OK Chaps, don't be too harsh...
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That's an excellent response, thanks very much. As you see from posts from other members there is a little more design to go into it, but generally I am pleased with what I have achieved in a short time. Thanks also for the hex numbers for the blue and yellow, I agree it would be better if it were a match to the Owl Logo colours. Two follow up questions, if I may. 1) Why not use named colours in CSS? 2) You say the title is 'Sub Optimal', but please clarify, which part, the style or the wording, The Right Move is the company logo as found on their letterheads. Cheers
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
No problem, I tend to write websites exactly like an engineer, so when it comes to design I rely on design-tools (like those in my OP) a lot to get nice(r) results. 1) White is normally OK, but there are only a few defined colours (by the standards body, the w3c) hex is the only reliable solution see :http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colornames.asp[^], the bits at either of the end of the colour table are most important. 2) The pastel blue thingymjig running along the top saying "Bellcross Homes - The Right Move" written in a font I'd describe as "Flintstone1992" :-) It's just ugly, and would be better replaced with something a bit simpler/cleaner in a colour complementary to the logo. There is also a CSS validator http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/[^], this used to be on the same page....
Dalek Dave: There are many words that some find offensive, Homosexuality, Alcoholism, Religion, Visual Basic, Manchester United, Butter. Pete o'Hanlon: If it wasn't insulting tools, I'd say you were dumber than a bag of spanners.
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That's a bit rich coming from a CP member with it's Orange and Greens! :)
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Dalek Dave wrote:
Orange and Greens
Really, are you trying to blow up my head? I've just learned to ignore those colors, thanks for reminding me! To be honest I don't know s*it about design, but please use yellow as less as possible. And don't use CP design as source of inspiration for any of your future websites.
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No problem, I tend to write websites exactly like an engineer, so when it comes to design I rely on design-tools (like those in my OP) a lot to get nice(r) results. 1) White is normally OK, but there are only a few defined colours (by the standards body, the w3c) hex is the only reliable solution see :http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colornames.asp[^], the bits at either of the end of the colour table are most important. 2) The pastel blue thingymjig running along the top saying "Bellcross Homes - The Right Move" written in a font I'd describe as "Flintstone1992" :-) It's just ugly, and would be better replaced with something a bit simpler/cleaner in a colour complementary to the logo. There is also a CSS validator http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/[^], this used to be on the same page....
Dalek Dave: There are many words that some find offensive, Homosexuality, Alcoholism, Religion, Visual Basic, Manchester United, Butter. Pete o'Hanlon: If it wasn't insulting tools, I'd say you were dumber than a bag of spanners.
Woo Hoo! Full CSS Validation, so I can do something right! Ah, so that is why Hex not Name. I never knew that about the browsers showing different colours for the same name.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Dalek Dave wrote:
Orange and Greens
Really, are you trying to blow up my head? I've just learned to ignore those colors, thanks for reminding me! To be honest I don't know s*it about design, but please use yellow as less as possible. And don't use CP design as source of inspiration for any of your future websites.
Mladen Jankovic wrote:
And don't use CP design as source of inspiration for any of your future websites.
I'll pass your advice onto the CP team, I am sure Chris will send round the 'Enforcer Hamsters'! :)
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Don't mean to be dismissive because I've created a few (poor) sites myself, but you can see now why Graphic Artist has become a real career. Andy B
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Don't mean to be dismissive because I've created a few (poor) sites myself, but you can see now why Graphic Artist has become a real career. Andy B
That's my problem, I am not gifted in the Arts or Design areas, so I have to rely on my limited abilites.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Plenty work left for you to do including colours as Mark (Digital Man) and others have suggested and the small matter of confirming that you are not stepping on the toes of www.rightmove.co.uk[^] by use of that name in your LogoHeader. The single page PDF at 543 KB is interesting, but you might consider that a full multi-page brochure in glorious colour might be a far too larger download.
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Plenty work left for you to do including colours as Mark (Digital Man) and others have suggested and the small matter of confirming that you are not stepping on the toes of www.rightmove.co.uk[^] by use of that name in your LogoHeader. The single page PDF at 543 KB is interesting, but you might consider that a full multi-page brochure in glorious colour might be a far too larger download.
Bellcross has been around since the 60's, so they should be suing Rightmove. The multi page PDF Brochure will be done by house type, so it wouldn't be a single download, and yes, I have had PDF woes before. Sometimes you can grow a full beard waiting for them to load.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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1)Yellow/Blue are the company colours. 2)I will adapt. 3)I will check out the white background. 4)A bit of padding should fix that. 5)Hmmm... probably 6)Not sure how to do that easily. 7)Thumbnailed with PAINT. But thanks, things to think about.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Paint is a free MS product. This means that even they don't have the cheek to charge for it! Quality is not it's strong point... Some people swear by GIMP - open source and fully functional. I use Paint Shop Pro 9 (The last version before Corel murdered bought it.) Cheaper than Photoshop, and a lot of people think better, too. Can still be found new for less than a nights beer!
Did you know: That by counting the rings on a tree trunk, you can tell how many other trees it has slept with.
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That's my problem, I am not gifted in the Arts or Design areas, so I have to rely on my limited abilites.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
It's a very decent effort in that case, better than I've ever managed, but it's obvious that you already know the missing ingredient. Andy B
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
As others have mentioned your blue and yellow shades make it hard to read the text. I would suggest trying out some combinations on visibone colorlab/[^] until you come up with blue and yellow shades that contrast well.
Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes -
Mladen Jankovic wrote:
And don't use CP design as source of inspiration for any of your future websites.
I'll pass your advice onto the CP team, I am sure Chris will send round the 'Enforcer Hamsters'! :)
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
I think they're well aware of that and their official policy is "yeah, we know our design sucks, so what!"
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Well, I'm no arteest and it takes me an absolute age to design something half decent but. As others have said, yellow on blue is painful to look at, just because they are the company colours it doesn't mean that they need to be used for everything. Because the colours clash so badly, you probably want to pick a either yellow or blue as your primary colour and then garnish the page with the other colour, but try to keep it simple. Ideally you want to use as few colours as possible (different shades are generally OK though) and limit yourself to a couple of fonts. For t'internet it's usually better to stick to sans-serif fonts as they're easier on the eyes, and only change font and/or colour when it's really necessary; titles for example might want to be a different font or in italics, but remember to be consistent. Well, that's all I got.
My current favourite quote is: Punch them in the face, see what happens!
-SK Genius
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
I ran your website in two browsers (IE and Opera) and the output looked very similar so the styling seems to be working correctly. However, as mentioned by all others, the blue and yellow really "suck" together. You also might need to consider consistent colors (and fonts) across the application. That would make the site a little boring but maybe easier to read.
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
This might just be a matter of business style, however, I'd like to see the phone number of a sales office immediately beneath the company name and maybe display some model home addresses on the first page so people can "get in" and "get out [the door]" and chase after some spec houses if need be. I've done work for home builders myself. Are you by chance linking this site to any existing business software, just curious? I also think that buyers see right past any style issues with fonts or colors and would be more impressed by seeing stats on the company's home construction and warranty closure times if they are something to brag about. Hope this helps.
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This might just be a matter of business style, however, I'd like to see the phone number of a sales office immediately beneath the company name and maybe display some model home addresses on the first page so people can "get in" and "get out [the door]" and chase after some spec houses if need be. I've done work for home builders myself. Are you by chance linking this site to any existing business software, just curious? I also think that buyers see right past any style issues with fonts or colors and would be more impressed by seeing stats on the company's home construction and warranty closure times if they are something to brag about. Hope this helps.
It is still under construction, I am just putting a framework together at this point in time. There will be full facts about the company in the ABOUT US section, showing all details plus memberships of NHBC for example. There will a link to brochures once I receive them, and a page of architectural and engineering drawings.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
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Paint is a free MS product. This means that even they don't have the cheek to charge for it! Quality is not it's strong point... Some people swear by GIMP - open source and fully functional. I use Paint Shop Pro 9 (The last version before Corel murdered bought it.) Cheaper than Photoshop, and a lot of people think better, too. Can still be found new for less than a nights beer!
Did you know: That by counting the rings on a tree trunk, you can tell how many other trees it has slept with.
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
I have read about the colors. I notice though that the colors do not match the logo. Perhaps the darker yellow of the logo and the darker might make it a little less neon looking. The Blue they use in the PDF is much nicer and friendly on the eyes. Another thing you might think about is a small grey (or dark blue) border (like 1px) on top and of the yellow on the menu and one the top of the bottom yellow, might give enough separation to help the eyes not tweek out. On the menu, you might add a little padding to the top and bottom of the menu text so that it gives a little more room for the yees. The Yellow on blue might also work better if you put the menu text in bold. I agree with others about the title though, the graphic image does not look clean and it adds yet another font to the layout. It might also work better to have a little more white space on top and bottom of the logo and perhaps move the "Bellcress Homes - The Right Move" into two lines on top of each other such as: Bellcross Homes The Right Move It might also look good with a small one pixel border around the entire window, or perhaps a couple pixel border on the right and bottom to give it a shadow and make it stand out from the grey background. I would also add some white space around the text int he blue frame, it helps the looks fi the text is not crammed next to a border. White space is your friend :) Just some thoughts..
Rocky <>< Recent Blog Post: The Arrogant Apple!
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
Dave - as you aren't a graphic designer, I'd advise you to look at pre-existing web templates. Also, take a look at Kuler[^] to try to get complementary colours. And please, pick a sans-serif font.
"WPF has many lovers. It's a veritable porn star!" - Josh Smith
As Braveheart once said, "You can take our freedom but you'll never take our Hobnobs!" - Martin Hughes.
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Clickity[^] I have been working on this for about 4 hours now, and have uploaded for your constructive criticism. Obviously I still have a lot to do, upload the Architectural drawings and site plans, and the gallery will need to be done over the course of the next few days, but does it look ok?
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave
I was going to write up some suggestions but decided making a copy of the page and changing it to reflect my suggestions might be clearer - so here you go[^]. That was just a quickie redesign mostly done via Firebug, Firefox, and Paint.NET, so it is not up to par with something I might do given more time. If you like it, I'll email you the HTML - but be warned, I used inline style and there will other be cleanup to do as well. Some additional suggestions if you like it: get some pictures of houses, cut them out, and put them in the righthand corner of the header, so the background looks like it's blue sky behind them. Get the company's marketing dept to give you more content to better fill the page, and reduce the font size of the body text.
