Stick with what I've got or re-design?

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 03:15 PM

Ok...thanks to another threads discussion I've decided to keep my name as 1840dsgn, but give a more personal slant using "I" and making clear it is my freelance alias.

Now the site...

Do you think what i currently have stands up against the competition, (i'm sure you've seen web design company sites), or do you think I need a redesign?

All opinions and suggestions would be welcomed and don't be nice be honest!

Thanks

mike

mcdanielnc89 · September 11th, 2007, 03:17 PM

I just went to your site and well. In my opionion I'd try to make it a bit more professional if it's going to be a buisness.. Just my opinion tho!

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 03:40 PM

Quote:

a bit more professional

Thanks for the input...i don't mean this rudely but thats easy to say!

What about it is unprofessional. Its hard to see your own downfalls sometimes and I can't see an awful lot wrong with the site - but at the same time when looking at other I seem to think its not as good. But I think thats just me someone elses work will always be better than mine because I'm more critical of my own work.

So I need some pointers on what needs changing.

For everyone else link to the site is in my sig!

mcdanielnc89 · September 11th, 2007, 03:49 PM

Well, It's not that there is anything wrong, but if you are using it for a buisness I'd do a layout that is more atractive to customers. I don't really see anything wrong, Just I think maybe if you had a more profesional layout like you see on buisness websites..

Did that make sence?

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 03:54 PM

Erm...not really! Can you be more specific. like differences between a "business" website and mine...?

All i have is a horizontal nav and a vertical sub menu.

mcdanielnc89 · September 11th, 2007, 04:07 PM

Well, basically to me; your current layout would be for a personal site, not buisness. Buisness layouts would usually have more to them.NO offense.

I don't really know how to explain it... lol

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 04:13 PM

no offense taken honestly. I just can't see what needs changing because what you've said is really general and I can't work off comments like:

"business navigations have more to them" - more to them like what? can you give me an example, a link to a navigation you see as a business navigation?

alexgeek · September 11th, 2007, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcdanielnc89

Well, basically to me; your current layout would be for a personal site, not buisness. Buisness layouts would usually have more to them.NO offense.

I don't really know how to explain it... lol

Ditto that.
It's a bit bland at the moment.
since this is design, something really really really nice looking would be nice

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 04:38 PM

ok. I'm thinking strong bold contrasting colours and some funky typography...something completely different.

I want it to be a designer site - at the moment I do think its professional but its a bit like the site i woukd expect of a company that designed it a few years ago...

is this the point your trying to get across?

sannbe · September 11th, 2007, 05:01 PM

Personally, I like your site...yes, even for a business. That being said, Let me offer a few thoughts.

1. As a designer, what type of clients do you want to draw in....example: small business, proffessional (dentist, doctor,etc.), e-commerce...
2. Your site must sell you to the clients...once you decide who you want to attract, you will know the changes to make. For example, using what you have the single flower could become a logo showing your specialites as petals. (hope you can visualize that) Colors, that can be the hardest thing to decide as you probably know. I sense the white should have a slight color change...I am thinking blue or even red or combine lavender...very pale, almost like you can just sense it. The layout is good so I think the font might need a title tweek. (change it and give it a little substance.)
Sorry this is sort of garbled, but i was writing what I was thinking....if you like any of the ideas...they are yours....

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 05:20 PM

thanks sara. At the moment and for the next 2/3 years I would say very much small businesses.

Th reason i started this thread is because I personally think its not bold enough - and not strong enough. I do like it but I like others better. I like Karrines a lot more than my own, it has that cutting edge. Looking on CSS Mania and most of them I prefer. Some I don't but most I prefer.

Some examples fo what I like - do you think they'd work for me the kinda style...

Dache
Phillip Posth
Monoroot
Vanni Vale
ArtFlavours

AND I LOVE THIS ONE!

VanessaJW · September 11th, 2007, 05:28 PM

Mike, I like your site a lot, but yes I'd agree that you could go a bit bolder. Your logo is quite strong, but something about the rest of it is slightly apologetic - I can't think of another way of describing it! Your blog site comes across as stronger and more confident than your main one.

sannbe · September 11th, 2007, 05:32 PM

Ya, I love the last one, too. And I like the direction you are thinking of going in... Very simple, but very professional....
See I have always really liked your site design. If I were looking at it to redesign, I would probably say, change background and font....play with the flower picture so it were a little more abstract...or you could make it more of just a line drawing....
I know this may sound weird, but for the font I sort of saw
some thing like a Capital letter slightly ornate and then the rest of the font in a paragraph simple...(am I making any sense at all) This is what I get for free form typing.

mcdanielnc89 · September 11th, 2007, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VanessaJW

Mike, I like your site a lot, but yes I'd agree that you could go a bit bolder. Your logo is quite strong, but something about the rest of it is slightly apologetic - I can't think of another way of describing it! Your blog site comes across as stronger and more confident than your main one.

