JoeMBlair site design - General

I'm doing a website design for my personal site. Nothing is working right now it's just a mock up and I'm wondering what you people think? [url]http://joemblair.com/test/[/url] [editline]Edit:[/editline] [url]http://joemblair.com/[/url] The site is now fully functioning, just need to add content. Thoughts on the final design?

I really like the masking tape navigation bar, it looks good The grassy background hurts my eyes, it also draws too much attention away from your actual content. I would consider changing it to something more neutral. It is really hard to get high-detailed background tiles to work without looking tacky, especially if it's a professional portfolio (I'm not sure if you're going for that but if you are I would definitely opt for a more simple site so the attention is focused on your photography) The colours you've chosen in general are really glaringly bright, if you do keep the grass (If you really wanted to keep it I would use a more zoomed in shot) I would change the header's (neon) green to one of the darker greens from the grass just to tie it in better with the background. Also, I kind of hate the canvas texture you've used, it doesn't look good: it kind of looks kid-ish next to the photos you've got there. Another thing to consider is moving your layout about, (especially if this is a portfolio site) I would definately move your photographs up on the page because at the moment you have to scroll down to see them which is not good (if this is a portfoliio site). (I'm not sure if it is...) I'm also not a fan of your signature (I doubt you'd change it though but) it has a very childish look and it honestly doesn't fit your photographs. Well, er sorry for the downer but happy creating.

Use a colour chart, right now I couldn't be on the site for very long, there is very little negative space, and too much contrast. It really throws off the balance. Nice ideas though, and with some small tweaks it will look nice.

I've taken some of your ideas into consideration and here's a [url=http://joemblair.com/test2/]updated version[/url], it's a bit slow to load for now since I haven't sorted the images out properly.

Looks much better now, might I suggest a sketchy style underline for the links rather than circling them? I feel the red of the circle doesn't work either. Either way, it looks a lot better now, plus I understand it's not finished.

Ok it's been updated what do you think now? [url]http://joemblair.com/test2/[/url]

Big improvement! The colours have improved vastly C:. The canvas texture is much nicer The background looks much better blank than it does with the planks though ( I saw it blank when it was loading), it draws the attention directly to the content- if you feel it's too blank, maybe add a more neutral texture like paint on a door or plaster, something like that. You don't need the coloured rough boxes under the text, it looks messy and I would make those photographs bigger, maybe even varying in sizes, overlapping because you're sort of going for the 'look it's my desk!' look. Also, the text, it might look better if it was is horizontal rectangular paragraphs (one ontop of the other instead of the square ones- this layout would separate it visually (impression wise)from the images. I still have to disagree with your header though, your watercolur effect looks fake. Look at this for example: [img]http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2168664/2/istockphoto_2168664-watercolor-in-shades-of-green.jpg[/img] The pigment gathers at the edges, I also think just having one shade of green makes it boring, maybe add some blue to the edges or different shades of green in the middle.

I've taken some of your suggestions into action and here's updated version. [url]http://joemblair.com/test2/[/url]

Much better again, by the way, are those some of your photos?

[QUOTE=Smeetin;24191133]Much better again, by the way, are those some of your photos?[/QUOTE] Yes they are.

Updated the [url=http://joemblair.com/test2/]front page[/url] and did a quick [url=http://joemblair.com/test2/photo.html]gallery page[/url]

I think you should go for a more simplistic style, as an example, use colours from the city picture.

I like the layout for the front page better. You've darkened the canvas so it looks like it just blends in with the background paper which doesn't look as good, perhaps you should brighten up the canvas. The colour of the homebar now looks too muted, I prefer the black and red from before. Is this going to serve as your portfolio site for potential clients?

Yea I wasn't really sure about the menubar colours either and I didn't darken the canvas must of been a problem when I had to recopy it. Yea it will serve as my portfolio site for potential clients. [url]http://joemblair.com/test2/[/url] [url]http://joemblair.com/test2/photo.html[/url]

It's time I taught you about [URL="http://home.tiscali.nl/developerscorner/fdc-varia/font-embedding.htm"]@font-face[/URL].

What, why are you showing me this?

I now have under constructing page. [url]http://joemblair.com/[/url]

[url]http://joemblair.com/[/url] The site is now fully functioning, just need to add content. Thoughts on the final design?

It's alright but loaded slow on my iPhone. Also, another Glaspuncher!