my website

**Matt_343** · 10 June 2006, 08:03 PM

Here is my web site. please let me know what you think.http://www.heinrich-home.net/
I will be changing the domain name.

**RTK** · 14 June 2006, 02:45 AM

Matt,

First, let me say that I think it's great that you have found TG! Welcome!

I have especially looked at your "drawing" thread with great interest http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?p=161394 (I'm sure everyone can relate to the feelings you are expressing). Ross however already said what I would have - "doing/drawing" - and you will learn. There is no "magic" only "time" - take your time. It's time well spent!

For the record - I'm not a great draftsman - I draw the same simple things as I create in Xara. It works for ME - and it makes ME happy. Personal belief - spending time on people that put you down is not nearly as rewarding as focusing on the people that do enjoy what you do. Who ever you are, and whatever you do - there's always someone who will be negative... Just find your way - don't worry about the "crappers".

Back On Topic - Looking at the site, I would think it will always be a "personal" one... A personal site? Meaning, there's no intention to make as "much money as possible"... (business). If "making the most" is important - don't run potential customers off.

If religion is more important to you than the most possible visitors - go for it! However, people dropping in from a link somewhere or a search engine, might be really confused about what the site is all about. I was expecting that the first think I would see would be "graphics" of some sort... I got something entirely different.. Had it been anything else but a link from TG, I would have hit the back button faster than it would have taken for the last graphical element to load (because I was EXPECTING to find a site with a focus on graphics).

Confusion or doubt often means a quick exit... There are also other beliefs than christianity - hitting them with your belief "systen" off the bat might "scare" a lot of people off. I'm not saying that you should "dump" something that's important to you, but why not use the main page to show what's important/special about the site itself?

If you only want devout Christian visitors - you on your way! But why not focus on what you do (the graphics?) I would imagine that this is what you wanted your visitors to pay attention too?

IMHO - all clicks to a site are important. If your personal beliefs are second to your imagery - why not place them on an 'about' page - if they need to be there at all? Again, if religion is the thing you want visitors to focus on (or you are targetting "like-minded" people only) - go for it!

I'm not saying that the "religious/belief" aspect of the main page is right or wrong - just trying to give my thoughts on how I perceived things.

Cheers!

**Matt_343** · 14 June 2006, 01:34 PM

Risto, Thank You for you insight. As for the site, I am going for a personal site. I definitely do not want to scare anyone.

I like what you said, so I will work on what I am trying to convey on my site.

Thank you again.

**pauland** · 14 June 2006, 03:28 PM

I've a comment to add..

The black 'square' text amid a sea of white, really jars my eyes - I find it really difficullt to read (and this is not due to some vision impairment). It might be worthwhile looking around a few websites to look at how text can be layed out to be easy to read. I don't think the font helps, either.

Take a look around a few websites. Look hard at the ones you really like and decide what it is about them that makes you like them, then try and use that to improve your own work. I do this all the time!

Good luck,

Paul

**Matt_343** · 14 June 2006, 03:42 PM

Hi Paul, I started to do just that. I looked at other pages and then when I went back to my page and it did jump out at me. Part of the problem is that I have set my monitor res very high and so I forget that how big 800 x 600 is. The text is very overwhelming.

**pauland** · 14 June 2006, 03:51 PM

My monitor is 1280 x 960, so it's not simply a question of it being big - I see your page centered between white bars.

Paul

Oops, I meant 1280x1024

**Matt_343** · 14 June 2006, 04:14 PM

mine's 1600 x 1200, but I understand. kinda of like looking at fresh snow on a sunny day.

**Oramue** · 14 June 2006, 07:14 PM

Actually, I'm quite pleased to know there's a Christian out there who isn't afraid to say so. The internet is rife with anti-religious types and the faithful are often encouraged (directly or indirectly) to hide. If this is an important part of yourself, show it off and inspire others. This is your personal site and other people are going to have to accept who you are and what you believe in.

However, I have to agree about the huge block of text on the front page. The font is too heavy and too large to make sense of it. In fact, the whole design has no consistency and seems vague somehow. I would like to see more color. Perhaps a sophisticated blog would serve you better.

In any case, it's a better start than most. Good luck with your endeavor.

**Availor** · 16 June 2006, 08:03 PM

Hello Matt,

My personal opinion would be that you choose something like a template. A well organazied site is better for viewing. There are simple and clean templates in FrontPage, DreamWeaver and many free programs.

For example: Your text is very large, but it's not very easy to read because a person must scroll down to read it all. Moreover, to understand better the concept of your idea perhaps it would be better to add a picture as a representation of your main idea. Thus a person should not read the whole chapter to understand your site's idea.

Just my opinion