A fairly unusal request, but I need you to rip this piece apart. No kind words, only how to improve it. I got my first website 'deal', I guess you could call it, and it needs to be excellent, so if you don't like it, I need to know why and what to improve it. Be brutal. (i know the font is hard to read, but thats their logo style, so that has to stay, unfortunately) http://www.wafflesweb.co.uk/agsite/index.html
Okay, I'll hide my true feelings and save the nice comments, I personally can't really see the subdued tech borders and "old english" font getting along, what exactly does this company do? Build and maintain what? I'd go with a larger content box for one, maybe change the color scheme unless that's their theme, possibly reds would look good? I can't really say what the theme should look like until I know what kind of work the do, maybe it fits I don't know? If it's like carpentry/plumming then I'd say go for more browns and natural texures. Just some thoughts, thought I'd put in my two cents.
nah thats excellent. thanks. they're a 'social service' building company, so like shops/schools/restoration etc. keep it coming
The main page seems to be too small and I think it would look professional if it was fitted to the right of the screen, close to the edges.
No sorry I meant left. *embarassed*. What I meant was that the page seems to have all the content in the middle, with gaps at each side.
right i've totally scrapped that last idea, thanks Ex, that really saved me some hassle spotting that old english/tech stuff. no idea why i didnt think of it sooner. new design is simpler, so that might be more effective, and i've taken addis' advice and left aligned it.
No problem. My first impression (after about five seconds) was what does this company actually do? No pics, no recognisable theme, just a few buttons and lots of text. Then when I started reading the text it was like "OK, that's great that they were the prime contractors for Henry the VIII, or whatever, but what do they actually do?" Some pictures of work they have done would be nice, or even some mugshots, though personally I would prefer to see action shots. You need to consider that this is a commercial site so most likely you will get people typing "building contractors" into a search engine (10,100,000 results from Google). They will (if they're like me, and everybody's like me ) click on the search result and look at the page for five seconds. If their first impression is that they've wandered onto a "History of Building Contactors since the Middle Ages" site they will click on the back button and look at the next one. On the other hand if they see a clean home page with lots of pictures, or even one obvious one, of big, beefy, semi-clad men carrying heaving great weights on their shoulders like they were chopsticks then they are likely to consider that the site warrants more attention (OK, maybe this isn't the way to go but the temptation was too great to resist). The other point you need to watch (granted this is coming who's never designed anything more than a CD-holder layout and who's own website looks like something that was drawn in playschool) is that, being a building contractor, unlike, say, a t-shirt company, they will be very localised so anyone who is looking for such a company will need to know where the company is based. A t-shirt site doesn't have that problem, they will take anyone's money and ship the goods to anywhere in the world. Someone looking for a building contractor, in contrast, will need to know, the faster the better, exactly where the company is based and what area it services. Personally, and granted that my knowledge of English geography is pretty dim (I'm assuming it's England), I have no idea where Clevedon is. Putting myself into the shoes of someone who came to the site via a Google search which of the two do you think is more likely? A) I spend ten minutes looking for a large map so that I can look up where Clevedon is (assuming of course that it's on the map) or, B) I click on the back button and try the next link. One possible solution could be something as simple as putting "Servicing the needs of the Gobi Desert since 2000BC" under their name on the banner would make it easier for prospective customers to decide whether it is suitable for their needs. I hope this ripping has met your expectations and requirements, please let me know if you require any further abuse.
Penguin, you are a legend. I really appreciate the abuse , I'd much rather have all the work trampled on and then get it perfect then have a pat on the back and have the idea rejected when I produce my design to my customer. Your outburst provided many laughs, but yes I'm aware it doesn't make much sense yet . Still adding the content, but I'll post a screen of the 'old' site for your comparison, and hopefully you'll agree this new one is much better.
I'm currently adding some php coding to the site, so the html version isn't what i'm seeing. (just rename .html to .php if you really want to) penguin, your in my sig
Penguin, that post was just too good not to warrent a helpful point, even if this isn't even directed at me. You really took that one to town dude:good: Oh, and glad I could help you out there Wafflles, I feel pretty cool now.
Okay, it's looking better dude, still a bit techish but it's all good. I imagine you'll put all that text in a nice content box soon. What did the guys say they do exactly?
Again, Penguin, you are a legend. They are a building contractor - read "About" for their life story. It is a little techish, but I'm hoping its ok for them.
lol, sorry I don't know why I didn't do that earlier, the whole semi-tech look somehow works a little better now so I imagine it should please them, just upload those pics now I guess.
Personally I don't really like it, the colour scheme doesn’t suite the design at all, and well the dark blue and yellow don't go together! Try a lighter colour. I do like the nav bar, but not sure about the grey bars, they seem to server "no" purpose? Maybe it could be used to place random quotes from customers if you really want to keep it? The logo needs to be more clear, its very hard to read, if that is their logo, I'd suggest you tell them to try a new one.
I couldn't agree more. The text, old english, is their 'logo', and whilst it is hard to see, it appears on everything from their vans to workers shirts, so that cant be changed. the random quotes idea seems a good one, but i've been told to keep it very simple and follow the colour scheme, being blues and yellows. the dark grey bars serve no purpose, as you said, i used them to break up the navigation from the header. i only really need the navigation and the logo, the two grey and 'content' bar aren't really necessary. i shall rework some of it, and then see which they prefer.
