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Roketto Punch!!!
MagicToaster
JapanRegistered User regular
JapanRegistered User regular
Honest to God, I can't recall if i posted this here or not...
In any case, I've reworked this design a bit and want some feedback. I'm so insecure when it comes to web design.
Ok, AC; kill me with your words!
Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now!
In any case, I've reworked this design a bit and want some feedback. I'm so insecure when it comes to web design.
Ok, AC; kill me with your words!
Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I'm here! Come on! Do it now!
MagicToaster on
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Maybe you need something on the right though, it feels unbalanced. I could be so wrong though, IM STUPID.
I think the header is pretty bland though. And the red block should expand all the way to the sides. (of the white thing) Either that, or have something that separates it more from the white.
Not a drop shadow though. Drop shadows are tacky.
The "about me" is a little odd. There is a pretty big space between the letter "t" and the letter "m" which makes it looks like it's separated. Adjust the kerning between the the two to alleviate the distance.
p.s: Have you worked out the CSS yet? Can I see it pleaaaaaassseee? :: pretty eyes::
But the Japanese in Romaji? Killin' my eyes.
My Portfolio Site
Just some minor typos: Dimensions (not dimentions) and Pursuing (not persuing)
Apart from that, it's pretty fucking sweet. I like the background pattern (diagonal stripes). I also like how you've tied that into the main content with the striped header/footer bars. I also like the style of the profile (ie: how it's been written) - unique and a little entertaining.
The general idea is really nice, I think it could do with a little embellishment. I mean, keep it simple, the structure/layout/colours work well together, but it's the small details you add that will make it pop out a little (or alot) more. Stuff like maybe adding a faint border to the photo, adding some shading/color variation (maybe soft gradient?) to the header, maybe a really really soft shadow to the base of the header/photo.
I don't really know exactly, they're just general ideas to think about. It depends on what kind of look you're going for. If you want to make it more "shinier" then you're going to want to add some soft gradients/gloss effects/shadows/reflections, but if you want something a little more "comic book" you'll want more solid colours and patterns etc etc...
Also, have you tried playing around with the navigation. It's pretty simple, so that's not a problem, but maybe making it stick out a little more may help... maybe a different colour or style? Not sure...
Either way, do post up your HTML/CSS when you get around it it, we want to see that too! (atleast I do :P).
Even the abbreviation.
I want to learn Japanese. And Spanish.
I took four years of Spanish and nothing stuck but the bad words.:|
Cool site, MT! Me likes! I'll give some better crits when it's not 1:30, and when I'm not about to pass out!
Cheers!
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
Pursuing. Honestly it took me about 5 times to realize that it didn't say "perusing."
Yellow H. - This site has no purpose, except for getting me an A in my web-building class.
Freek - No, this is the Photoshop mock, I haven't build it yet... and I have no idea how I'm gonna make that logo work.
Munacra - Yeah, the header is very bland. I originally wanted that white border around the entire page, but the more I look at it, the more I dislike it. I'll build this page in a while, and I'll post the CSS when I dooooooo.
Aumni - Really? I think the romaji is pretty legible.
Prospicienceseses- WOOT!!!
Tweak - Ugh! Typos always get me. Thanks for pointing them out.
Corgi - See, in Spanish you don't capitalize the name of the months... thats why I made that mistake. Thanks for pointing it out though, I'll get on fixing it. Also, I highly encourage you to learn Spanish!
Aliceeeee - You read the back of shampoo bottles??? Wierdo.
Iceberg - Yeaaaaaahrrrr, I'll get on fixing that.
Redimpulse - Yes... I know, my grammar is terrible.
But that stuff is costly.
see: http://www.csszengarden.com/?cssfile=177/177.css for an idea what I'm talking about.
stout's Amazon Wishlist | my lastFM
Also, Corgi there are other free ways of learning Spanish. Learn Spanish.com had some cool lessons when I checked it out for a friend a while back. Also, something that helped me with Japanese was watching soap operas, you should sit down and watch them Novelas, they are full of drama and girls named MarÃa. Or get this prehistoric sit-com. I remember watching it as a kid, I thought it was hilarious.
TV helps alot!
Am I always going to have to correct you;)
And yes!......sometimes I get bored in the shower and I'm like LOL I nead 2 bursh up on my spaneesh.
I'm not a weirdo:(
Check out my art! Buy some prints!
MT: The CSS should be pretty simple for this site, it's just a single column centered on the page... the left BG could be done a few different ways depending on what you know
It needs texture/photos or something to break up the simplicity. Web design is about addin dimension and appeal to boring information. You have to make it LOOK like the information is more interesting that it is. You need to add dimension and areas of interest and relative inactivity.
