World Beyblade Organization by Fighting Spirits Inc.

I am assuming that I should put this thread here because I made my site and the artwork.

So here goes, this is a little project I was working on for a little while. A very very basic website for my design work. I would like to introduce it to everybody here so as I can get your views and opinions on both my artwork and the website. As a designer, I'm fully open to criticism but I don't take bs. Constructive critism is welcome but if you just say my work sucks then your comments aren't welcome.

Anyway, the link is below, so let me know =D.

iType-Design

I'm going to be adding some more work soon so please bear with me. There is already quite a bit up so enjoy! Please also make sure you have Javascript enabled and Flash Player installed.

That's a really nice site and a good idea too. I love your designs. I don't really have any criticism........sorry. ^^;

Oh, but you used Comic Sans. That killed me inside.

(Mar. 24, 2009  7:46 PM)Rocky Wrote: [ -> ]Oh, but you used Comic Sans. That killed me inside.

How do you mean? I wanted to use a font that isn't common on websites. It makes it look a bit more exciting rather than just seeing the bog standard stuff all the time.

It's really just a personal thing, lol. I happen to hate Comic Sans because it's what all my homework sheets were/are typed up in. ^^; It didn't look quite so bad in that colour though......

Personally I think the choice of Comic Sans for the font makes the site appear really unprofessional. :\

Nice, your work is wonderful.
I havn't seen any of your other stuff apart from on beyuk so it was supprising to me that you did that kin of thing.

Oh, I forgot, I added you on dA as well. Some nice stuff there.

I'm not sure what image you were trying to convey btw. I thought the site was really nice but it didn't exactly seem formal. I guess you need to decide whether you wanna come off a little jokey to prospective clients or not?

I like the choice of Comic Sans. I wouldn't be able to think of another font for that site! Great Job!

(Mar. 24, 2009  8:10 PM)Roan Wrote: [ -> ]Personally I think the choice of Comic Sans for the font makes the site appear really unprofessional. :\

Hmm, I wanted to go for the laid back approach rather than to be all up in someones face.

I can try and find a font with a subtle serif to make it look formal whilst unformal therefore giving it a taste of both worlds.

As said though, I didn't want to go with a 100% formal font. Alternatively I can try a squared off san serif font =D.

I'm not looking for major clients as I'm doing work for friends and small local businesses. This page is just a place to show off my work, think of it as an online portfolio.

Will take a look over the coming days.

(Mar. 24, 2009  8:10 PM)Roan Wrote: [ -> ]Personally I think the choice of Comic Sans for the font makes the site appear really unprofessional. :\

I had the exact same impression. Use a different font; Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet MS, Georgia ... whatever. All are better choices and are standard fonts that most websites use. Just don't use Comic Sans lol

Move your logo to the top left of the website instead of the right. People read from left to right, so it makes sense to have a logo there. As a result of this, the navigation must be moved, I suggest having the same buttons, but in a horizontal fashion under the banner. You might want to think about changing the words used on the buttons as well (ex. changing "Who" to "About me").

Another thing to consider changing is your "Work" and "For" pages. Instead of forcing users to click one of the links on the left, having the content immiediately viewable would be better. This way, users can simply scroll down without having to think about what link to click (keeping those links there is fine though, in case they wanted to jump to a specific section). When employers view your portfolio, they want to see your work ASAP since they probably have numerous others they are considering.

Even if you don't like that idea, at least get rid of the thumbnails on the individual Work pages. Just fully display them, with the description underneath.

I do like the contrasting shades of blue you use for headings. However, increasing the font size on those headings might also help users scan the page more effectively.

There is probably a few other usability problems, but the suggestions I've outlined here are the most important, I think.

Hope this helps!

Kei Wrote:I had the exact same impression. Use a different font; Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet MS, Georgia ... whatever. All are better choices and are standard fonts that most websites use. Just don't use Comic Sans lol

I will be using another font, but using the basic fonts you have listed can become extremely boring especially if everywebsite has it. I will try other san serif and serif fonts before using those.

Kei Wrote:Move your logo to the top left of the website instead of the right. People read from left to right, so it makes sense to have a logo there. As a result of this, the navigation must be moved, I suggest having the same buttons, but in a horizontal fashion under the banner. You might want to think about changing the words used on the buttons as well (ex. changing "Who" to "About me").

I chose to put the navigation where it was because it wouldn't have look correct having it horizontal. I also wanted to try to keep the pages to no scrolling or very little scrolling. I will leave the navigation where it is, I will however try moving the logo to the left side of the banner. As for the text on the buttons, I wanted to keep it short, sweet and simple. People wouldn't need to immediatley know what was on the page that the button lead to. They would click it out of curiousity no?

Kei Wrote:Another thing to consider changing is your "Work" and "For" pages. Instead of forcing users to click one of the links on the left, having the content immiediately viewable would be better. This way, users can simply scroll down without having to think about what link to click (keeping those links there is fine though, in case they wanted to jump to a specific section). When employers view your portfolio, they want to see your work ASAP since they probably have numerous others they are considering.

By doing this I would therefore be mixing my work up which isn't what I want to do and not what I intended. I want to keep my personal work and other pieces seperate. Again, I can provide websites that also use this style if you want examples. As for the employer thing, this is why they always ask for PDF work samples as well. I send the work samples as the main attraction and the website is there to support my work.

