So I'm completely re-designing my site

[DaJe]

I do like what the little hint of blue did to the menu bar. I also added a subtle hint of reflection of the rounded top in the glass as well.



I've been working on different ways to modify the blue area, and right now this is what I have

Also, I put something on the wrong layer, and came up with an intersting effect that gives me a few ideas.

And I was thinking of maybe making the entire background a subtle gradient with blue, and using CSS make it a fixed background, so as you scroll down the background never moves. And a modification of this idea would be to make the entire page have a gradient background such as that, but have the top remain more distance and solid.

But mainly the purpose for all of this is just to integrate some color into the design. I was thinking of having it so when you hover over the buttons, they become indented, and light up and glow blue. I could either use that in compliance with the other blues, or use it in place of them, or just not use it at all.

[Ronyx]

What are you going to do with the top banner you've setup?

Text? Image? Nothing?

It seems to be a little bit too short and too long for it to correctly hold a banner image inside. I'd suggest you increase the size a bit, unless you already know what you're going to put in there and it's the perfect size?

[DaJe]

Whatever I put, and wherever I decide to put it, it would be specifically formed to fit in the particular area.

[Elenril]

That looks really nice, especially with the lighter blue gradient at the top. Do you know how to use flash? You could get some really nice glowing or other fancy effects for the buttons, rather than just rollovers, that'd really add to it.

The CSS non-scrolling background is a good idea, but may be a bit tricky to pull off with the current layout. The blue gradient is focused on the menu bar, right? So if the gradient stays, the menu bar will move as you scroll down the page, and it'd look dodgy. I suggest either an iframe, or to make the background scroll with the white box and the text. Maybe have a gradient at the bottom of the page as well, so when you reach the bottom it's not all just plain white.

[Commando]

Hey Daje,

No way would I build from scratch. Your a brave man, but must have a boatload of time on your hands.

I would just try a good CMS like Joomla. It's ridiculously easy and you can customize everything. It really is the wave of the future.

www.joomla.org (open source of course)

It what I've been using for all the sites I done lately.

www.AirbrushTricks.com

My new one www.CommandoDesigns.com

.Maleficus.

There are boatloads of templates out there and you can always go in an change the CSS and graphics but most of the templates let you do it through the front end anyway. If you want a really good one you'll probably have to pay a little but you can get club memberships and get boatloads of templates.

Try Rocket Theme.

[Vertigo]

Nice work, I really like the glass effect you got there. I've been working on my own again lately, but not much done yet.

http://digitalzoetrope.com/

[DaJe]

You're acting like it's some big deal to start from nothing. It's what I've always done for years. There's nothing to it. And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.

[DaveW]

You're acting like it's some big deal to start from nothing. It's what I've always done for years. There's nothing to it. And as for a stationary background, I was referring to the main background, not the top menu area. Though i could do that whole area and still make it look good.

You're being modest. There's a big difference between someone who can start from nothing and a script kiddie. I often make the mistake of thinking that everyone who can work with code can write some from scratch, but the honest truth is, only about 25% of coders actually can.

-Dave

[DaJe]

I wouldn't be able to create and implement my own entire version of content management, for something like that I would install something such as Joomla and modify it. But that's not what I'm doing or talking about. I'm not even fully sure if I'm going to have a content managemen system. I know it's good to have, but it's not needed. But aside from that, just designing and coding a page and creating the graphical element to it, that really is just a simple task.

[si-skyline]

lol sorry, i didnt post im time, I love the blue.. i think the top one looks better but also like the blue line in the second