I'm not saying you should overdo it and add drop shadows to everything like some e-hole webdesign 101 prick. What you have now is what I'd call a good starting point - akin to the way you lock out areas of light and shadow when you're painting a canvas.
Now that you have the shaping and layout, you should begin dressing things up. I'm probably the only one to say this but, he colors are kinda weak and overdone (Grey isn't usually a good webdesign color, as it's inately boring. you need to couple it with stronger complimentary colors.) Essentially you have a monochrome red with shades of grey. Red is harder to work with because it's very middle-of-the-road; it's can slip into cold as well as stay warm. It's also a very middle home value. Mixing it with grey is like saying "I'm boring and I can prove it". If you desaturated your picture, you'd see it's really flat. Use a brighter or darker color. Right now your site only uses 40-50% of the range of values.
Get a nice accent color - this is a color you use EXTREMELY sparingly. Use it as a 1px line or small font for links. Now, find either a really cool photo or an abstract design with your two colors in it (photomanipulate if you find a coo one that's off color). Work it in subtly in the background or banner or somewhere.
If you're confident in your ability to make a good repeating design, you can use one in the content area. Your css should expand to fit any browser size and any length of content needed.
I'm not a big fan of textured backgrounds used to fill up space, if you have to resort to that your original composition lacks balance and proper planning. Anyone can balance out a design by adding crazy crap all over the place, but when you work with bare minimums you force yourself to think. I believe the colors balance each other out, no color out weighs the other, I put a lot of thought into them.
Also....
I have no idea what you mean by this. Red is a hot color.
Web Design is about presenting content as clearly and precisely as possible. If your information is boring or not interesting to your visitors, even though you may have tons of pictures or colors or whatever, I bet you people will stop visiting.
Man what?
That guy in the photo is a STUD-muffin.
Just look at those eyebrows.
Those are some nice eyebrows.
And hurry up with the html/css MT, I wanna seeeeeeeeee!
I'm just jealous.:P
There's enough beefcake in that picture to feed a third-world country.
You're not balancing things dynamically. Your red and grey are approximately the same home value. I'm not saying you didn't put a lot of thought into it (I'm sure you did). It's not.... interesting to me. You can disagree all day, but it won't change the fact that it's not just simple. It's boring.
"No color outweighs the other" is right, which is why it's boring. What makes design interesting is finding ways to cheat the scale to balance things
You can put two equal weight items on both sides of a teeter-totter to balance it out, but it's boring. It's symmetrical. You can put more weight nearer to the fulcrum and still balance it out with different masses. This is the kind of approach you need tot take.
You can say you don't want or need textures, but your colors aren't enjoyable enough to justify "color fields". You're right that you need to think harder and working with less makes it harder. Unfortunately, it didn't quite payoff. There's no internet consolation prize for purposely handicapping yourself.
You're welcome to disagree and I know you don't often disagree with critiques, but I really hope you reconsider. I'd be willing to do the equivalent of a "paint over" for your design, but I don't want to waste my time if you're already set in your ways and won't be revisiting this design. Much like your advice to me about marketing, this is something I'm fairly confident on and I do every day. I may not be right, but that doesn't mean your solution isn't still wrong.
EDIT: Though I've already made some modifications as I've build the page, like what you said about the gray background, Rye. I didn't notice untill I looked at it on another monitor.
Now, if you can find a happy medium between this and yours, it'd be much improved. On the right side, if I had more time, I'd illustrate a cool cell-style rocket punch that would trail off toward the bottom instead of the faded explosion. I also upped the contrast on the left and right sides. That's very much a personal preference, so do with that what you will.
It would look a lot cleaner if I had the original ai or psd (IE the left side overlapping the Japanese writing)
Also this that you said struck a chord in me:
Though I'm studying design now, I basically talked my way into that school. I have no design background whatsoever so I've always felt the need to prove to myself I can be just as good as all the kids in school by doing things the hard way. In reality, nobody cares as long as it looks good. I never really recognized that in me until now.
EPIPHANY!!!
Also, please keep it simple. It could possibly even benefit from taking out the background writing on the left hand side.
Simple is cool, but not everyone enjoys simple. Simple is hard to do also. That's not to say that ornate is easy either. Practice both extremes and you can comfortable with both.
About the "purposely handicapping yourself" thing, it's still good to practice at that stuff, but don't do it for a client or whatever.