6 Reviews2 Votes0 Favorites342 Views
Concept Reviews
-
At first glance, the page seems to use a polished wood cabinet metaphor, with a rectangular frame of wood, and differing looks of polished wood; I would expect that to appeal to your home remodeling market.
However, the metaphor breaks down with not much scrutiny. Are the text and photo panels in front of, or at the back of, the cabinet? Why is the middle shelf such a dramatically different wood color than the rest? The sepia print is nice, but would look better outside the frame, and the drafting tools don't work at all. What is that beige brick pattern at the bottom of the frame? Whatever pattern you use inside the frame should be consistent edge-to-edge.
The cherry wood 'tabs' at the top do not seem to be level, tilting down to the right. They might be more in-theme if they were embossed into the panel above, like content labels. The bi-colored background, with the stitched boundary , seems more of a distraction than a benefit.
In summary, you have a good set of components, and a theme that is appropriate to the market and could be very attractive. It does need some reorganizing, though.
-
-
David Keeney commented:A suggestion: Make the cabinet itself one or two woods, light colored. Behind the cabinet you can put 45 degree angled siding planks of varying types of wood. You get the symbolic diversity of wood, while having your cabinet look like a cabinet.
That said, I think 99% of readers will totally miss the symbolic significance of multiple wood types, and you can safely simplify the appearance.
-
-
The gallery is tucked inside the link. can you experiment by sneaking in a band at the bottom .. and have a few thumbnail sized houses moving slowly like a carousal.
The user can get a glance at the portfolio quickly, and load a bigger image on mouse over or click (call to action)
Upside : the user gets to see what is inside. You are initiating the action.
downside : more images to load (be aware of the image size). the images should match the theme (may be you tint the thumb nails with some color matching the design)
hope this is useful.
-
Just, even when the site is in thumbnail view, I see all that saturated orange and I just squirm a bit. But that may be just me. I know bold colors are all the rage on the web this season, but the orange looks hot and aggressive to me. Gimme +10 to hue and, only on the most saturated parts, -10 to saturation. Maybe + the brightness to compensate.
OK, nitpick over.
I like your font, but are you trying to connote blueprints and drawings? There's a font called Technical that does that nicely. But I'll say it again: the font you picked is nice, it (to me) connotes a kind of informal elegance.
Your "big idea" is nicely prominent, and as a first-time visitor I appreciated being able to read something to tell me "what the heck is here?!?"
I'm detecting a lack of alignment, and that (to me) is what's making the site look a little "messy." I've seen another reviewer use the phrase "get on the grid" (referring to http://www.960.gs/), and I'm not sure you need to slavishly follow The Grid System... but the stuff in the middle of your page should have some alignment relationship with the stuff at the top of your page, and ditto the mid-bottom, and ditto the footer.
Nice use of multiple textures, though, to create a rich, "evolved," and visually interesting design. Keep working it.
-
Amado Ohland commented:re-reading my review, I failed to express that overall I like your design! I point out little things (and other reviewers are pointing out good stuff too). It's much easier to edit (or critique) than create. Your customer should be very pleased with this, and even more pleased when WE'RE done with you.
-
-
I think the colors are working well, I like how you even incorperated them into the social networking logos.
The page does seem a bit cluttered though. I think I get distracted with the green Florida state, as it's color stands out it just makes the site seem too cluttered. I'm also not sure about that box to the side of it and the main text box at the top. You also have a widow in that text box that you should fix
-
The main thing that I would suggest changing is the fonts for the navigation manu and the address of the picture with a more classy font. Try also changing the design of the image placement and the company commitment to a more "blueprints" design; make both items appear behind the other stuff, remove the award in the middle and place it somewhere else, change the background of the image to a blueprint paper and place it to the right, then place the image to the left with a slight rotation of about 10 degrees to the right but keep the address centered (try masking tape as a background for the address). The social icons should either be in their original colors, or maybe use an original design to display them (not just a different color).
-
Overall I like the general layout of the site and you have a good contrast of colours. but the foreground and background need to be defined a little better.
I think the dark background and the light effect above the logo gives the wrong impression. It sort of makes the site look gloomy.
I would suggest lightening up the background and maybe choosing a different font for the navigation, the text in the left panel and the footer. Some people might find it difficult reading a caligraphy style font face. I don't know how you would go about adding / using such a font on the web without converting it to an image, which would be bad for search engines.
The award needs more focus, it is great that this company has won an award and I think its out of place in the center and gets washed out with the surrounding content.
Keep at it though! Its getting there, it just needs a few minor adjustments.
-
Obviously if I have to justify my metaphors with and explanation then there is still work to be done, and I appreciate the critique. That said, I was trying to encompass several "materials" into the design to more effectively embody the idea of a homebuilding company. They're not a kitchen remodeling company, they cover the entire process from start to finish which would utilize a plethora of materials. I think I may have embraced the wood texture too strongly in an attempt to keep the site feeling high-end. Do you have any more suggestions of how to incorporate a broader range of materials without bringing down the caliber of the feel or worse make the composition more disjointed?