New version of my business website

[beowuuf]

I thin kthe pink would work if the top faded from pink quite quickly to a white instead of being so solid (a more extreme version of how you have the orange one.

The orange one is ok, but I think the darker pink/purple colour registers the links better than the orange scheme



In general, the look seems fine, nothing raises a concern to my mind.

[Gambit37]

The red fading to white unfortunately doesn't work without messing up how I'll be handling the red header on lower pages.

I made a slightly different red version: http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-red2.jpg -- not sure it solves anything!

[Jan]

This red2 seems the best so far to me, and I really like it. Maybe the whole top part of the page is too dark now, but this red combination is definitely the best in my opinion.

[oh_brother]

I agree, that last one is my favourite. Looks good.

[Gambit37]

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll go with that. Just for comparison, I did a green2 using the same adjustments made in red2:

http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-grn2.jpg

Quite like this too! Totally different feel, much more calm and serene. Maybe I'll put a colour switcher on the site and people can choose what colour they want. That's a bit gimmicky for me to be honest, and hardly original, but might be fun

[beowuuf]

Looks good, still prefer the red to the green

[Sophia]

Since you said the text isn't final, maybe asking questions about it doesn't have much point, but I'm curious-- but is the double-s in "focussed" some kind of British thing? It looks strange to me.

[Gambit37]

A single "s" is more usual but you can also use two. I guess I was educated that it's two, I've always spelled it that way.

http://www.future-perfect.co.uk/grammar ... ocused.asp

[Ameena]

I think I like the second green one best - the rest all seemed a bit "Aarrgh! My eyes! My eyes!", though maybe that's 'cause I've been staring at the comparative darkness of this forum screen for a while .

[Gambit37]

Yeah, I understand the "my eyes!" issue. The red is pretty bright! In fact, I just booted up and it was the first thing in my browser in a saved tab -- it made me instantly think "Eww!" It probably is too much to be honest, perhaps the green is better after all.

I'd also like the option on some pages of having the main content filled with the main colour, rather than white with black text. This is very hard to do with red, but the green would work very well here.

[Gambit37]

OK, last round! I realised that there were three main things wrong:

1) Red is way too intense
2) Layout was too dispersed
3) The computer, while pretty, wasn't very useful (image of my work on screen too indistinct)

So I've tightened up the design and put in a more typical treatment for the portfolio items. And I've taken the red down to a more plum colour. I'm now very happy with both the plum and the green versions, so it's probably a coin toss to see which one goes online

http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-grn4.jpg
http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-plum4.jpg

[beowuuf]

seems fine, like the plum more still

can i suggest highlighting 'good', 'effective' and 'websites' and in your first texts?

[Jan]

I like both so a coin toss seems a good idea to me. I prefer the plum too, although it's perhaps too dark. I really don't know now. Couldn't you make both?

[ian_scho]

The layout is too dispersed? I immediately noticed <<space>> between the header and the body but the rest of it's inter-spacial-purpose I liked
Your colours are.... Yours! (it's not ProScreamer, now is it!)

[Gambit37]

The layout note was about there being too much stuff in general that was going far too long down the page, especially the massive testimonial. The space between the header and body is intentional; it suggests a wall and table effect which is what the computer / portfolio frame is sitting on.

I actually have an ever simpler version now. Important, since simpler sites are my selling point! The tabs in the middle of the page were too big and to be honest, unnecessary. I've opted to just have some specific content here to guide a user to other parts of the site. And it needed a secondary colour, the single colour/black/white was a bit unbalanced:

http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-grn5.jpg
http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd18-plum5.jpg

I know I can't stop tinkering, but it's all part of the process of refinement

[Ameena]

I still like the green one better. That might just be because I like green better than red anyway. But the new red one is better than the other red one - the colour doesn't seem so "loud". Of the two latest designs, it's sort of as though the red one is going "Hey! Look! Here I am! Right here! Website! Wooooo! Take a look!", while the green one is more kind of "Yes, this is a website. Come in, take a look. No rush. Let me know when you're done and what I can do for you" .
Of course, that's just my opinion and stuff. But opinions is what you're after, right?

[zoom]

I like the green one.
the plum one is ok too. thing is, the structure beneath the colour seems to add more to the green one.

