Hi all,

After many attempts that you lot may have seen, I have finally come up with a main design, and now the whole website is now complete, so could you please give me a full critique please.

url: http://www.cfdesignz.co.uk

Thanks
Craig__________________

Hi Craig,

I can see you've put quite a bit of work on it but I still think there is considerable room for improvement.

• The background colour really doesn't do your site justice. In my opinion, beige or cream is a background colour I associate with "New/Hobby Web Developers". I believe it is because it ruins the contrast of all the other elements on the the page. Light grays, whites or darker backgrounds with white/light content boxes are what I find to be the most pleasant and effective background colours for portfolios/web design sites.
• You leading is good but I think the kerning is a touch too much for the main content. I think decreasing the letter spacing a touch would be beneficial.
• Your top bar is neat and effective and the style is well established in the portfolio business but when I view it on my 1600 x 1050 resolution the top bar appears blurry as though my LCD is set to a resolution lower than its native one.
• Still on the topic of your top navigation bar, consider possibly having the bar stretch the entire width of the screen not sit in the middle as you have it (also there is a 1px space between the top of the page and the nav bar in IE7). I think this would help it look less like a box stuck in the middle of the page and may also allow you to to add some elasticity to the main content.
• I'm not sure about having a quote from yourself as the focal point from the page -- I would think testimonials would be a better option for this space or at least a tag line for your business
• You seem to slip in and out of the collective/individual when talking about your services "What we do" and "Show you my work". Go through your content and decide whether you are going to talk collectives "We, us, our" or individual "I, me, my" so prospective clients know who/how many they'll be dealing with.
• I won't go too much more into content as I'm sure Mike will come along to give you pointers there but one thing I will say is that clients rarely care what technologies you build with they care what those technologies mean for them. XHTML??? To a customer try "I build you website to meet and exceed web design and accessibility standards".. Javascript??? To a customer try "I build rich, interactive websites that your users can emerse themselves in"... Focus on what those standards mean for the customer, not just their names
• Same as the nav bar, I would suggest a foot that takes 100% of the width.
• Having a contact form on every page makes the "Contact Me" link redundant. I would either remove the link or remove the contact form from all but the home and contact pages.
• You have a cartoony guy at the top but everything else seems to step away from that feel -- the icons on your nav links look like 3D renderings rather than cartoons and the text feels more elegant than laid back and cartoony

I know that is a very long list but don't be offended because I only write such a list due to the potential I see here. The layout is uncluttered and you are using great ideas such as the contact form readily available.

I hope I have helped a little with my ideas.

Cheers,

Rakuli

Ok,

Thanks alot for the in depth critique, this is exactly what I am looking for, it is a bit disheartening knowing I put alot of work into this website, and all that above is wrong with it, but I want it to be the best it possibly can, so these suggestions are what I need.

Background colour - What colour do you suggest? with making the least changes to the rest of the website.
Nav Bar - I think this is blurry due to the fact I have changed the nav bar on a few different occasions, and because I broke my memory stick with my only copy of the PSD (Stupid I know) I no longer have the PSD meaning I had to somehow rearrange it again, with replacing what was a testimonials page, to a blog page, and you can see there is a big letters difference there. But I agree it does look blurry, So start that from scratch again is the way forward I think.
How can I have an image I am creating which is 960px fill the whole width content of all screens? is there a way around this?
Quote in header - I don't believe having a testimonial here would be effective, especially as I have it on every page, and if I did remove this and left it in the header, It would leave an empty gap on the right side. Tag line is a good idea, but really hard to think of, so until then I will leave that as it is.
Content - I know what you mean about the content, that is probably the most time taken was trying to do the content, but as you can see, I am not the best at it, so if possible could you help me right a few things on my website?
Contact form - I agree having the form on every page and having a contact page is pretty useless, but if I take that away, I am only left with 4 nav buttons on the top, and this will look a little less dont you think? and with it possibly ending up fitting on a monitor that is 1600 in width, this wouldn't look effective.
Cartoony guy - well he is me, a vector I drew a while back, my first attempt, I have done other vectors since and have done much better, so I could improve on that, but as I said in the other thread, I am only 17 years old, and if I place an image of myself there, I could lose credability, because who wants to hire a 17 year old? So what do you suggest?

Thanks for the in-depth critique it is much appreciated.
Craig

Okay, don't be disheartened, as I said it has potential...You design life won't be easy if you don't open yourself up to critique.

• For your design I would go for a white background or a background image that goes from a lightish colour into white from the top
• Yep, looks like you may have to go the image creation path again, leaving it blurry as it is will not do you many favours. I would also consider reducing their size a little as well
• You can stretch it across the page easily. Your buttons use a gradient background, just take a one 1px wide sample of that and place the whole nav in a div with that background. This then can stretch right across the screen
• The quote from yourself will get quite old quickly, it will be irrelevant on the second page. You could possibly use this space to place random low-res screen captures of your works
• Happy to help you with content but I can't right now, I have to head to bed
• If you stretch the nav bar right across then removing the link resolves this issue I think. If not, look at replacing the form with something else.
• The cartoon of yourself is find but it doesn't fit the site. If you are into vectors, look at making vector images for the rest of your site as well. Try and keep it consistent.

Had to write this one quickly, will take a look at how you're going tomorrow.

