New Website by me for a client

[slaveofconvention]

I'm currently deep in development on a new website for my oldest and best client. I was wondering if anyone has the time to have a look and give me thier impressions of the site, and any feedback would be more than welcome.

http://2010.sunderlandbodyart.com

Please, at this time, I don't need to know about blank pages - I'm still working on those. The galleries are all but empty as I've built them for the client to maintain themselves and they'll be adding pictures in the next few days/weeks.

I would also request no comments along the lines of "Drupal!" as I don't have time to learn the system lol - this site is horribly overdue and I'm just doing what I can to get it up there.

Oh and finally, the design itself is actually the clients - comments on layout, formatting etc are more than welcome, but the background floral image and the menu systems are set in stone - that's what they asked for...

[Diamon]

Something that's annoying me with quite a few websites is the index page, why not take the user directly to the home page, why go through a start page and having to press an enter button, unless it's an adult website of course. And you might want to use more pictures instead of just using the same picture 3 times on the same page but that's maybe just until you do get some more of them.

Other then that I like the website, nice layout, colors, has the information you want quite easily accessible and not hard on the eyes.

[Oneslowz28]

Splash pages are a good idea because they give you a chance to show your viewers exactaly what you want them to see right off the bat.

[dr.walrus]

Okay, please accept all criticism as constructive. Here goes:

1) The green gradients and patterned background are too strong - I find them quite overwhelming. The contrast of black on the bright green is too stark
2) The navigation and menus are very technically competent but the double menu bar is too much - it's confusing
3) The big visual statements you're making with the site are at odds with its purpose - an artist's stall should be plain and elegant to best exhibit his work

Whilst I understand that clients make specific (usually awful) requests, it's my experience that, so long as you are willing to back down if they push the point, you can just go do your own thing anyway (show them both versions so they can see how bad theirs looks) and nine times out of ten they'll roll over. And when that one person in ten stick to their guns - christ it becomes hard work.

You're clearly a good web developer- I mainly work in .net but I appreciate the work that goes into all that php.

In my experience with splash pages that you have a higher level of abandons after one page view - with great content, people are already 'through the door' - with a splash screen, they're more likely to navigate away. Managed to increase traffic to one site by 20% by removing it.

Please don't accept it as criticism of your work, but with all that green and the flowers and confusing menu, as a heavily tattooed web designer and developer, that site would put me off.

[msmrx57]

I agree that the gradient is a bit harsh. Also the copy on the info pages is a little hard to read, not sure if it's because it's white on black of just a little small. I've got a 21" monitor and it makes me squint and lean towards the screen to read it. I'm also not a fan of websites not opening to the home page. Other than that it looks very nice.

[diluzio91]

ill second the increase in font size, im on a 13 inch screen and its difficult to read... Also, this may just be me, but i have trouble with large text blocks in the times new roman typeset family, something in the arial family is easier to read (or the default font on this site)

[TheGreatSatan]

I think "The Team" should have pics.

[slaveofconvention]

I think the font size is going to increase anyway. As for team pics, those are following shortly - I've also advised the client to find some related pics for each page just to break up the blocks of text.

The last thing I really want to do is make it less wide. While the majority of web users do now use a screen over 1024 wide, some are still on 15" LCDs and netbook usage is high. The current layout at the top of the page requires a page width of 1080 px which I'm really not happy about....

[Drum Thumper]

I'm in the minority--I like the green gradient.

Very professional looking site, and if you want some pointers at some time to kick this into a drupal site, ask away, the drupal crew here is quite competent.

[billygoat333]

I also like the color scheme.