Jocelyn McAuley on sat 22 sep 01
Hi Joanne,
Congrats on getting a web site going.
I have several suggestions for you, (critic disclaimer: these are just
things that I see as a person who is very familiar with web pages. And
they are just suggestions, doesn't mean one person is right and another
person is wrong, I just happen to feel a bit forward on this topic right
now!)
-the first *big* one being to check out your web site using different
browsers. Using Explorer (version 5) may come as a rather large surprise
to you... none of your homepage graphics work, as well as any of your
other pages!
- my next suggestion is to be cautious with your use of background
images that fall under your text (as in your home page). I understand
that you want to have your work splashed large and everywhere on your page
(really I do!), but it causes the problem of not being able to "see" your
words/ categories/ what you are saying very easily. I particularly have to
work at reading your black text.
There are a couple ways around this...
1. You could just focus on one image of your tile under water: have a
flat background of color, with your gecko tile in the upper left hand
corner of your page, attached to your company name and description.
2. You could keep your home page as it is, but have evey text part of it
be in an area/ a box of flat color, and let your tile colors frame
this text box. Not sure if I am describing this one well. Another
way to look at it is to imagine a piece of stationary you find in the
store (remember that stuff before email?). Think of the pretty ones
with pictures of things on it... notice they keep the pictures to the
perimeter, where there is likely to be no text. The middle is usually
muted down, *so that we can read our words*.
3. Continuing with looking at stationary... you could keep your geckos
all over your home page, but simply mute down the ones in the middle
by tweeking your image in photoshop and creating another image that is
easy to read text on.
- your large text used through out your web site is anti-aliased, which
leads to the problem of all those little specks that show up around your
letters and graphics. In photoshop you can specify your graphics to be
aliased, which will clean up this problem.
- your images of your work are great. They're bright, focused, and load
fast.
- having that navigation bar on the bottom of all your pages is great.
- I like how you incorporate your fish tiles into your graphics on your
home page.
- don't put an "under construction" sign on your web site. It lends a
very unprofessional look to your hard work. Why should this even be
there? Write you answer to that question (if it really is pertinant,
instead), ex: check back for exciting updates; next week new reptile
series, etc.
- the overall index you have on your "about us" page would be great to
have on every page of your web site to aid navigation between sections.
This is a great start.
Good luck with your site.
--
Jocelyn McAuley ><<'> jocie@worlddomination.net
Eugene, Oregon
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