Cheers,

It's pretty good, but there's definitely scope for improvement. Rakuli has already given numerous astute suggestions.

My take on the vector face image: it's just not good enough. I appreciate that you worked hard on it, but I really think you need better skills before you use your vector art for production graphics. It's nearly a good image, but the facial features are wonky and the skin is too orange. The impression I'm left with is that a perma-tanned zombie stock trader is about to attack me with his mobile phone.

Sorry to be harsh. It's far, far better than anything I could do -- but it's just not quite good enough. I think you only need a little more practice drawing vector faces. Faces are difficult to get right; even a small error will disturb the viewer.

The navbar is nice, but the black background is eating up the borders of your graphics. In particular, look at the "home" graphic and see how the roof is almost invisible. I would definitely use a light background so that the icons stand out.

I don't like false quotes. Why put your tagline in quotes ("Craig Farrall is a freelance website designer based...")? You've taken a neat graphic effect and applied it in an inappropriate context.

Your content has improved a lot, simply because you Stopped Capitalising Every Damn Word. Yet it's still poor. Your grammar needs going over with a fine-tooth comb (note: not a fine tooth comb ). For instance: painstaking is one word; you say "pain staking", which gives a macabre effect.

As Rakuli said, pick one voice and stick to it. Don't alternate between "I", "we", and "CF Designz" (and can't you be CF Designs instead? Or was that one taken already?).

Your writing style is convoluted, and rather painful to read. For instance:



"using a numerous number of languages"? Arrrrgg. How about: "I use several languages to create websites:" (although you might want to omit this whole section, as Rakuli mentioned)?

This post has been edited by MikeHopley: Apr 28 2008, 09:56 AM

Thanks alot Mike for this detailed critique, it is exactly what I am looking for, I know my english isn't the best, well when I say that it is pretty no existant for a professional view.

Is there any chance you can help me go through my pages and help me with the content? because this is my main struggle, and lets my website down the most. I wasn't sure what to write at all, and I definately need help in that department, so is there a way you can help me through this? either by here, or if you have msn that would be even better.

PM me if you can, I am really desperate, thanks alot.

Craig

I'm going to go ahead and comment a bit more on the design.

2 column designs for portfolio's are somewhat useless unless you plan on putting some news items that could be better displayed in the sidebar.

So with that in mind, I would go with a 1 column design. Notice from the css mania site, that's what alot of your competitors are doing.

If you don't have that much content, then let your design(s) do the talking. Get inspired by these

http://www.soasdesign.com/
http://nataliaventre.com/
http://www.pouzada.com/
http://www.guilhermemedeiros.com.br/index.php?html=true#html
etc....

And as you are starting up, create some themes and put them in your portfolio

Hope this helps.

I like it, its a massive improvement on the original congrats.

As for changes.

- Cartoon. Level out the eyes if you plan to keep it.
- Add a background of some description, the white doesn't do much for the design.
- On the services page, indent the list and change the default list style to something else.
- You current portfolio is a little uninspired. I second what Karinne is saying.
- Remove the 'coming soon' on the blog page and put something there.
- For the contact page, have you got a phone number, skype or some other form of contact apart from contact. I think you will find that you will get much more work if people can actually speak to you.

All minor things. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Hi,

Thanks alot for everyones opinions, it is much appreciated as I want my website to look the best it possibly can be. I am going to create page by page at the moment, and then make sure that is fully ok then move on, the main question I want to know is:

Should I continue with this two column webpage look? or shall I just make it into one? its just with the one it looked rather bare when content was added.

It is completely up to you.

I see little wrong with the two column layout. At the same time with some creative thinking a single column layout can serve your purposes just as well.

Like Jason said, it's up to you. I posted some links for you to check out from website that have the 1 column thing going VERY well for them.

Something to think about... if you are not comfortable writing, put less of it on your site. Those links I posted is all about that. Show more of your talent

I'd like to, but it would just take too much time.

I don't mind giving a few tips, but what you're now asking for is complete professional-standard copywriting for free. Such charity has a tendency to become open-ended...

Sorry. Still, you can at least get friends and family to look over your content; and this would doubtless improve the quality dramatically. Although I'm better, they're free.

This post has been edited by MikeHopley: Apr 29 2008, 07:33 AM

Another fine example of less is better

http://www.alexcohaniuc.com/

I think this is also another very good point. Stuff ending in z instead s are rarely taken seriously as portfolios domain names.

If you are struggling to find a way to fill up this page and are tossing in things just to take up space, I would suggest a super skinny site that is centered. I love sites that are around 600 pixels in width. That is dramatic and solves the problem of repeating content just to fill up space.

http://www.guilhermemedeiros.com.br/index.php?html=true#html
Here's one example that Karinne gave you.
Here's my favorite example : http://www.mchoppe.com/portfolio_01.php

Thanks everyone for your input and advice, this is exactly what I am looking for, I will take in what you all have said, and today I will work on a differentish design, more in the idea region of what Linda is saying, making the website smaller in width, so this means less space for me to worry about filling.

So I will re-post within the today with my new design, which should be the best yet, fingers crossed.

Thanks again
Craig

thin may be the way to go .
check out this site: http://www.nikkibolton.com/

I think that's a good choice.. Not just because I suggested it either.
It will be stylish... ultra cool... and like you said, easier to fill up.

Since the background will be huge, select something awesome for it! If you need background resource sites, just yell.