2008 Site Under Development.. Critiques PLEASE

[Akash Rastogi]

I don't know if its just me but I think that the fonts on a website should look a bit more professional (except for the team logo or name). Also, the only other issue I see that has already been mentioned is the cramped feeling of the content. Just my opinion.

[Compnerd]

Originally Posted by XxMORTteam11xX

I don't know if its just me but I think that the fonts on a website should look a bit more professional (except for the team logo or name). Also, the only other issue I see that has already been mentioned is the cramped feeling of the content. Just my opinion.

What are more professional fonts. I am currently using Tahoma

[StevenB]

What are more professional fonts. I am currently using Tahoma

I think the reference about the fonts was to the yellow font in the logo, which was somewhat over-used before. Tahoma is fine for the body text, IMO.

FIRST has logo usage guidelines which describe how to use the official logo. There's also a version of the logo on a black background, which might look better on your site.

The page width is pretty good as it is. You usually don't want the content more than about 600 pixels wide, because that makes is difficult to read. I might make the links on the left a little smaller, and the body a little larger.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by Compnerd

What are more professional fonts. I am currently using Tahoma

The content was in a different font when I had made the comment. It was not in Tahoma, it was the same as the font of your team name in the heading of the page. Tahoma looks nice.

[Compnerd]

I realize that it needs to be in CSS, and i have been brushing up on my CSS, and just did the current one quickly.. I already have a half developed CSS version that looks the exact same

[jakk]

When it comes to websites, I love graphics. To make it look a little more professional make "killer graphics". By "killer graphics" I mean use today's popular graphics techniques.

- Glass (like Windows Vista)
- Reflections
- Gradients

The sidebar is kinda big. Those are just notices and should be made smaller. The content should take up the main portion of the page.

Make the top banner clickable and direct it to your homepage. This is almost standard (even though you have a link called "HOME")

Within the main pages (like Media, About, Team) you should have a sub navigation to further break down the sections. For example, under Media you would have a page for photos, one for banners, and one for videos.

Feel free to take a look at our team's website. (see below). Hope this helps.

[Compnerd]

I redesigned all the images. I don't have the ability for the "mirror" image. Let me know what you think with the new images.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Compnerd

I redesigned all the images. I don't have the ability for the "mirror" image. Let me know what you think with the new images.

What image editing software are you using? To make the mirror effect, all you do is copy and flip the text upside down, and give it a gradient fill going from about 60-70% opacity at the top to 0% at the bottom.

[Compnerd]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

What image editing software are you using? To make the mirror effect, all you do is copy and flip the text upside down, and give it a gradient fill going from about 60-70% opacity at the top to 0% at the bottom.

I am using Fireworks

[SamC]

I didn't do it exactly like Art explained, but the same basic concept of copying the part you want and then inverting it and placing it below the original, making it look "mirrored".


The example would be the text.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Compnerd

I am using Fireworks

I use Fireworks too, and my version is the 2002 release.

Here's a sample image of what you can accomplish in Fireworks.



And here is a link to the editable version that you can download and open in Fireworks, to change colors, fonts, etc. to learn about the mirror effect: (http://adutra.team228.org/files/samp..._Fireworks.png)

Apple usually has a lot of mirror effects for text and images on their website, and software. (Cover Flow in iTunes!) Plus, Apple always seems to have a good grasp on balancing just enough gradients, glass effect, and mirrors to make everything look good. IMHO, Microsoft went too glass- and mirror- effect frenzy in Vista, but in the XP Royale themes they struck a good combination.

[Compnerd]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

I use Fireworks too, and my version is the 2002 release.

Here's a sample image of what you can accomplish in Fireworks.



And here is a link to the editable version that you can download and open in Fireworks, to change colors, fonts, etc. to learn about the mirror effect: (http://adutra.team228.org/files/samp..._Fireworks.png)

Apple usually has a lot of mirror effects for text and images on their website, and software. (Cover Flow in iTunes!) Plus, Apple always seems to have a good grasp on balancing just enough gradients, glass effect, and mirrors to make everything look good. IMHO, Microsoft went too glass- and mirror- effect frenzy in Vista, but in the XP Royale themes they struck a good combination.

Hey Thanks for that. Now I understand what you mean. It looks better than what i had.

[Compnerd]

Well, I recoded a whole lot, and it's much different now than before. I am aware of some spacing issues, and would really appreciate comments

[SamC]

The site looks really good. The new header image is really clean looking. There are only a few things I would fix (Some of these may fall into your 'spacing issues' category, but I will say them anyway.):

• The main table looks like it is about 10-20pixels too wide. Make it shorter so that it 'meshes' with the header images in width.
• I would change the white edge around your header image to transparent or just make it the same color as your background
• Some of the menu buttons have text that looks "pixelated"

Everything else looks really good! Keep it up!

[TheOtherGuy]

It's looking a lot better than when I first saw it!
I would suggest fixing the buttons (pixelated, mentioned above) and either removing the black border from the bottom half or putting one around the top (probably the latter, the border looks good).
I would also suggest making the whole thing as close to 800px as possible, so that people like my geezer dad can be content

Other than that, keep up the good work! It's looking nice!