Opinions please

[traceyp]

Hi everyone

I hope you don't mind but I'm about to ask for opinions on a web site I am looking after but with which I am not particularly happy. I feel it could be better.

Because of this, I asked an aquaintance of mine, who is a graphic designer, to have a look at it and today he told me its fine, no problem and that I should be happy with what I have done. To me though it looks plain and ordinary and perhaps not particularly appealing. I have never called myself a graphic designer but I do my limited best with what limited ability I've got so any advice would be appreciated.

The web address is: www.cdac.org.uk

Please, if you can help with advice it would be very much appreciated. I'm not asking anyone to do anything other than offer advice - I want to do any necessary work otherwise I shall not learn about graphic design, web design or about using XaraX. I should add that almost all graphics on the site have been created or handled in XaraX at some point in their development.

I look forward to your comments.

Many thanks
Tracey

[traceyp]

Hi everyone

I hope you don't mind but I'm about to ask for opinions on a web site I am looking after but with which I am not particularly happy. I feel it could be better.

Because of this, I asked an aquaintance of mine, who is a graphic designer, to have a look at it and today he told me its fine, no problem and that I should be happy with what I have done. To me though it looks plain and ordinary and perhaps not particularly appealing. I have never called myself a graphic designer but I do my limited best with what limited ability I've got so any advice would be appreciated.

The web address is: www.cdac.org.uk

Please, if you can help with advice it would be very much appreciated. I'm not asking anyone to do anything other than offer advice - I want to do any necessary work otherwise I shall not learn about graphic design, web design or about using XaraX. I should add that almost all graphics on the site have been created or handled in XaraX at some point in their development.

I look forward to your comments.

Many thanks
Tracey

[gwpriester]

Tracey

If I was not English speaking, I do not think I would know what the web site is all about.

What can you do to the site to make it say MOTORCYCLE CLUB ?

Pretend you can only use pictures or symbols and no text. How would you make the site communicate to riders?

I hope this is not too strident. I know you have worked very hard to get this far.

Gary

Gary Priester

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[Egg Bramhill]

Your site is quite a large one. I would have no great problems with it, but as your asking for comments then I have 3 points to make:
1: Your page headers re "Home" "Committee" etc are very large and in my opinion unnecessary, as you have an excellent rollover menu to indicate the selected page. I would replace these large headers with a common logo header for the club, which at present are quite small and to the left of the screen. What I'm trying to say is make the header the focal point so it's obvious to the visitor where they are.
2: You also include a snazy but in my opinion distracting "rotating" menu which merely duplicates your main menu buttons. I can't understand the reason to duplicate a menu structure.
3: The red surround on the table in the home page clashes with the blue of the site, almost like a warning sign.
I make these points not as a critism, but as comments for your consideration.
Egg

[stlewis]

I worked with a designer once who said she was taught to ask the question "Why is it like that?". I think it may help you as it did me.

"Why" the various formats of button? You have the nice round bars on the left but then the bevelled thingy at the top. Why not use the same? And the 'badges' use two more bevels.

"Why" the choice of background? It's a bit like a toilet window! From my biking days I remember that trees were best!

"Why" the various fonts?

"Why" the text as a jpg? It's slow to donwload, and it uses two more formats - the background and the red border.

Oh dear; this sounds horrible. I struggle with these problems too. I think I have found a good format for eg a button, then I find another for something else and I don't impose that style back on the things before. And I end up with a dog's breakfast. With my The London House site (www.thelondonhouse.co.uk) I have copped out with the menu - using the outliner. If you have lots of rapidly evolving content, managing graphical menus is hard work.

Good luck!

www.thelondonhouse.co.uk

[traceyp]

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I didn't think everything was OK. Everything seemed more than a bit dull and lifeless. I've been trying to think of something which would liven things up a bit and I'm struggling. Nevertheless I must try and do something more and I'll bare in mind the comments you have all made. Thanks very much.

Tracey

[FrankMcAree]

I think the problem is that the site is just 'nice'. The background's O.K. the buttons roll over well. But it doesn't give communicate -noise, dirt, speed , excitement all the things that I'd associate with motocross. Pull out some bike mags, put something loud and fast on the CD run up Xara on the PC and experiment !
You've got some good action pics of bikes, bitmap trace them and play around with them use one as a background or replace the text thing on page 1.
Play around with the font on the buttons and their shape. Put some of your images into the java rotator etc.