Deardorff Communications website

Submitted by JohnWilliams713 on Wed, 2006-03-29 14:05.

Critique

This is a website for a design firm / marketing agency in Atlanta. The site is completely xHTMlL/CSS. The current site is flash and looks dated. This update was to create a modern, sleek, sexy web presence. Also of note, try printing a page. I've developed a nice print style sheet that reorganizes the data that better suits a printed page.

Check the full site here: http://www.deardorffinc.com/beta

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Looks very nice. The only

Submitted by keesj on Wed, 2006-03-29 15:18.

Looks very nice. The only thing I dislike is the alignment of the header. It should have left margin IMO. Ow, and the flash text appears delayed so the layout jumps (just a little) around.

Agree with Keesj

Submitted by Jammo on Wed, 2006-03-29 15:30.

It looks really really nice, but im a bit unsure about the gaps on the left, they dont feel right to me, either move the header over and sort somehing out in the bottom left, or do something to balance the page up. Having the flash movie out to teh side like that doesnt do anything for me, but the flash movie itself is really nice :)

Great work with the site, looks nice :-)
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jammindesigns.co.uk

Alignment

Submitted by JohnWilliams713 on Wed, 2006-03-29 16:32.

The alignment of the header was a very concious decision. The main part of the site follows an 8 column grid and we're using the header image to break up the monotony of a normal grid based design. Sort of a conventional vs. experimental dichotomy without being too over the top. I think the header pinned to the left gives the site visual interest and makes it stand out among otherwise boring grid based designs.

3 cents

Submitted by pechos on Wed, 2006-03-29 17:16.

Hey John,

The site does have a pretty slick overall look and feel.
I was not 100% on the indents at first, but they are growing on me. I do like the fact that they break convention a bit, and I think should you choose to leave them as is, that would not be a mistake. I do not find it disruptive by any means.

The one thing I do not like about the site however is the fact that there is some horizontal scrolling that needs to be done on 800 x 600 res. That would drive me crazy if I was to be checking out this site as a casual user or potential client, and I am sure it is going to annoy some folk. My opinion is that the master image should have been reduced a bit in size to accomodate for this issue. Taking a second look, it might even make the balance between copy and imagery a bit more balanced.

Not a huge deal however, but something I would have tried to account for. Overall nice job Doode.

Fixes...

Submitted by Creative_NRG on Wed, 2006-03-29 19:22.

Overall, I really like the new look. However, I'm not wild about the company name all running together in the header. [Maybe change the color or weight slightly of "Deardoff" to help readability.

As mentioned, the style sheet on the headers appears to be causing a 'jump' to the pages. Also, the entire 'NEWS' area is filled with busted links in the Nav.

It would be nice if the 'our work' area followed what you have in 'solutions' to show examples in 'branding, print, web, and mobile'. [To make room you could consider moving 'client list' into 'company' and I'd toast 'Awards and Publications'. It's a really short list and the humor behind explaining why didn't impress me.

All minor things and this deisgn is a big improvement over what they had. Nice work!

response

Submitted by JohnWilliams713 on Thu, 2006-03-30 14:27.

Sorry about the confusion on the blog links. Those links will be active once the site goes live. It's in beta testing and is being QA'd around the office. It's to much of a hassle to link up the blog to the rest of the site just to have to go back and change it all again before pushing live. Sorry I neglected to mention that.

The DC logo actually does have two different weight. It's Univers 57 Condensed and Univers 47 Condensed. I'll play with the type styles in photoshop to make it more distinctive, but I can't change it as it's in the company's brand guidelines.

As for the awards section, I agree. I don't think it should be there yet. It doesn't make sense to display the company's lack of recognition, but the powers that be stand by it. I disagree about showing examples of print, web, mobile, etc on those services page because we're in the business of providing the whole package. That's the reason we focus on case studies. That way we can show how , with one client we were able to solve their print, branding, web, and mobile needs as one cohesive campaign.

Follow Up

Submitted by Creative_NRG on Thu, 2006-03-30 15:33.

I see what you're talking about with the 'our work' area but the first time I visited the site I thought there was only one example for each case study. [I didn't realize I had to wait 4-5 seconds for the image to switch] I just clicked through the case studies one after another once I discovered there weren't additional links.

You might want to consider putting links on the services to the right of each case study to give the visitor control. It's frustrating having to wait only to get another snap shot with no explanation of what you're seeing.