review webpage design / color scheme

funguru · 07-25-2006, 06:12 PM

hi.. just a few hours back i had posted m logo and now have done the webpage.. please have a look and give me your valuable suggestions.

please keep in mind that this website is aimed at females shopping age between 20-40.

i know the design is very simple and is missing that something which will really make it shine, so please show me what i can do to pep it up..

thanks..

**chicgeek** · 07-25-2006, 07:02 PM

Too many colours! Choose a palette of 1-3 hues and work with them. It's the first thing I notice. I would say even the red and blue could work very well together for a place that sells snowboards. The red is taken from your shiny new logo.

Don't box everything up and add backgroun colours. I'd say get rid of the pink and yellow backgrounds - they splash around too many colours and provide unneeded divisions in the page. Divisions make a page look crowded.

The add to cart and sigh up buttons should fit your design. I would actually base them around the same colours that the shopping cart uses. Maybe experiment with using a similar but less stylistic font than that of your logo.

The header and footer: Arial all caps make it look silly again. Play with this.

There's a lot of work to do to give it a cleaner, more professional page. Just be consistent with your choices throughout the page. We'll help ya through.

funguru · 07-25-2006, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicgeek

There's a lot of work to do to give it a cleaner, more professional page. Just be consistent with your choices throughout the page. We'll help ya through.

your right, but there is a problem.. i am improving a existing template so i cant do much except change colors etc.. i dont no css otherwise i would have an open hand in designing..

i guess i need to do some more experiment with colors.... it would be great if you can show me some sample of the colors ur talking about.. thanks for the review though

**kristeejo** · 07-25-2006, 08:02 PM

go to download.com and download a free color wheel. that will help you match your colors

**chicgeek** · 07-25-2006, 08:23 PM

CSS is worth the reading up on, even if it takes a week or two. It will VASTLY ease the creation and unification of your site.

The colours that I would choose from what your already have...

- the turquoise blue. It's a girl's site for sport stuff and it's very appropriate. Use it for a background as you have it.
- the red in your logo. That family would look great as the link colours.
- you should also choose a colour for the title of the product such as "arbor draft". Make this text slightly larger. My suggestion is to use the darker blue that you have near the top. It is the same family as the brighter blue, but the slight difference sets it apart. That way you're not adding a whole new hue - instead you're using a variation of the turquoise. Alternately, you cold experiment by adding one more colour, such as a version of that lime green. Experiment, but be careful - don't overuse tertiary colours. I don't know, it might look horrible, but try it out.

Primary - turquoise
Secondary - red
(Tertiary - lime)

Again, the above are all suggestions.

BinkyMelnik · 07-25-2006, 10:09 PM

funguru:

I'm with Laura, though I'd be tempted to go with turquoise and lime as both are hipper, younger colors, and red's, uh, not. (And it's hard on the eyes, so you wanna use it sparingly.)

You know that for high-ticket-ish items like this, people are gonna wanna larger view, right? Have you made plans for that ("Click to see larger version")? In an ideal world, they'd get a Flash window in which they could tip the thing 360 degrees in all directions to check it out all over.

You've got a decent start, though.

funguru · 07-26-2006, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BinkyMelnik

You know that for high-ticket-ish items like this, people are gonna wanna larger view, right? Have you made plans for that ("Click to see larger version")? In an ideal world, they'd get a Flash window in which they could tip the thing 360 degrees in all directions to check it out all over.

You've got a decent start, though.

oh.. i wont be selling surf boards.. that was just for demo . I will be selling scarfs / wraps etc.. i do have a "click to zoom" kinda thing.

i am trying to improve on the colors but have a writers block right now

BinkyMelnik · 07-26-2006, 01:43 AM

funguru:

Quote:

I will be selling scarfs / wraps etc

Ah; in that case, you'll not wanna go with the sporty color scheme (unless the scarves are sporty, I spose).

Assuming the scarves are colorful, you know what you might do? Consider a monochrome look with a single color in it. Frex, use graphite, black, and white for your color scheme, and then select a single highlight color, like fuschia, or a rich peach, or mauve. If you have a very bright site, the scarves might look a little drab by comparison.

Just a thought.

Quote:

i do have a "click to zoom" kinda thing

Yay! Good for you! Those always help. It can be difficult buying stuff on the net if you can't get a good look. If you overcome that hurdle, then you're ahead of lots of other folks.

funguru · 07-26-2006, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BinkyMelnik

Assuming the scarves are colorful, you know what you might do? Consider a monochrome look with a single color in it. Frex, use graphite, black, and white for your color scheme, and then select a single highlight color, like fuschia, or a rich peach, or mauve. If you have a very bright site, the scarves might look a little drab by comparison.

my scarves are colorful, some are bright and some sober but colorful.. the reason why i was going for a colorful websit coz it would give a feeling of a "happy" site rather then a plain website. what do you think?

**chicgeek** · 07-26-2006, 05:58 AM

Well, in that case, to make your product pop.... I wouldn't necessarily go with the brights or the greys. Maybe choose just the one colour and variations of it. That way everything is that hue except for the product. Here is a horrible example, but it shows how the page is monochrome blue and any graphics I use in the content pop natually.

Play around. We'll be watching you.

JuggoPop · 07-26-2006, 08:15 AM

I like it as is.
call me strange if you will.

**chicgeek** · 07-26-2006, 08:18 AM

You're strange.

JuggoPop · 07-26-2006, 08:32 AM

I knew it was coming.

funguru · 07-26-2006, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicgeek

Well, in that case, to make your product pop.... I wouldn't necessarily go with the brights or the greys. Maybe choose just the one colour and variations of it. That way everything is that hue except for the product.

still working on it... am i going in the right direction??? is this better?

BinkyMelnik · 07-26-2006, 04:32 PM

funguru:

Quote:

still working on it... am i going in the right direction???

You got at least seven shades of blue there, three of which clash with the others. To save us from beating our heads on our desks, you've decided you're gonna go with extreme brights and lotsa colors? (Tell us now to save us from ruining our manicures typing, kay?)

funguru · 07-26-2006, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BinkyMelnik

You got at least seven shades of blue there, three of which clash with the others. To save us from beating our heads on our desks, you've decided you're gonna go with extreme brights and lotsa colors? (Tell us now to save us from ruining our manicures typing, kay?)

is this any better? got it straight from the ivillage theme colors...

BinkyMelnik · 07-26-2006, 05:24 PM

funguru:

I personally hate those colors, but that's because I'm just not into the whole autumn thing.

But yes: aside from the yellow part and the blue button, which doesn't fit the layout (and never did) and the purple button with the yellow background, you're on the right track now. It no longer looks as if a box of paints threw up! :-)

**watley** · 07-26-2006, 05:41 PM

The more muted autumn palette is definitely more suitable for the kind of site you describe.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of navigation menus placed flush against the to