ortablaze opened this issue on Jun 06, 2003 ยท 8 posts
ortablaze posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 1:53 AM
I have recently completed the html version of my web site. The purpose of my site is to provide information on my services, access to my portfolio, and contact information. I know there's a lot of good designers in this forum and I would apreciate the feedback. Thanks www.ortagrafix.com feel free to leave comments on the contact page
cambert posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 6:49 AM
My first thought is that it's extremely smart: I'm impressed. Clean lines, unfussy, and the work you have in your portfolio is beautiful. Some of those corporate logos are so expressive and genuinely lovely - never thought I'd say that about a logo :-) Now for the problem: it's a nightmare to navigate. The section links on the outer 'wings' (Profile, Services, Portfolio, Contact) are very hard to see because there's almost no contrast with the backgound. My eyesight is fine, but someone with even moderately bad sight could easily miss them. There's a similar problem with the tiny slices that link to the individual images, under Corp ID and Photo. They're so small that it's hard to tell which one you've clicked. Also, if you want to go back to a particular image, they're much too small to tell which image is linked to which slice. In the end, it comes down to guesswork, which means that you've taken the control away from the viewer. I felt like you were making me work much too hard just to find something to look at, and that I had no meaningful choice about what I wanted to see. That's quite alienating, and it distracted me from looking at your work, which is what I wanted to do. And again, someone with visual difficulties wouldn't stand a chance. As I said, though, the work that's there is wonderful. I would have welcomed an option to see larger versions; perhaps click on the image for a larger version in a pop-up window? Final point is the 'Web' category. If there's nothing behind it, you should really remove it. As it is, it's another option denied: removing control from the viewer again. If it's on the page, it should deliver something. The same goes for the 'Flash' option on the front page - it's irritating to be led down a dead end. Overall feeling is that it's a really nice site, beautifully laid out and full of excellent content. All that's needed is for you to put the control in the hands of the viewers. Then they'll remember an experience, not just a web site :-)
retrocity posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 1:32 PM
Great job,
left my message via "contact page".
Write me back if what i said is confusing (i sometimes confuse myself)!
:)
retrocity
antevark posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 5:39 PM
Needs frames. It's quite distracting whenever I click on a link that the whole screen goes blank for a second.
Jeff1972 posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 5:53 PM
I love it, it's very informative and well put together, the navigation links are kinda hard to see, and when you want to view your portfolio the whole screen sholud'nt go blank for a second, but the level of professionalism you used to iilustrate your talents is nothing short of amazing, i may be calling on you for some pointers if you would not mind.
Grimtwist posted Fri, 06 June 2003 at 6:05 PM
Im going to be blunt, without meaning to be mean. The entrance page has a large, rather drab and fuzzy looking cityscape on it; it didn't impress me. You want to make people go "wow! I gotta see what's in there!", not make them depressed. Get a new entrance pic.
ortablaze posted Sat, 07 June 2003 at 12:00 PM
Thank you all for your comments. I will put into consideration advices given. I'm glad a few of you liked my work. Feel free to contact me for help. I will put up a post when I complete the flash version. Thanks again for the feedback.
DeepLayers posted Sun, 08 June 2003 at 11:09 AM
My only constructive criticism would be in regard to the small vertical link buttons. It's not as easy as it could be to pick the one you want and it's not immediately apparent which one you've checked (if you want to go back to an image). If you look close you can figure it out if you remember enough about the image. Maybe just number them? That might make it easier to discuss them with a client anyway.