My Site (Constructive Criticism please).

[Karrit]

I need soem constructive criticism on the new layout of my website:

Celestial-Star Productions

[andyroo]

I don't have much time to look through some of the pages of your web site, but from what I saw on the front page it looks good. This may just be my personal preference, but you mayb want to get rid of the frames and just make them into tables. It depends on the person though. Your web site looks very well done and has that profesional (no time to correct spelling) look to it.

[SMoonEmpress]

Wow, I really like the layout, actually! Hmm...let's see though. Constructive criticism...
I think using black as your font color in the updates frame looks kind of ackward. I'd probably use that blue or purple color instead...I'm also not a huge fan of Times New Roman as the font. Also, on your links page all of your links open up in that frame. You probably meant for them to open up in a new window.

Otherwise I really like it! It's a nice and clean layout--very easy to find your way around. And wow...you can really draw... (*.*)

[MyrrhLynn]

Wow! Your site is really cute! As for my criticism... humm... if this is a site that you are going to have potential customers look at I think you may want to change a few things. Have you written one of those "official boring resumes"? If you don't want to put it online (and I can understand this cause I don't want to put mine on my website) you should offer to e-mail it to people.

Plus if this is a site people come to wanting webdesign you should get rid of some of the extra stuff on the main page. I am sort of stumped as to how you will do this but I am sure you can come up with something.

I agree that your art looks great. Maybe you could make your layout incorporate some of your art more? All is all this site is great if it is just for friends looking at or people online but if you plan to have area businesses looking at it you will need to de-anime it. Which basically means de-fun it (I had to do the same thing to mine and I HATED IT) but my experience is that anime has a tendency to scare away potential clients. Oh and putting up examples of other websites you have made is a MUST! The way people can see how great you are.

[Mithrandir]

I need soem constructive criticism on the new layout of my website

OK. Let's get on the same page here. You've asked for criticism, and I used to evaluate sites for a living. (In case you wanted to know why I'm saying some of this stuff). Translation: I’m going to nit pick the site. Some of this will come across as mean, but I assure you I’m only point to faults in the site, not you! This is stuff that I've learned the hard way over the last 8+ years that I've been building sites. The overall look of the site appears fairly fluid, but that's not the only thing to consider with a website. When designing a website you really have to keep your target audience in mind at all times. This site appears to have multiple targets, and none of them are really clear. I hit it once and briefly looked it over, and thought it was a personal website. The next time I hit it I went looking a little deeper and realized there was some kind of company idea behind part of it. If you truly wish to get jobs from this site, there are some things you might want to keep in mind.

1. Potential customers are looking for a site that shows them YOU can convey their message to the public. There are plenty of web designers out there, and they are all just a click away. Your site should show your skills, while at the same time proving to them you can get a point across efficiently and effectively, thus separating you from the majority of web builders out there.

2. As tempting as it is, don't try to mix business and personal stuff. This point reflects on point 1, actually. Personal sites tend to have a very different target audience, that being friends, family or potential web buddies. These people care about what is going on in your life, more often than potential customers. Create a separate site for each section. For freelance consultants, this is both really important and fairly tough.

3. Nuke the flashing banner ad. If you are getting $ from it that keeps the site going, at least create a separate site as mentioned above and move it to your personal section. It does it's job, meaning it's pretty much all I saw when I went to your site.

4. Nuke the frames. Despite what everyone else is doing, frames are not really the accepted norm as far as end users are concerned. iFrames are worse, because not all browsers render them correctly yet.

5. The navigation system should let the user know where they are at all times. Each button should take them to page that follows the same navigation structure. The forums and gallery buttons go to a new page that has no return feature. Again, if you create a different site for you personal stuff, that will most likely help eliminate this issue. You may also want to consider some kind of marker to let the user know where they are, perhaps a circle around their current location on the navigation bar.

6. All graphics should flow into/out of each other. The CSP graphic on the top contrasts sharply with the background. It may be that you need to frame it out some way to eliminate this issue.

7. Real estate is precious. You have lost (on my computer screen) roughly half of your usable space due to gaps on the left, right, center and bottom of the screen. You may want to rethink the fixed width bottom of the page. Again, eliminating frames may help with this.

8. Don’t clutter the front page. When someone hits a web page, they are going to leave if you don’t give them a reason to stay. If they know you, they have a reason; if they don’t know you, and they can’t figure out what your site is all about in 3-5 seconds, they probably won’t stick around. Mission statements are good, but they belong in an 'about' area.