[Gambit37]

It's sort of as though the red one is going "Hey! Look! Here I am! Right here! Website! Wooooo! Take a look!", while the green one is more kind of "Yes, this is a website. Come in, take a look. No rush. Let me know when you're done and what I can do for you"

Exactly, perfect description! The site itself shouldn't be overpowering, it's all about the content and guiding the user to do what you want them to do. So looks like it'll be the green one.

[Ameena]

Yeah...it's like the red one has more of a sense of urgency while the green one is a bit more sort of relaxed and casual (which is probably what I could have said earlier but umm...well, it obviously didn't come to mind, did it? ).

[Gambit37]

Actually, since you put it like that, I think the red is better!

[Gambit37]

He he he, I just can't stop! OK, well if you're not all completely bored of my constant mind-chagning, here's the design style I'm finally going with -- much classier:

http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd20-red2.jpg

I might have a second colour, like this:

http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd20-redblue.jpg

Having the big question in the middle of the homepage is going to be a bit of an experiment. It may or may not work, we'll see!

[Jan]

Wow! You never give up, do you?

I very like the general layout. From the two versions I prefer the first one (red), the second one (mixing red and blue) looks strange.

I'm not absloutely sure about the texture of the coloured background - it looks a bit like a carpet or something... And... well... don't get me wrong... but that photo of you at the bottom of the page is somehow strange... there's something strange about it... I'm sorry to say that.... but it looks... as if your head was too big or something... (it's perhaps because of the shadow on your right shoulder or because of the pose or I don't know).

But as I said, I like it.

[Sophia]

Hey, that's nice. I'd also like to contribute a testimonial:

"Matt has redesigned his business website numerous times and each time the page looks great! He's thrown away more great designs than some web designers even manage to come up with! He's just that awesome!"

Ok, so it's not a very good testimonial. But, eh, it fits.

[ian_scho]

That's pretty sweet! For some reason I spent 20 seconds clicking on your funky combo box in attempt to get a quote - the design is that good!

[Gambit37]

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'm definitely using that quote Sophia!

@Jan: that pic of me is quite old and the only one I could find that looks how I want my professional pic to look when I get it done... I do seem to have an odd expression in that pic! As for the texture, it's wallpaper. The whole interface metaphor is a wall in a Victorian house, not the picture rail and coving... Might need to tone the texture down a little though.

I tried a 1930s inspired colour scheme too which I thought was cool, but 5 mins later thought was awful. Then kept changing my mind every 5 mins after that! I should probably stick to just the single red. I'm soo indecisive. No I'm not. Yes I am. Etc. etc. blaegh bleh meh dwibbble ploopy gahhh
http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd20-oldstyle.jpg
http://friskdesign.com/v/?p=fd20-old2.jpg

[beowuuf]

If you don't use Sophia's testimonal, I will have to kill you. I don't know exactly where you live, but I can reasonably get to the centre of London and start bumping off people who look a bit like you until I get lucky.

Hmm, ok, seriously, I like the concept of it in general, but two things bug me. a) make it narrower, even though I now have a spanky new wide monitor, I foudn the page was shorter than the default 'i have all the space I want and this is as wide as a like' default I have my window at, and b) use a different picture, there's somehting a little 'deer in the headlights' about it, and I think a turning into shot picture doesn't seem right for your profile picture. Maybe that's me though!

[Sophia]

blaegh bleh meh dwibbble ploopy gahhh

I wouldn't recommend using this one as a quote, however.

[Gambit37]

@Beo: I'm getting profesisonal shots done for my pic, this is just a placeholder.

I'm not sure what you mean that the page is shorter? The image shown is 1480 pixels high, by 1600 wide. Are you seeing all of it, with space to the left and right, or do you mean it's not reaching the bottom of your screen vertically? I can't narrow it without completing messing up the balanced layout.

Please don't kill me if I don't use that testimonial. Not much point me having a new website if it's just going to act as my digital gravestone

[beowuuf]

Sorry, I must have missed Jan's comment and for some reason your reply too...no, wait, I get it, the boards still displace GMT not BST for me... nm!

[Gambit37]

The time displacement offset vector doesn't explain your comment about it being shorter? I'm trying to understand what you're describing?