I agree...

1840dsgn · September 11th, 2007, 05:48 PM

Right one of the things on my list to get done is mess around with a few designs in PS!

Along with all the other things I wanna do like learn javascript, learn PHp to a higher level, start making a basic CMS, etc etc etc lol!!!

Cheers everyone! More opinions are welcome if you have them!

I'll see what i come up with!

MikeHopley · September 11th, 2007, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VanessaJW

Mike, I like your site a lot, but yes I'd agree that you could go a bit bolder. Your logo is quite strong, but something about the rest of it is slightly apologetic - I can't think of another way of describing it! Your blog site comes across as stronger and more confident than your main one.

Vanessa's nailed this one. Spot on.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Yes, you could improve the design. It doesn't need much, and it's good already. But you might get more benefit from tightening your copy. Maybe you can do both -- but don't leave the copy to go stale while you pursue a "perfect" design.

Your writing is already pretty good, actually. I don't say that lightly; most writing leaves me reaching for the red pen, and most sales writing leaves me reaching for the sick bag. Your writing gives an intelligent, professional impression. But it could be better.

Be ruthless. Cut out useless filler such as "To successfully promote your company you need have available all the marketing tools you can." Avoid making unnecessarily grandiloquent claims, such as "It is psychologically proven that images are more likely to stay in the mind than words." How does one prove something psychologically, anyway? Precious few adverbs may respectably attach to "proven": "deductively" and "mathematically" are okay, but "psychologically" and "scientifically" are not. There's no such thing as scientific proof, let alone psychological proof.

Similarly, be careful about vague claims such as "the Internet is possibly the best form of marketing and promotion". This is too weak to be worthwhile (possibly? So possibly not, then), but you can't make it stronger because it's a dubious assertion (most products get most of their sales from conventional marketing, not internet marketing). Best to leave it out. Again, this phrase came into life because you were looking for an introductory sentence. You don't need one: skip that whole first paragraph.

Bear in mind you only have a few words to get your readers' interest. Don't waste them on introductory fluff or dubious/grandiose/uninteresting generalisations. Whatever your English teacher told you in school about writing an introduction for your essays, you can forget it. Real writers go for the throat, and you're not writing an essay.

You also absolutely must kill every last grammatical error. There aren't many; there should be none. Getting others to read your copy can help you spot them. For example:

Quote:

...you need have available...

Kill, kill, kill! :hammer:

1840dsgn · September 12th, 2007, 04:48 AM

excellent cheers mike this is exactly what I was looking for. some one to really tear apart the site so I can work on it!

I think I'm gonna go for a slight redesign and like you say edit the copy to be more personalised and direct.

Do you think the number of pages should be cut? Or is it good to explain each service as I have. I'm pretty ceetain I will merge all print services into one section because they are not the main product.

But like I've split up web design into ecommerce, cms, seo etc. is this the way I should keep it?

ChrisTheSoul · September 12th, 2007, 07:14 AM

I think Mike's advice is superb. Copy is incredibly important and any spelling errors will put people off immediately.

I think the design is very "apologetic" as Vanessa put it. Pictures of flowers and leaves are boring in my opinion. If you're a designer and you are going to help others to brand their companies, you need something much more inspired. I understand it fits in with your "designing a new life..." slogan, but a picture of a daisy and a leaf doesn't lead me into thinking that you could achieve this statement.

I'm not trying to be harsh, just honest fella.

Lchad · September 12th, 2007, 07:19 AM

I'm getting into this thread late but the advice you have gotten is how I feel as well. You are a big, tall, strong guy and your current site doesn't bring that across. It's a mild site. The examples you showed, would suit you better. Bold Color, Bold lines, Bold typography. I see those fitting you so much better than what you have now. Your blog is AWESOME.. shoot for something amazing like that and you will be so busy, you'll be gray before you are 30!

1840dsgn · September 12th, 2007, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Your blog is AWESOME.. shoot for something amazing like that and you will be so busy, you'll be gray before you are 30!

haha thanks! I couldn't ask for more encouragement! lol. I'm gonna play around in PS for the next couple of weeks and see what I can magic up!

Thanks everyone for your input.

And no probs Chris I asked for honest and appreciate it!