Can I get some feedback on my new design? New and improved Part 2!

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CLKeenan

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Jun 24, 2006
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Alright, so I took a lot of the feedback from the members here and some of my own new ideas and made a lot of changes to the old template. Can I get some feedback on this one?

Thanks,
-Chris
highschoolhq%20copy.jpg
 


Much better in my opinion. Your designer finally got around to getting the work done I see. I'd write another long review, but I'm busy right now. But this one is much better than the last, good job.
 
To be serious. I like the design. Sometimes I don't know how I feel about 3 column designs though. Have you tried putting the big content column in the middle?
 
To be honest, it's really generic and feels bland. If this is just a wireframe mockup of the design, then the structure is fine, but if this is how the site will look, I'd start over. Use the same setup, but spice it up a bit.
 
more white = more sales. Therefore, I like it with all the white and light greys.

I think the design is good, however, if it is fixed width, it can be bad for those who use old computers in their school on 600x800 resolutions. The worse that can happen there is they won't see your ads. As long as the first two columns fit within a fixed width of 780, you are good.

The above advice is based on your demographic when viewing from schools. Viewed from home, students won't have a problem.
 
JamesH said:
Much better in my opinion. Your designer finally got around to getting the work done I see. I'd write another long review, but I'm busy right now. But this one is much better than the last, good job.

Thanks- yah, I finally cracked the whip on the designer, bitched slapped him a few times and this is what I got :) If you have time to write another long review, I'd great appreciate it - your feedback was a big help :)


To be serious. I like the design. Sometimes I don't know how I feel about 3 column designs though. Have you tried putting the big content column in the middle?

I don't want to do that because the Featured Section column is going to be a customizable AJAX interface where users can choose which blocks/widgets/modules they would like to see there. I think it would look better that way.

TylerH said:
To be honest, it's really generic and feels bland. If this is just a wireframe mockup of the design, then the structure is fine, but if this is how the site will look, I'd start over. Use the same setup, but spice it up a bit.

I disagree. Once the AJAX functionality is added in, as well as the logo, it will look pretty slick. I don't really need it to me all fancy and shit design wise. I want a very clear cut, slick, functional website, that is visually pleasing.

If you want to "spice" it up, I'll be happy to write you a testimonial for your new design company :)

maxor said:
Shit is huge! What's it look like on 1024x768?

It looks fine, 800x600 is the only resolution that will be inconvenienced at all. However, out of the 1.8 million visitors who came to my site last year, only 8% of them had an 800x600 resolution, the rest were using 1024x724 or higher so I made the decision to design it for 1024x724.

stanley said:
It looks fine. Like Tyler said you can spice it up but it's a trade off between fast load times and aesthetics.
\

Yup, and I'd rather go for faster load times and a very functional but still aesthetically pleasing website.

ScottDaMan said:
more white = more sales. Therefore, I like it with all the white and light greys.

I think the design is good, however, if it is fixed width, it can be bad for those who use old computers in their school on 600x800 resolutions. The worse that can happen there is they won't see your ads. As long as the first two columns fit within a fixed width of 780, you are good.

The above advice is based on your demographic when viewing from schools. Viewed from home, students won't have a problem.

I also really like the orange/blue/white color scheme.

I am trying to do a few more things like you mentioned to make the website a bit friendlier to 800x600 viewers, even if they are a minority.




Thanks for the replies guys :)
 
I like it. One thing I am worried about, too, is the width on small screens.

I looked at it in 800x600 and I only got half of the left column (when scrolled all the way to the right). Have you considered putting in a resolution detection script for the site? If its 800x600 you could cut off the right column. Keep in mind tha tthe 8% that used 800x600 might be a completely different audience. But you ARE dealing with college students, typically tech aware kids so they'll likely have good resolutions.

You also mentioned AJAX. Do some research on that as, last I heard, its bad mojo for SEO.

Finally, I think youd benefit from cutting the gigantormous top banner down a little and creating a little larger logo on the left that way you get some branability going. If your sites going to be THAT awesome youll need more than just a simple text non-logo at the top.

In the words of the crazy Irish guy from Euro trip... 'PRETTY DAMN GOOD' ;) :D

PS - I studed from the American Pageant back in HS. Its a shitty book. Heavy motherfucker, too.
 
I like it. One thing I am worried about, too, is the width on small screens.

I looked at it in 800x600 and I only got half of the left column (when scrolled all the way to the right). Have you considered putting in a resolution detection script for the site? If its 800x600 you could cut off the right column. Keep in mind tha tthe 8% that used 800x600 might be a completely different audience. But you ARE dealing with college students, typically tech aware kids so they'll likely have good resolutions.

You also mentioned AJAX. Do some research on that as, last I heard, its bad mojo for SEO.

Finally, I think youd benefit from cutting the gigantormous top banner down a little and creating a little larger logo on the left that way you get some branability going. If your sites going to be THAT awesome youll need more than just a simple text non-logo at the top.

In the words of the crazy Irish guy from Euro trip... 'PRETTY DAMN GOOD' ;) :D

PS - I studed from the American Pageant back in HS. Its a shitty book. Heavy motherfucker, too.

Do you really think the header area is that big? It has to be at least 90 pixels high due to the leaderboard ad, and then the register/login box is there as well which acts as a space saver.

The logo should be pretty cool. It definitely wont be simple font logo. That's obviously just a place holder :)

There will be plenty of other non-ajax content on the site so that should be fine. I will however do some research into the issue. I'm going to put together a 'best practices' guideline for my site since its easiest to implement when youre building the site from scratch.

Like I said, I'm gonna be working with my designer to see how we can best accomodate the 800x600 viewers... fuckers
 
I didnt mean cut it lower, I meant to say cut it shorter so that your logo could be bigger. It looks a little cramped and is only text as it is.

Personally, it looks good. If ya get some good shit up there, Ill definitely bookmark it for when I need to study.
 
I like it.
You also mentioned AJAX. Do some research on that as, last I heard, its bad mojo for SEO.

It is, but it depends on what you are doing with it, from what i have heard. Since SEO is based on proper linkage, if you are doing any navigating with ajax, i would just put in static links under the ajaxy part in another division. Any other thaughts on this?
 
I didnt mean cut it lower, I meant to say cut it shorter so that your logo could be bigger. It looks a little cramped and is only text as it is.

Personally, it looks good. If ya get some good shit up there, Ill definitely bookmark it for when I need to study.

Gotcha- we'll see what happens when the designer gets me my logo choices
 
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