Why Wait Webs Website

Mostly Coded: http://www.whywaitwebs.com/test/

Thanks again for the feedback.

Ha! I didn't notice the "halloween look" at all but once you mentioned it, it was absolutely glaring! I don't really understand what you're saying to replace it, but I've found something that I think will work.

Do you think the clock is working as it is? I don't really WANT to downplay it any more, unless it's really still taking over so much that it throws the design off.

I like the bullets idea but I doubt I'll have any ordered lists in the site :/

I think saying they have too much time on their hands is very disrespectful. I really appreciate the fact that they take time out of their busy schedules to help myself and other designers out. I think feedback is a very important part of any good design.

What's more, when I'm designing my own stuff I seem to have more trouble than usual, so the feedback is especially helpful.

I do appreciate your comments on my design. I don't think the water drops really had a reason to exist. Everything should have a purpose. They don't describe me, or what I do, or move towards me the image I want. I have always been partial to clocks, since they fit my theme, and honestly I just really like clocks. While I definitely think the old design could have worked with some more tweaking and a new graphic, I still feel a lot better about this one.

I'm not sure what you mean by the clock is linear... But, looking at it I definitely don't get the impression of wealth or expense. Maybe if it was a deeper gold, but the light brownish tint, for me, seems to go more along the lines of "your time is important" which is really what I'm going for. But I would love to hear others' thoughts on this because if wealth IS the impression you get looking at it, that's definitely not what I want my clients thinking about when they look at my site.

Agreed on the second portfolio link, thanks for the suggestion.

Anyway thank you for your critique, but just as I appreciate your critique I appreciate everyone else's and find it important.

"No disrespect to anyone specifically, but honestly, it's the same folks who seem to have way too much time on their hands critiquing everything on this site."

Kinda hard to take your comments any other way, dontcha think?!

So you figure that the people who critique less, and have "less time on their hands" are better designers? Hogwash. You just made a very ignorant judgement call, IMHO.

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"

Sorry. I need to take exception to your dismissal of "regulars" here by saying that they have too much time on their hands, as if that would the only reason to help struggling fellow designers.

This process is helpful to many of us who work solo and sometimes miss the dynamic of school, or larger workplaces where other perspectives can be brought to bear on the creative process. For that very reason, the time I spend on CB is of value to me even when my work isn't the subject of a critique. It isn't something I do to goof off. Well, sometimes it is, but very seldom. ;-)

With due respect to young Jt, it's simply not true that he is a more advanced designer than most of us, although that may not be the case forever, who knows?

Perhaps you only meant to reassure Jt with your post, which is very kind of you, and didn't realize that in doing so, you were insulting several other people. I'm sure a quick little apology now would go a long way toward preventing an unhappy reaction to the sight of your ID on future posts.

Thanks. Yep, spiderweb's gone, no doubt in my mind after that was pointed out :D Although, who knows, maybe I could put it back for halloween time!

The charcoal colored texture --- are you referring to the background?

I can't think of another color besides orange that would work here. Red screams "warning" -- last thing I want. Blue would cause the whole thing to be very dark, IMO. Yellow's just not powerful enough. Pink is...well, pink. And I can't really see green or teal working here. So if you want me to do it up in a different color, I'm not opposed to seeing how it looks (especially since it will take me less than a minute to change all the color most likely)...but what is(are) your suggested color(s)?

This is looking sweet! I'd lose the second contact button though cause you already have one clearly on top.

One last thing that seems to be bothering me is the "Make your business stand out in the ever-growing crowd"...doesn't sound right, but maybe that's just me.

Ship it out man, it's good to go.

Leaky Penny
www.leakypenny.com

“If you do what you love to do, then you won’t do it in an average way.”
~ Angela Bassett

"I liked your stuff and frequently disagree with most of the well established critiquers."

Just because you disagree with other folks here doesn't make you more or less qualified to help those that post here. How's THAT for an O?!

Oh, and by the way, before you start mentioning the Nazis, you might want to read up on your history. Enron stole people's money; Nazis stole peoples LIVES. Big difference, and I think it's idiotic that you are even comparing working for Enron or IBM akin to working for the Nazis. You're just plain ignorant!

I'll use my prerogative and continue ingoring your idiotic posts.

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"

"All I'm getting at here is that there's a line...some people offer valuable general critique on a conceptual level, but others go way overboard with very very specific suggestions, rambling on about how they would do it."

And who, in your majesty's opinion, should draw that line? You, or the OP?

