there, it's just a matter of making the site stretch to fill the width of the page. In this case, less is most definitely not more. It's weighted entirely to the left so there's absolutely no balance making the design look aesthetically poor. The usability of the site has been hindered because you're limiting the amount of space to read from, although you can still read it, it's not as easy as it would be if you utilised the space available. Leaving that huge blank space on the right quite simply detracts from the overall design.

As far as the menu text being too small, why do you insist on making people squint to read it? It's not beneficial and it discourages users from following them to the other pages of the site. The main text body is fine, but making the navigation smaller is a pretty poor decision. Having said that, the colour scheme and relatively straight-forward and simple design of the site is refreshingly nice.


Quote: "@Exeat
Keen eye you got there "


Thanks, multimedia design (including web design) makes up a considerable part of my Uni degree.


"Computers are useless, they can only give you answers."
Mind Storm 101
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 09:16
His site reminds me of a blog or an online journal type site.

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Benjamin
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 14:18
Quote: "As far as the menu text being too small, why do you insist on making people squint to read it?"

I see many, many sites with text that size, some even smaller. I don't really see what is wrong with it.

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Megaton Cat
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 16:40
Quote: "As far as the menu text being too small, why do you insist on making people squint to read it?"


Now it's just turning into a "who has better vision" debate.

Quote: "t's just a matter of making the site stretch to fill the width of the page."


Again, many websites have the exact thin style. I really don't have that much content to deem worthy of using up the entire screen.

I understand everything you're saying though. I've been critied for as long as I remember, as all web designers. What I've come to see, is 80% of a person's crit is all personal taste and opinion. No, really. Dozens of people find one design appealing while others just say "change it". It's all just creative work I guess.


The future is here, and I can't afford it.
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 7th Oct 2005 19:14
Quote: " leys would you mind changing your name, it "irks" me that your name is similar."


Alrighty then, as soon as I think up something new, it's changed...wouldn't want to "irk" you at all...

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indi
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Posted: 8th Oct 2005 02:54
thanks mate.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself &#63743;
Ace Of Spades
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Posted: 12th Oct 2005 02:20
http://leys.projectlance.net/

I already sent this in, and I got back:

"I like the layout, now we just need to work on updating graphics"

so...how can I go about "updating" these graphics, any idea?

You know you want it Straight-Up

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