My new website

[DreamThrall]

Hey folks... I'm working on a new personal website, which will be www.DreamThrall.net

I'm looking for some feedback on the layout and graphics for the flash portion (the html version isn't yet started)

When you reply, please say if you're a web designer or not, as I'd like to hear what web designers think vs what non-web designers think.

Thanks!

 

[McFly]

its nice........whats it for? (not a web designer.)

 

[Tinneth]

I think it looks cool in its current stage..good luck with it.

Im not a wed designer

 

[DreamThrall]

Thanks... It's just going to be a personal website. I'd like to start designing websites and getting paid for it... so partially for that. I also have a music project called Dream Thrall (which is originally what the name was for), and this website will serve as a home for that as well

 

[Bad^Hat]

I don't know if you really need them anymore but flash sites usually have a "click here to download macromedia flash" button for those who don't have it... although if you don't it shuold download automatically. Meh, looks pretty good tho ^_^

 

[DreamThrall]

the <object> tag has a link embedded in it that it throws up if the user doesn't have the plugin... look at the source code for the html page

 

[Hazar]

looking good. :thumbs:

 

[Dedatorv]

Wow, that is a really good design for your website. Its very simple and organized along with a really nice color scheme. Only thing that stood out to me was the inner portion of the d, you could try to change it to the darker blue or have it like the rest of it. Oh yeah non web designer.

 

[DreamThrall]

Thanks for the compliments and the pointers

One thing I would like to point out that I am particularly proud of are the rotating splashy things around the star. If you watch... you'll notice that the way they rotate is fairly random :naughty:

to an extent of course, you can only get so random with 360 degree rotation :hmph:

 

[Letters]

It's got style, but the one thing I don't like about it is sacrificing functionality for some of it. As in... the separate frames in the center with their own scroll bars. That's just annoying. It's much easier to use the main browser scroll bar, so just elongate it if you have to... just a suggestion...

I'm also not a big fan of splash pages, so why not use the flash version as a default, with an easy-to-see option of switching to html? That way, if people just remember the main domain name, they don't have to go through that extra page (it's not REAL intensive flash or anything).


I've designed quite a few websites, but nothing professional.

 

[moz4rt]

not a designer.

it's very easy to navigate and i like that. i like the different shades of blue (my fav color). i'll be sure to contact you for all my web designing needs.

 

[DreamThrall]

... one thing I don't like about it is sacrificing functionality for some of it. As in... the separate frames in the center with their own scroll bars. That's just annoying.

because of the way the flash is designed, that isn't really an option.... each of the "pages" are loaded as a child movie of the "main" page - which has the background, most of the graphics, navigation, etc .. this is so that the bulk of the data doesn't have to be downloaded over and over again each time a new page is loaded. the actual content functions somewhat like an iframe. plus, a lot of the content is pulled from a database (the blog, updates, and list of website creds), so there really isn't any way to know how long a page needs to be. I see what you're trying to say, but there wouldn't really be any way to do it :-\ Honestly, I don't really think it sacrifices THAT much functionality.

... I'm also not a big fan of splash pages, so why not use the flash version as a default, with an easy-to-see option of switching to html?

I was actually thinking about doing that... my only qualm is that the "main" flash file is almost 200k... and that's with NO bitmap graphics (you can check for yourself... try zooming in a bunch... no distortion! ) This isn't a problem for most people, but I don't want to cut out any potential customers who would be on dial-up. I suppose it would be okay as long as I had a decent pre-loader.

 

[Gunner]

looking good. :thumbs:

Yeah I think so too, blue is my fav color hehe

 

[DreamThrall]

Yeah I think so too, blue is my fav color hehe

Mine as well ... I think a lot of people's favorite color is blue, or at the very least, that it is pleasing to the eye, which is why I chose it

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Stylish

Those blues are very well chosen, they automatically make my mind wander to warm blue ocean and nice sunny clear blue skies

 

[theGreenBunny]

Nice design. I'm not a fan of the grunge-ish/sketchy look, so I never use it in my own designs, but that's a matter of taste.

What you could do to solve that scrollbar thing is making the 'main' flash movie's size as large as the largest page, so the browser scrollbar can be used. Now if the background art always included that area even when it's unused wouldn't look good, so you'd have to do some coding to check the currently loaded page's length and scale the background accordingly. Of course there would still be an empty area with nothing in it even if the visible site/art doesn't extend that far. So you'd basically have a bunch of nothingness at the bottom that the user could scroll to. This is a disadvantage of the method.

I don't know if you already considered this method (hell I don't know if you get what I mean, I find design stuff hard to explain), but I've struggled with the browser scrolling vs. flash scrolling thing before (I'm not a fan of the 'iframes' method) so I thought I'd mention the alternative.

On the html vs. flash subject, you could make a preloader with a progress bar and a button to switch to html. A 56k user who sees the bar going slow can easily switch to html, and a broadband user probably hardly sees the bar or the button.

Good luck with the site. Oh and I suppose I'm a web designer, nothing professional though.

 

[Gunner]

Oh how I miss the beach, blue sky, blue ocean, blue everywhere!... I need a vacation hehe

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Heh, its blue sky outside, although just down the road the rain is pooring. Stupid strange weather...I think its moving this way as well. Heh, A guy is trying to run ahead of it.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Heh, its blue sky outside, although just down the road the rain is pooring. Stupid strange weather...I think its moving this way as well. Heh, A guy is trying to run ahead of it.

Heheh, reminded me of that thread the other day where we were saying British weather isnt really all that strange.....

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Hehe...Yeah well, that was advertisement. Its a whole different kettle of beef extract.

 

[DreamThrall]

Thanks again for the comments guys!

On the html vs. flash subject, you could make a preloader with a progress bar and a button to switch to html. A 56k user who sees the bar going slow can easily switch to html, and a broadband user probably hardly sees the bar or the button.

Good idea! I'll probably end up doing that.

Let me clarify what I said before in my response to Letters about the scrolling issue... There are several sections on several pages that are dynamically generated. This is done via an ASP page, whose output is read by flash's LoadVars() object. There is no telling how long this output will be, and attempting to count the lines of text in an effort to stretch the page with coding would be an exercise in futility.

This leaves me with two options: Take the dynamic parts out, and edit the flash file every time I want to change something

-or-

Leave it the way it is...

Personally, I have no problem with the "iframe" look, and I like having the pages all be the same size. I think having a large empty space kills any "feng shui" effect I have going on with the layout. That, and having a 600 pixel high "page" means that the logo as well as all the navigation controls stay in one place. I suppose it really is just a matter of preference... but thanks for the suggestions! Keep em coming folks! :smoking:

 

[un0x]

Very nice!!

I like:
The colors
The fonts
The header/spinning logo

The buttons could use some improvement tho, theyre a little too 'simple' compared to the rest of the design.

btw i only checked the flash version

good job

 

[DreamThrall]

The buttons could use some improvement tho, theyre a little too 'simple' compared to the rest of the design.

Yeah, they're makeshift for now... I haven't really figured out what I want to do with them yet.

btw i only checked the flash version

That's the only version that's up

Very nice!!
good job

Thanks!