Review : laramyk.com

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 11:17 AM

Hey guys,

This is my first try at this Web design thing. I would love to have some comments from the experts. I've been working this site for about 5 months now. There are some things I would now do differently, having learned a lot along the way. But for the most part I am happy with it. Finally starting to get some good SERP eventhough my PR is still low. User response has also been very good. FYI: I used mostly Photoshop and GoLive. Please, be as picky as you like. I have fairly thick skin and I'm willing to learn. Feel free to look at design, code (probably not good, since I did it graphically), optimization, content, etc.

http://www.laramyk.com

Thanks a bunch,

Keith

raciviusdawn · 10-20-2003, 11:29 AM

Sup and welcome!

The alignment is weird in my browser as if the entire thing is pushed way to the left....I like some of the colors in there but the could be a bit more lively I guess....

The header could also be a bit clearer..it's a shade too blurry...or that might be my eyes lol....

But hey you really shouldn't design completely in PS for a site ya know..it can be done but hardly something you want to make common practice out of ya know...

Use tables for those images or slice them up and arrange them accordingly but using PS completely is kinda bad ya know.

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 11:43 AM

Thanks for the input. That was the alignment I chose. I really didn't think there was anything weird about it at the time. I think I tried a center alignment but it looked weird to me because of the page shading that I did.

The muted colors are part of a corporate identity thing. Probably not what I would have chosen, but to keep things consistent...

So you think I was a bit over-zealous on the graphics optimization? I was very worried about load times since there are so many graphic elements on the page (one of the things I would have done differently).

Not sure what you are getting at about the graphics slicing. I thought they were pretty sliced up ...and no, I didn't know desiging in PS was kinda bad.

Thanks again

raciviusdawn · 10-20-2003, 11:52 AM

No problem...making a site entirely out of images and what not is hell on dial up users ya know...the background shadow effect can still be achieved with simple table attributes instead of using a PS image...of course I don't know how but some others might...

did you also use photoshop for links as well?? and used a simple image map to link to the URL?

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 12:01 PM

Ah yes, Ok I agree completely. I did use PS and imagemaps for the menu text. Which is something else I would now do differently. But I still seem to have ended up with a reasonable page size.

Still not clear on the table/slicing suggestion though.

raciviusdawn · 10-20-2003, 12:13 PM

well when you do an image/template in PS then you can open to Image Ready and slice it up...meaning an entire template in PS can be sliced into a header, side nav bar, body...etc....once this is done you can easily just insert these into a table layout so that the text is really text and not text images....

but hey, i'm no expert at all..just giving what i've found out from my own experience with web layouts and design...the site you have looks good but may not be so in the eyes of our fellow dial up users ..or even on other browsers...

but don't fret as this is not saying your design work isn't good because it is good...

edbarton · 10-20-2003, 12:29 PM

Did you design it in 800x600 it is quite tiny on a 1024x768 resolution. I agree about the centering thing.

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 12:31 PM

Yes I designed it for 800x600.

You agree meaning that you think it should be centered too?

Pretend · 10-20-2003, 12:50 PM

I think it should be centered and in the middle of the page(height wise). The image quality looks kinda bad and you should look into the slices, it'll make it where everything loads as a seperate image (each slice will be saved as a seperate imgae) so that the page will load quicker.

Rob · 10-20-2003, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digiteyes

Yes I designed it for 800x600.

You agree meaning that you think it should be centered too?

I think he does. And so do I

SVB · 10-20-2003, 01:54 PM

Loads in about 15/20secs on my 56K modem

PhilC · 10-20-2003, 04:52 PM

If it's your first design, it is excellent! - very impressive! Many people who have been making website for years can't do as well as that - I know - I'm one of them.

Just one minor observation:-
Wouldn't it be possible to keep the style of the front page (the curved border to the left column) on the inner pages? There's nothing wrong with the way you've done it but it surprised me when a different shape came up on an inner page.

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 04:59 PM

Yes it is my first. Thanks for the complement.

Excellent point about the front page. I really did want to carry the design to the other pages, unfortunately the content extends past the screen on most of the back pages and I just couldn't come up with a way to make it work. At the same time I wanted to at least keep that design on the front page since the page layout is supposed to be representative of a bifocal lens... keeping with the theme of the site.

AcRoNym · 10-20-2003, 07:52 PM

yeah its small @1024

Digiteyes · 10-20-2003, 08:32 PM

Well, if you've got a fixed design for 800x600 whadya gonna do? It's gonna look small on a large screen resolution. Better than not fitting on an 800x600 (which much of my target audience is using I'm afraid).

I played around with the alignment. Maybe I'm weird, or maybe I've been looking at it for too long ...or maybe both, but I just don't like it centered. The left edge doesn't look right. Perhaps if I added a backgound color ...but that would mess up my PS shadows on the outside. <sigh>

PhilC · 10-21-2003, 03:20 AM

A lot of people use 800x600, especially people in offices and even when they have big monitors. Unfortunately, we still have to design for 800.