9. People don’t want inexperience. If you don’t have a degree, don’t point that out. Build your resume around anything you have accomplished.

10. Decide if you want to present yourself as a consultant or a business and market yourself accordingly. Along these lines, don't switch person in your front page copy. IE, don't have your first paragraph refer to you as "her" and the second as "I".

Whew! I didn't intend to go on like that. Anyway, like I said, the information here reflects my opinion/experiance doing more or less what you state as your goal. Then again, I'm also a programmer by trade, so I've got some biases in that direction too.

HIH

[Karrit]

Thanks for the criticism, it's really appreicated. =)

But could you abridge it please, I love detail, but you've laid out so much to read.

I admit I must take your advice with a grain of salt, but you do make some very good points and haven pointed them out to me, I can see what you are getting at.

It's good to know the faults of my site, but what about the strengths? I find it's always much easier to sort things out when you know both pros and cons. True I want my site to look professional, but I also want it to keep a feel of who I am to keep from being boring.

I also do have a 'personal site' to showcase my stuff for friends, peers, etc.


[quote="oldphilosopher"]OK. Let's get on the same page here. You've asked for criticism, and I used to evaluate sites for a living. (In case you wanted to know why I'm saying some of this stuff). Translation: I’m going to nit pick the site. Some of this will come across as mean, but I assure you I’m only point to faults in the site, not you! This is stuff that I've learned the hard way over the last 8+ years that I've been building sites. The overall look of the site appears fairly fluid, but that's not the only thing to consider with a website. When designing a website you really have to keep your target audience in mind at all times. This site appears to have multiple targets, and none of them are really clear. I hit it once and briefly looked it over, and thought it was a personal website. The next time I hit it I went looking a little deeper and realized there was some kind of company idea behind part of it. If you truly wish to get jobs from this site, there are some things you might want to keep in mind.

1. Potential customers are looking for a site that shows them YOU can convey their message to the public. There are plenty of web designers out there, and they are all just a click away. Your site should show your skills, while at the same time proving to them you can get a point across efficiently and effectively, thus separating you from the majority of web builders out there.

2. As tempting as it is, don't try to mix business and personal stuff. This point reflects on point 1, actually. Personal sites tend to have a very different target audience, that being friends, family or potential web buddies. These people care about what is going on in your life, more often than potential customers. Create a separate site for each section. For freelance consultants, this is both really important and fairly tough.

3. Nuke the flashing banner ad. If you are getting $ from it that keeps the site going, at least create a separate site as mentioned above and move it to your personal section. It does it's job, meaning it's pretty much all I saw when I went to your site.

4. Nuke the frames. Despite what everyone else is doing, frames are not really the accepted norm as far as end users are concerned. iFrames are worse, because not all browsers render them correctly yet.

5. The navigation system should let the user know where they are at all times. Each button should take them to page that follows the same navigation structure. The forums and gallery buttons go to a new page that has no return feature. Again, if you create a different site for you personal stuff, that will most likely help eliminate this issue. You may also want to consider some kind of marker to let the user know where they are, perhaps a circle around their current location on the navigation bar.

6. All graphics should flow into/out of each other. The CSP graphic on the top contrasts sharply with the background. It may be that you need to frame it out some way to eliminate this issue.

7. Real estate is precious. You have lost (on my computer screen) roughly half of your usable space due to gaps on the left, right, center and bottom of the screen. You may want to rethink the fixed width bottom of the page. Again, eliminating frames may help with this.

8. Don’t clutter the front page. When someone hits a web page, they are going to leave if you don’t give them a reason to stay. If they know you, they have a reason]

[Karrit]

I'd like to apologize about my reponse to oldphilosopher's critique on my website. I took personal, which is very rude for an individual (especially a fellow Christian) to do. I know he was only pointing things out to aid me in making my site better.

I'd also like to apologize to the rest of you as well.

[Mithrandir]

Don't worry about me. You should see how some of my clients reacted. :O I probably could have packaged that with a bit more grace and saved you the anguish, however. I'm glad you aren't too offended with it, and hope it helps you out!

[Quiet Hood]

Like your site, I don't know, i have been fixing my own website and it's personal. I m sure you'll improve your site. Everyone's always tend to improve everytime they fix their website. Good luck to that.