Kei Wrote:Even if you don't like that idea, at least get rid of the thumbnails on the individual Work pages. Just fully display them, with the description underneath.

As for the thumbnails. They were chosen because loading up all the artwork in a single page open would take a quite a while. I also looked as numerours design forums and websites and they all said to use thumbnails. They are small in size and small in file size. I can provide you with example webpages that also use this style.

Everything has been taken into consideration though regardless of what I have said in reply. Everybodies thoughts are considered, however, if I see other websites using the stuff I'm using then I would be more inclined to follow them.

Thanks for the advice though Kei, much appreciated =D.

Asking people to blindly foray into pages seems like a bad idea :\

I'm am looking into rearranging the layout a bit. I have changed the font already.

I will look into renaming the who and for button. Might I also mention that I had also included rollover text, when I was creating the site, that explains what the page is about if your not clear on what you clicking on.

(Mar. 24, 2009  9:41 PM)BeyUK-Espio Wrote: [ -> ]I will be using another font, but using the basic fonts you have listed can become extremely boring especially if everywebsite has it. I will try other san serif and serif fonts before using those.

It's a font for reading content. I don't think being concerned if it is "boring" really matters in this situation. But, I do understand your perspective.

BeyUK-Espio Wrote:I chose to put the navigation where it was because it wouldn't have look correct having it horizontal. I also wanted to try to keep the pages to no scrolling or very little scrolling. I will leave the navigation where it is, I will however try moving the logo to the left side of the banner. As for the text on the buttons, I wanted to keep it short, sweet and simple. People wouldn't need to immediatley know what was on the page that the button lead to. They would click it out of curiousity no?

Why wouldn't it look correct in a horizontal format? The only thing you would have to do besides placing them horizontally is change the rollover state so that the smaller rectangle is under the buttons instead of to the right.

Short and simple is great, but for example, I think "About Me" is a more frequently used web convention than "Who". Even though "Who" may be shorter, it is not as common, and ultimately, it may confuse a user looking for those words for just a second. This would be their thought process in both situations:

User sees "Who" button.

"Maybe this links to about who they are?"

Clicks, hoping they are right

OR

User sees "About Me" button.

Immediately clicks, knowing they are right.

See the difference? This may only be fractions of a section in reality, but having the way you currently do may cause a user to think more than they need to.

BeyUK-Espio Wrote:As for the thumbnails. They were chosen because loading up all the artwork in a single page open would take a quite a while. I also looked as numerours design forums and websites and they all said to use thumbnails. They are small in size and small in file size. I can provide you with example webpages that also use this style.

Everything has been taken into consideration though regardless of what I have said in reply. Everybodies thoughts are considered, however, if I see other websites using the stuff I'm using then I would be more inclined to follow them.

Thanks for the advice though Kei, much appreciated =D.

Sure, there is plenty of people out there that use thumbnails, I'm not denying that. But personally, I hate it when I go to a website and see a tiny picture or portion of what the full image is. It is especially disappointing when after you click it, you find out that it isn't what your were looking or hoping for. This is just my personal preference however, I am sure there is many other people out there that like them.

If you insist on separating your work into different sections, thats fine, but I still think it would be a good idea to at least get rid of the thumbnails and have the full-view of the work displayed as soon as a user clicks the link to that category. Considering how few visual elements and such are on the webpage, I do not think loading times would be an issue.

No problem! I enjoy talking about web design and such.

... Also, the new font is much better! And I noticed that every time you refresh a page, the banner at the top changes to another piece of artwork. Maybe adding a link in that banner to the artwork would be a good idea if somebody sees it and thinks, 'Wow, that is cool! I want to see the whole thing.".

I'm liking the new font.
The 'for' button was a tad confusing but I like the 'who' button. Maybe just change the 'for' one? Or get rid of it altogether seeing as you have that on the other page right?
And I like the thumbnails......
But linking from the banner is a good idea.

Wow! That site is pretty nice. And that's one smart idea you have, getting experience right now(since the deppression and all) so you look good later.

I will be changing some of the buttons. For will be changed to clients. I may change the who button to about.

I will be taking a look at some minor layout changes as well as soon as I have finished work for a client I just got through. Cheers for the response.

I like the website how it is now Everyone posted there critism before I could say "You should use Verdana, I think it looks formal but modern at the same time. (Why do you look short on the Who page? XD)

The photo was taken from an arial perspective. It probably doesn't help that there is no flat surface behind me as such.

I don't want to rag too hard.
Your work looks dope no problem there. but the layout feels bad in use to me.

the banner is tight!
but those navigation buttons are not and neither is how the browser renders the page up in left of the window, there is a ton of white space. Compared to you work it dosen't punch out, theres a disconnect. as if the page has nothing in common with your work.

also your itype logo should be horizontal, its much easier to read.

btw what application have you used to do the layout?

Dreamweaver is used for all my layouts. I used Photoshop and Illustrator for the graphics.

I am working on a new layout for this after taking into consideration the response I got from others from here and else where. This layout is a lot easier to navigate and use. Some bits stayed the same but others have seen drastic changes. I will post here as soon as it is complete =D, hopefully by the end of the week.

Can't wait for the new or improved layout. do you mind when i see it if i rate it out of 5?

Go for it. This will pretty much be permanent until I need to revamp it again because of changing times.

Ok thanyou very much.