Web design feedback…

[nchipping]

Hi all – I have an old design, that I’m trying to ‘freshen’ up a bit, and wanted some outside opinions. I basically want it to look very clean, but professional. I’m also trying out a new logo. Any feedback is appreciated.

The old design is this:

Old Design

New Design

I like the new one, but I just need more input. Thanks.

[TheDoc]

Great simple changes. Love the new logo as well.

[nchipping]

Thank you – I’m glad that you two like it – of course, criticism is helpful, too ;)

As for what I’m using, it’s a gallery plugin called Galleria (you can find it on their website: http://galleria.aino.se/). It’s pretty good, but has loading issues sometimes, so I’m working on my own gallery, but it’s not quite done yet functionality-wise, but it will look the same.

Any other thoughts, anyone?

[TheDoc]

Looking a little empty on the bottom, I suppose. Could throw in a simple footer to tie things up.

[robst]

Looks good! I do enjoy the new design the best—having the nav left justified, and the logo right justified looks more tidy/neat! In your old design, the logo looked as though it was “breaking” the layout by hanging outside of the layout/container boundaries.

I do have a couple ideas/thoughts…I think it would look more consistent if you made the thumbnail images below the main image the same size. They all look a different size–some more square and some more rectangle. I’d keep it consistent. Even if the main (large images) photos are different sizes, I’d make them all the same size too! Looks a bit more professional in my opinion.

Other than that, it looks good! Minimalistic, and clean! One last thing, you could introduce a third color–a soft pastel color (light blue, etc…) as roll-over colors for your links, or for accents to thumbnail images.

[nchipping]

@TheDoc – I agree, it does need some sort of footer, and I’ll work on that. I was thinking mostly something simple like a copyright thing, and maybe the links again?

@tannercampbell – I think the shadow looks good, and I’ll work with that, also.

@robst – I think you idea about making the thumbnails the same size is a good idea – it would be more uniform/professional that way – do others agree on this point? Also, my concern with doing many colors is that the background of the side (the big area, and the little strips above and below it) changes color according to the main image, so tying in other colors cold look good most of the time, but maybe not all the time? Thoughts?

[OniLinkCR]

I agree with Robust too. I hate seeing images of different sizes. I love the new look, I would perhaps remove that gradient at the top where you put that subtle noise.

[snillor]

Definitely the new version – looking quite nice.

I agree that same-size thumbs will be better.

I like the top gradient, except that it looks a little distracting with the hard right edge (where I assume the main container ends). Maybe a body background color and centering the content so you don’t have the hard edge of the gradient against white will work.

BTW, what sort of loading issues have you had with Galleria? (I’m looking for a good gallery solution for a number of artist’s/photographers websites.)

[nchipping]

Great feedback everybody – thank you for all your help.

@snillor – as far as Galleria goes, it’s great until you start to get more than about 15 or 20 quality images pulling up, and since this is a photography site, that’s a big problem. I love how it works otherwise, but for some reason once you get more things loading, it will act like it’s loaded, but nothing will show, etc. So… I’m working on my own gallery, which should be done soon, and then maybe I’ll put it out there for people to use ;)

Anyway, again, I really appreciate all the feedback. Thanks everyone!

[Glenbot3000]

Very attractive website. The subtle changes were just enough to put it on the next level.

[Author]

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