The OP himself said he appreciated the feedback and time people put into making comments on his site. He himself was aware that the first idea wasn't a good one. He made his own changes to his site to make something he liked.

You speak of people having too much time on their hands , yet you just posted a huge post which, much like The Architect from the Matrix series, was just a bunch of rambling that pretty much said nothing.

But you gain extra points from me for the retarded statement that working for Enron, AOL, Ford and Fox is the equivalent of working for the Nazis.

You were quite entertaining.

Leaky Penny
www.leakypenny.com

“If you do what you love to do, then you won’t do it in an average way.”
~ Angela Bassett

Look I appreciate the encouragement and whatnot, but I have not found most of the critique I have gotten to cross that line. It has not been specific, and I do feel that the feedback received has helped me to improve my design skills, not just this particular design. And I'm certain this is a much, much better layout than my first one, a lot more confident in it, and I do feel like it represents me better than the original.

To compare those corporations to the Nazis is very disrespectful and ignorant. Business is one thing; it gets kinda nasty. But that comparison is just plain wrong, the Nazis were in a league of nastiness much, much higher.

It's nice to hear that you don't despise my previous work as vehemently as the others, and I know that there will ALWAYS be disagreements even among very good graphic designers. But the feedback is important to me, and I do not think it's crossed the line.

No one told me to put my logo on the right side, or to use that texture of background, or these specific colors. But based on the feedback people have given me, I took the general ideas and created something much better.

Maybe you haven't noticed, but most of us have profiles here that contain links to our Web sites and/or e-mail addresses. It's relatively easy to direct comments to someone privately if you want to.

Wow! Apparently we're not the only ones with too much time on our hands!
:-)

Very good point! It was bugging me now that you mention it as well! Thanks :)

Okay, so I have mostly finished coding of the layout if anyone is interested:
http://www.whywaitwebs.com/test/

Everyone, thanks so much for all the feedback, I have not found it to stifle my creativity at all, I just think it has helped me to improve.

"I would be willing to defend my comment about how coordinating communication logistics (designing websites) for the big death corporations (oil, cars, disinformation media) is conceptually similar to IBM's role in WW2, but this isn't the place to get into it."

Well, please don't bother because you are comparing apples to oranges. Why bring the Nazis into this thread, thereby totally hijacking it?

I do apologize for attacking you personally because I don't even know you so how could I possibly attack you personally. So how's this: "Your ideas are idiotic." There, that's better.

As for being pompous you take the cake, my friend. Oh, and hypocritical as well (your "time on your hands" comment being the one that jumps to mind first!) You DO presume to be more qualified to critique posts than designers with "too much time on their hands"; that was your first post on this thread, remember?!

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"

On my monitor, "business" isn't orphaned. It depends on your monitor size, resolution, the size of your browser, the text size default of your browser, whether you have it up or down, etc etc...

It's impossible to micro-manage text as you suggest on the web, unless you use PX measurements which is bad design, or else use a graphic, which is really REALLY bad design. So I'm not sure what you'd suggest.

See you at Elsewhere, Mara. Good topic.

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa

i agree with all of mbennett's comments. it's definitely improved quite a bit.

i think you can scale your objects and text down quite a bit. see the comments on jhouse's web site critique. it's a very easy trap to get into with oversizing things. it's hard to figure out where to start looking on the page. hierarchy can be accomplished without oversizing. and your text doesn't need to be nearly that large to be readable.

i think he's right about needing a 3rd (tertiary) color, one that provides a little contrast. not as punchy as the orange, but maybe something more like the beigy-green that's in the top left corner of your clock or from the gradient inside.

i wouldn't use your logo in the word "web design." you're diluting the logo like that. no need to get cutesy with it.

i don't think you need the word "message" above your title page text. or if you want a title, try something a little less generic than the word "message." even "who we are" or "what we do" is better, although still very generic.

Thanks for the comments.

Not sure what you're saying is too large. I wouldn't make the text smaller as there's not enough of it to fill out the page, and the buttons are a good size IMO.

As far as the layout itself, it's the standard 950px, and I am not a big fan of sites whose main area is about 1/5th of the page, at least on my 24" monitor. 950px is big enough to look good on big monitors, but small enough to not stretch horizontally except in very rare scenarios. It's the "sweet spot", imho.

I hear you on the logo, in hind-sight I probably would have put it on the top left, and had the clock on the right side facing left. But I would have to completely redraw the clock as it's not in the proper perspective to be on the other side. And if I don't switch the clock's position, it throws the balance off just moving the logo. So thanks for the suggestion and I agree, although at this point in the game I don't think I'm going to go backward to fix it.