critiques plz

It's better than some flash intros... Although the banner coming in with your logo and url animates for too long. (or delays the loading in of the text underneath for too long.) Also I think it would be best if the nav and content at the bottom both faded in right at the start, or at least just after the intro text on the left comes in.

Also, on first glance I didn't know if there was even going to be anything in that grey space above the nav. Perhaps have some kind of feedback saying 'loading' from the start.

I also only saw the content at the bottom the second time I saw it - another reason to fade it in from the start.

Hope this helps:-p

Jeff,

Leaving all Flash prejudice aside I think the fact you keep elements constantly moving at the start is good. I always thought the worst mistake of any site was to throw a loading bar as the first visual presented to any user.

As for the intro....I think once your site elements and navbar are in place you should proceed to load the girl image directly which is a strong picture , especially when used with the silver background. The ten to twelve seconds or so it takes for the "train track" type animation is not contributing towards people getting a good grasp of your sites purpose and I've seen similar effect on countless Flash sites. From the preview of your future content, I think it's the strong element that will intrigue most people rather than using a Flash effect to reinforce your professionalism.

The position of the navbar seems a bit counter intuitive to me as it spilts up the site into almost two distinctive parts. The HK brand identity at the top and the Information resource at the bottom. I would maybe keep the navbar at either the top or bottom of the page, but this depends on how long an average page would be.

Perhaps as well the space on the left hand side could be used for new items as this will be the region where most peoples eyes will fall first and it's always a boon to see updated content as your first information.

Design crankiness aside, I've bookmarked it for future reference in the same folder as Creative Bits :wink:

Quote:

Design crankiness aside, I've bookmarked it for future reference in the same folder as Creative Bits

i wonder what that folder is called :)

first of all Jeff, i love it! ...and i'm your target right?

the only pieces i don't like:

- text on the girl's right with the big ...ME:01 makes the white copy on top of it a bit hard to read. the headers and content could be separated better as well.

- the soon you'll be able to subscribe with the arrow needs to redesigned altogether. it's just wrong. :)

- the headline "for designers by designers" doesn't fit with the rest of the design. it's a bit boring.

Hey hey, thanks all! I'll have to come back here whenever I'm out of creative juice, I've always wanted a place like this to go and get real advice. Showing stuff like this to anyone else only gets "wow"s and "thats so much cooler than my grandma's site".

Ivan, you're totally the target, and you inspired much of it! I know I had the colors picked out a long time ago, but can't really remember if I was here by then, either way, your site definitely encouraged me.

htanks everyone, mostly everything said is very very useful. Its always tough to wonder if other people will notice small flaws, or if its just me since I've been staring at it way too long.

Thoughout my life I've always had that problem, by the time I was done drawing, building, painting, writing or designing, I almost always feel dissapointed, like it didn't reach that pinnacle of perfection I had aimed for. After a while I have begun to attribute that in part to the fact that I stare at it so long.

bla bla bla

I just want to add some. I am used to be very strong with expressions so please don't take the way I speak personal.

The general comment - senseless. I think it is not the issue wether the intro is too long and what part of it you should make shorter. You made the intro for the sake of the intro and only because you enjoy creating animations. Sure it is your work, your site, but you meant it for people as well, right? I would say - cut the intro. It makes no sense and most people won't need it. People come for content, not for your coolness (unless you are selling cool stuff, not hosting and design). I wouldn't be enjoying watching the same intro every time I come and it seems like there is no way of skipping it.

Then, the girl. What does the girl have to do with design??? She looks like a dancing bitch (ugly dancing bitch) and see no relevance with design at all.

Then, the entire layout and information structure. None of it makes sense. It looks like you don't know what kind of content you are going to publish, and therefore cannot define which is more important and serve it appropriately.

Finally I must admit the site is very accurate. Despite that arrow in the left column that doesn't fit the rest of design.

P.S. I hope I was brutally honest enough ;-)

Well, I agree with the "get rid of the intro" comments... ANY web site with an intro is a web site I only visit once. Don't waste my time with your silly little intros, anybody with a few hours of time can come up with a flash intro, and they serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever.

However, given that the site is a hosting site for designers, I don't agree about the artwork, I think it'll be just fine.

I hesitate to comment, but under BLOG ARTICLES, you might check the spelling of controversy. :wink: