Attached Link: http://members.cox.net/mdamarante

Making tiny babysteps towards the designing of my website.. this just the front page, but I need to know your opinions... How does it look so far...? Is the text readable to you? I trying to go for a professional minimalist design, yet still maintain a look of class..... if that makes any sense? I've gone for dark text on a lighter background, because personally I find it very difficult to read light text on a dark background....(don't know why...getting older maybe?) In any case I know that I can count on you guys to give me thoughtful, honest critiques..... PS None of the links work...and this is on my personal webspace from my internet provider... I know that eventually I'll have to change that.

I agree with David in that the front page should be viewable in all resolutions. The problem is that there are too many resolutions to write for! There is a Java Script out there that will check the machine logging in and then load the appropriate screen size. If you are interested E-mail me and I will see if Sharon has it somewhere. Or do what I did, size the front page for 800x600 (760x420max after tool bars and such) then state that this site is designed for XxY If you are using Dreamweaver to design it will tell you what size to make things for different resolutions. Most people use 800x600 or 1024x768. Also keep in mind that the larger the images on your site the easier it is for people to steal your work! As for the text, I like it at this tone. It is muted and that says to me This site is focused on my art not my words!

definately classy, minimal but warming... agree the text could be bit darker i have no other suggestions, it's wonderful 'chelle! :] look foward to seeing more when you have it up

ok, michael has a good point, i could still read the text even though it's muted :]

Michelle, Here is my two cents: Love the Neutral background color. Font (Papyrus) excellent choice. Font color could stand to be a bit darker maybe a brown or a dark beige. At first I thought my machine wasn't loading the whole pic properly, but then I realized that with the effect it was supposed to look that way. I am kind of neutral on the pic, I mean the pastel coloring looks really good with that bg, don't get me wrong, but I hate it when I think I have to hit reload because maybe my machine isn't viewing the way it should. The font size for the links should maybe be a bit larger and of course darker (see above comment) I would probably use the same font darker and use the bold option on it. Do you have any experience with either html or javascript? I know you can do a "no right click" on your pictures in Java. And if you know html, you can do some awesome web pages with it. (I have the cheatcodes for mulitiple layered backgrounds somewhere around here, if I find them and you are interested, I would be more then happy to share them). So basically other than the font color, it looks very nice and elegant. Good job! Brenda :)

Very elegant. Things I like to see different: Textcolor a tad darker Introimage a bit smaller. I run @ 1280x960 and I still get a scrollbar, in IE I can't even see the menu without scrolling.

hi michelle, yes, definetly like the minimalist and classy look. i have to agree on the font colour though. also, i felt as if there was a split focus into left/right without a central focus. ignore this if there is more work going to be done on the composition. i hope this helps. i look forward to seeing this develop further. ronesh

OK..... let's see I've made the image much smaller....hopefully that will help with the scrolling issue. I've played around with the text a bit, making some things bold as Nilla suggested. I also tried darkening the text, but found that the text became too dark! I'll definitely have to play around with this part a bit more. I really don't want the text to dark, I want it to be understated. Nilla yes I know very basic html, just enough to get by. I'm using DreamWeaver to design the site and I can code in by hand if I need to. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible, as my head tends to get dizzy when I look at code for too long. Not to concerned about people stealing my work, as I'll be keeping the image on the small side, and when I say small, I do mean small. Ronesh, very good point.... Maybe I can add something more to balance the page a bit further.... It's a possibility.

ooooh, that fits nicely on my little 800X600 screen & i think the boldness of font works too this is just an ideal after staring at your screen for awhile to maybe tie in the left & right side plus add a little something in the middle, although i do tend to overdo & have to hold myself back but what do you think about possibly 4 small thumbsize portraits in B&W of children/family placed either diagonally or horizontally?... have to play with the placement, since that is your subject matter & not the stilllife, which i do like for it's subtle tone & soft style... not sure, just a suggestion, would have to play with it

I think it's great idea Cindy! :~) ..... I was actually thinking of changing that image anyway to something photographic, because as you said it's a photo site.

looking good michelle and look foward to the changes.

Im working on my page too and as you I want to put a similar message in the forum. First recommendation: www.amarante.com... well:

Request Price for amarante.com
We will only respond to serious requests that are complete and accurate. Any submissions with false or unverifiable information will be deleted.
The quoted price will be at least $688 and may be over $10,000. Due to high demand and decreasing availability, the prices of Premium Domains are rising weekly.

Maybe the price is excessive, but www.mdamarante.com cost not more than 10$ and its available but I dont like this domain.

www.amarante.us cost 7$ and its available, also is available www. MichelleAmarante.com (19$), the most appropriate IMHO.

About the colors, you dont like dark background and I use dark in my page because I think that for color photos is better, but one of your chapters is Casual Portraits Of Children & Families and for this the soft background is excellent.

DreamWeaver is the better software for this, and the new version the MX 2004 is very confortable work with it and you can get the most professional look.

My last recommendation, buy one book about DreamWeaver and use style sheet and templates, with this you can change the look or repetitive information of your whole website in just one minute.

Of course feel free to send an IM if you need some help with Dreamweaver or flash also if you want free templates or style sheets.

About flash Im working in the slideshows, you can see a test here: slideshow (its not finished, its just a test) but its an example of flash, the bad is that it needs to write the scripts but can be interesting for you too.

Enax thank you for all your helpful ideas on the domain. I love the slide show thingie, but maybe a tad to complicated for me? As I said coding makes my head spin... just like anything mathematical. It isn't that I don't like dark backgrounds, I agree they look better for certain images, but my eyes have a very hard time to read text on a dark backgound, especially if the text is white..... or some other bright color. I end up doing CTRL/A just so I can read it.... Yes must find out more info on css and style sheets.... have 6 books on the floor here all about html, java, web publishing, etc... one is specifically Designing With Style Sheets, Tables & Frames..... will look at this one with more interest. Thanks to all of you for your input and suggestions, all of it is very much appreciated, and invaluable to me.

The slideshow thingy isn't a substitute of the gallery but is a good complement. If you want one of these I'll do it for you with the style of your page and with your directive.

One thing about slide shows. If timed incorrectly a slow connection will see only part of an image before it starts to load the next image. In the same aspect if it is too lomg in bewteen images on a fast connection the visitor will get bored waiting for the next image to load. For these reasons I STRONGLY reccomend against slide shows. I want the visitor to my site to sit e there and stare as long as they want to at my work. If the image keeps changing on them they are less apt to visit again or tell friends about my site. Just my $0.02

@zhounder: My slideshow preloads the images, for this no matter your connection you'll see complete images every four seconds, also you can pause it or pass the photos manually and go back.

'chelle - I really like the clean, understated look so far. A lot of good points (and some I think fall under personal taste) so I won't add to those. I will give you a piece of advice that I wish I had received when I first coded my site. I know it's tempting to ask "how's this look?" all the way through constructing the site, but I'd advise against it. There are so many opinions and so many tastes that you'll find yourself chasing your tail and feeling a bit frustrated. IMO, the design should suit you. Do what you feel looks good and puts forth the look and feeling you want to convey. Once it's all together, then open it up for critique. Unless you get a high percentage of people disliking a particular styling point, I'd stick with concentrating on complaints and bugs found in the user/navigation interface. And one final thing, unless you want to spend lots time re-writing sections of your site, try to stay as basic as you can in your code. I went completely away from cutting edge coding. I thought I'd be pretty safe sticking with DHTML and java. Even with these "standards" I have found myself having to tweak and re-code sections a dozen times or so because of the incompatiabilites between browsers (IE, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, etc.) and platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). The more technology you put between your site and the user, the more work you are going to have keeping the site usable by as many people as possible. -=>Donald

When preloading it can be a long loading time on a dialup because you have to load all the images before the slideshow starts. With the average surfer you have about 15 seconds to capture their attention or they will move on. I believe that the average surfer of Photography (or art in general) is a bit more patient, however I am not sure they are that patient. The best suggestion I have for you Michelle is to check out your favorite photographers sites. What do they do? Slide shows? If so, do one. My favorites don't use them so I opted not to.

@zhounder: I know the rule of the 15 seconds, I sell nothing in my website, for this if somebody thinks that don't wanna wait, that don't wait. I tested the slideshow form 56k connection to DSL, and the times are acceptable, with ADSL are a few seconds. Also I tested it with IE, Netscape and Opera. About to do what others are doing I think that it's a bad rule, IMHO
btw, I saw websites of excellent photographers but with bad design and bad navigation.

Darn, I got in here pretty late. Must be working too hard ;) I like this 'Chellypops, my only gripe is having to scroll down a touch for the |gallery|bio bit. Colours are real nice. I don't want opinions, coz I'm self-obsessed and don't care what others think (!) but if anyone's interested I spent Wednesday doing mine too. www.reborne.co.uk Have fun! (",)

Looks real Classy to Me....and I am sure You have top advisors....and, You also know I am a Green Horn...sigh....but, I wish You well :]

Looking great! Doing an image map with that looks to yeild the most desirable and attractive layout. Keep us updated... or rather I'll probably keep an eye on the site :)

ohhhhh 'chelle, i like the new compo!! :]

Thanks Cindy... still working on it a bit... MrMichael not sure what happened to your posts! I'll be using the front page graphic to make an image map... Not sure I care to slice and dice...but I know what you are saying! Thanks!

I like it. Simple and clean. Great work Michelle :)

Now is more professional and I like very much this new version. Excellent decision :) ... IMHO

Well you definitely got yourself some feedback. lol. So without reading what everyone has said here is my feedback. :) My screen resolution is 1600x1200 and I can see everything just fine. I also love the background color you chose, very soft and pleasing to the eye. The arrangement of the pictures is classy and beautiful. It looks as though everything will be easy navigation which is a big thing to me. I don't like having to search for link buttons etc. My only crit would be that if this is for children and families that maybe you could include a family group shot or etc in the collage of pictures. I don't know if you have one or if it's something you are going to add later on. But anyway, just a thought. Really is professional and elegant, great job can't wait to see the rest!