design for website.

[Garfield_]

ive been making this design for eonline and thought i should get some crits and opinions about it, how to make it better...

http://img157.exs.cx/img157/6664/eonlinetmplwip2kt.jpg

 

[Ames]

More filler on the sidebars.

Use text links instead?

Logo is too big.

 

[Garfield_]

whys the logo too big ?
i want links as buttons not text.

 

[Ames]

The logo is too empty to be that big. It needs some more filler in order to justify its size.

edit: You can also change its shape.

 

[Garfield_]

its not like a regular logo, its more like a photo ;D

 

[CR0M]

Will you take professional advice?
Just asking cos I'm not going to waste my time if you have already made up your mind that it is ok as it is. Let me know.

 

[Pesmerga]

Looking great, I like the logo and banner. The side links are a bit too small, you should use the entire horizontal margin for the box, and not just cut halfway through. And of course, make an english version! :-D

 

[Spas12]

wow. Looks good maybe make the banner at the top smaller. Put some hosting sites to the right banner. BTW where did u get to edit ur website on that?

 

[Garfield_]

hehe ill listen to any advice but it doesnt mean ill change it, if i like your advice ill try. This is for a cyber cafe in sweden, so english version isnt necessary. The top banner/logo might be too big and too empty, ill make something to it.

 

[Garfield_]

Will you take professional advice?
Just asking cos I'm not going to waste my time if you have already made up your mind that it is ok as it is. Let me know.

whats your advice =)

 

[Garfield_]

small updates, http://img91.exs.cx/img91/9244/eonlinetmplwip4hi.jpg
i thought id have small boxes on the top logo and fill the boxes with photos from the cybercafe ;D

 

[CR0M]

Page real-estate needs some thought - Shens n spas12 are right, your top banner is WAY too deep, reduce it by about 50 pixels. Logo design is ok, but big logos look amateurish and take up too much space that can be used for other important stuff like strap lines, search fields, contact information etc.
Reduce the logo and increase the size of the site descriptor (internet café) so people know what the site does. Use a photo or an image with a bit of colour for your banner - clean high contrast blues and whites would fit best. The top 3rd needs to contain all the most important stuff so it doesn't get lost below the scroll line on 800x600 screens, not big fat 'look at me i'm great' graphics of you and your logo. Content is more important.

All navigation should be text links NOT graphics - if people want to switch off graphics the site has to work, also graphics can't be easily edited like text. Text links can still be made to look like buttons using css. Unfortunately you are limited to the 3 system fonts - Arial, Verdana, Times - which are all pretty plain.
Pixel fonts look nice but they only work if you have them installed (unlikely on most systems) or if they are Flash or a graphic (not accessible).

Your colour scheme as it stands works fine, but when content graphics are dropped in they won't all be orange - test with various colours too.


some other tips -

If you're thinking of using Flash as navigation, don't - it isn't accessible and forces people to have a plugin they might not be able to download, reducing your viewing audience.

All content copy (including links) needs to be re-sizeable friendly and the layout has to be optimised to work in ALL of the most popular current browsers - explorer and netscape, firefox, opera (mozilla based). Test it thoroughly.

Page layout needs to fit the smallest screen resolution of 800x600, resizing to larger screen sizes is pretty but not essential

Most importantly:
Make sure the site can be read by text readers and is accessible in compliance with the law - sites are already being sued because people with disabilities cannot view them. If your client gets prosecuted, it will come back on you


Apart from that, it's fine

 

[Garfield_]

Okey, ill cut 40% of the top banner. make the buttons/links as text links. And use a system font instead