Design review

[xernous]

Hi everyone,
I'm a web developer looking to become more of a web designer. My new job requires a lot more design from me than i'm used to, and i am trying to grow the web development department of my business into a credible professional design & marketing solution for website needs.

Lately i've been playing around with some designs, here's something that i came up with a few days ago. Please review it as harshly as possible, any advice or criticism you offer will be valued highly.

Thanks!
- Alex Wheeler, Max Clicks Online

NOTE: The footer is all the way at the bottom to simulate a static positioned footer, please ignore all of the passive white-space inbetween.
global promotions llc proof.jpg

[ralph.m]

Please review it as harshly as possible

Looks OK to me.

One thing I'd say is that the full-width text in the content area is not ideal. Best to try to get columns happening there, or reduce the width of the page, or increase the font size ...

[apoldeer]

I think you should lighten up the background color. Some texts are overwhelm by the 'chocolatey' background it can't be read properly. Or you could increase the font size.

[webdev1958]

Looks good to me as well

I agree with ralph in regard to the full width text (About Us). Perhaps make the text container narrower (say 70-80%) and centre it by setting the left and right margins to auto.

Also, you probably already have a colour scheme designer, but if not then maybe have a look at this interactive colour scheme designer.

[xernous]

Hi everyone,
thanks for the reviews so far, you've made some good points.

webdev1958, i haven't used a color scheme designer before. colorschemedesigner.com and another one a friend recommended from Adobe, http://kuler.adobe.com, i think it will have a significant impact on my work in the future. One of my weak points is creating color schemes and making sure everything matches up fairly evenly.

apoldeer, you're right about the background-color, it kinnda gives you a headache to look if you look too long.

ralph.m, the about-us is a little overwhelming with text. I'm going to try adding an icon or picture of some sort in there to space it out a bit more. The text on this page is designed mostly as filler-content right now though and doesn't have any real goals - save for being almost entirely boring and irrelevant with the objective of getting people to overlook it and go to other more interesting parts of the site.

I'll follow up sometime within the next few days with some revisions. Thanks again!

[adover]

Looks alright to me too! As everyone else says,
I' say: Remove the underlines off the footer links
Instead of the >> on the buttons look at placing arrows in there
The "connect with them" text looks a bit out of place, consider making the font size the same as the heading.
I think the facebook and youtube logos cheapen the design, look for some more polished ones for this design

Other than that you've done a good job!

[Steve-Hostirian]

Aside from design, the issue with full width text in About Us is the readability factor - beyond a certain width, it becomes increasingly difficult to scan back to the next line. Site looks good - waiting on the completed version.

[dinbrca]

Looks fine to me.. but I - too think that the background is too dark..

[Talks_44]

It's not bad. Nice colour choice. I think the top box (menu/FB-YT/3 boxes) could use a more contrasting outline, help it stand out a lil more. But overall it's not too bad.

[Return True]

Hi,

Aside from the massive gap between the content and the footer, it looks alright to me.

[Wolflin Media]

Nice layout and flow. My only recommendation would be to reconsider the brown or maroon...do some quick research on how colors affect your prospects. For example, consider the top three sites (FaceBook, Google, an YouTube)...the majority is white on the landing page, to give it a softer inital appeal. Best of luck with your professional transition; looks like you're onthe right path.

[proxcode]

I like the colors a lot!

[booruguru]

The "about us" text is too small and too wide. Also, the brown background seems like a strange choice considering the fruity colours on top of it. Some brown is okay, but you have way to much of it. Try a light grey background. Otherwise, it looks like it could be a very attractive web site, with a few minor tweaks. There's not much else I can say without seeing a live version of the site.


P.S. On second thought, reduce the "about us text" to a line or two...or get rid of it altogether, unless you have a compelling story. Otherwise, it should be self-evident "who you are" based on the preceding text.

[Spritanium]

I think it's very nice.

The gradient on the navigation bar could stand to be reversed, and maybe a little more subtle. Right now it kind of contradicts the light source set by the background. Some vertical dividers between the options, just a thin dark red line, would do a lot, I think.

Everything else until the About Us section is fantastic.

The About Us section looks like it's just text slapped on the page---you could definitely do more to integrate it with the layout. Maybe put a background behind it, style the header, I don't know. Just something to make it flow with the page.

The gap after the About Us section shouldn't be nearly as tall.

There's a lot of empty space in the links area at the bottom. The options could use some small icons by them, just to liven it up.

You asked to be as harsh as possible, but in all honesty, it's a pretty solid layout. Nicely done.

[duczjenny]

I think that The Design Review Process is a mechanism for ensuring design standards, alignment, and diligence throughout the course of the product design process: ...

[annahussy]

According to me good layout with good background colors. But, find those kind of templates which are not looking goddy and some more fleshy. Over all design is good with good framework.