is my site a parody ????? LOL

**trukkerz** · 21 September 2010, 09:42 PM

hi can you have a look at my site which was done in XWD and let me know what you think as I have just been told by someone off another forum (warrior Forum) that he thought it was a parody (wind-up- joke) but wouldnt say why ????

Cheerz

http://www.webz4all.co.uk/index.htm

**gwpriester** · 22 September 2010, 01:40 AM

Isn't it?

It is a bit busy! To paraphrase my wife's long departed grandma, "Life is not a contest to see how much stuff you can cram into one page."

You are offering your services as a web designer and if someone is looking for an "information rich" page I suppose you may pick up some business.

But for my dos centavos I would trim your page down to the most basic elements and spend some time organizing your material. IOW Focus.

**gnurf** · 22 September 2010, 07:34 AM

To quote Simon Cowell: "I don't want to be rude but..."
...but your site is quite horrible. Not only is it messy but it is also very slow to download (I have a fast connection but the page with the bread background took way to long time to show) and I believe you have broken about every DO and DON'T rules there are about web design :-)

Gary put it quite well - less is more and KISS are the rules to go by. Skip all animations (nothing wrong to offer such service, but put the animations examples in a section of their own), skip the flash navigation (the sound effects get annoying very quickly), tone down the bright colors and make a more consistent color scheme for your site, and use a consistent "look & feel" for you pages (now every page is designed differently from the others).

Finally, don't use Artisteer stock images and effects! YOU are the designer and IMO it makes you look cheap if you use templated design for your own pages. Nothing wrong using Artisteer, but use your own artwork, especially on your own site. If you want to test and play around with Artisteer, Xara Web Designer and other applications, use for example a subdomain as playground.

Here are some links on web design I personally find useful:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008...ve-web-design/
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008...ve-web-design/
http://www.bamagazine.com/
http://www.jnweb.com/ (this looks like a designer who offers similar services as you are - compare your designs to his)

**trukkerz** · 22 September 2010, 08:09 AM

Hi thanks for those constructive comments

To quote Simon Cowell: "I don't want to be rude but..."

NO you haven't been rude - it's 3 NO's then lol - well 2

I have taken on board your comments and when I look at my site now i can see what you mean - I think a redesign is in order :-)

Thanks for them links *GNURF - very interesting reading

Thanks guys for your time - Do appreciate it

**Big Frank** · 23 September 2010, 12:54 AM

A parody of what? Did your detractor say?

**trukkerz** · 23 September 2010, 02:04 AM

no when I asked him what he meant he just said - its ok i was just wondering ???

prob a bit too "busy" for him - it was on a forum where everybody uses wordpress :-)

Anyway I am in the process of toning it down a little

Cheerz

**Big Frank** · 23 September 2010, 10:21 AM

A little note : Just because somebody (including, for example, me) criticizes your website, don't take it as fact. Look up some pages on user-friendly web design, look at who your market sector is and their requirements, their needs, and make up your own mind whether your detractor(s) have a valid point.

In this instance I agree with them. Your colour scheme needs brightening up, you need more white space and fewer different font faces and styles, and you need to determine which of the information is important enough to remain on the home page and what can be assigned to subordinate pages. Remember, the more mixed information you have on your home page, the more difficult Google and others (and of course your human visitors) will find it to categorise your website. You only get one chance to make a first impression!

Good luck

**gsthunder** · 23 September 2010, 10:27 AM

I don't think it was half as bad as some have said. Are there things I would do different? Sure but it isn't "horrible" nor is it "messy".

**gnurf** · 23 September 2010, 10:58 AM

As I am one of "some" who said it was "horrible" and "messy" I took another look at the site to see if I had overreacted.
I notice that 'trukkerz' already made some improvements so the site isn't half as bad as "some" said anymore. Actually he has changed those things I mentioned (removed Artisteer created header on the index page, removed sound from the navigation bar, removed unnecessary animations and removed large background images that took long to download) so I think he's going in the right direction.
I still find it a bit "messy" as opposite to "well structured" - I cannot really decide where to go/read next after I read the first three paragraphs, I miss the "natural flow".
But as I said, there's already improvements.

**trukkerz** · 23 September 2010, 11:04 AM

Hi thanks for the replies - as I said above I do take on board your comments - I didnt have a lot of time yesterday so just did a couple of noted changes - It is a work in progress at the moment so I will sort it out and try to structure it a bit better

It all helps in the learning progress :-)

Thanks again - Watch this space LOL :-)