Website updated. Need advice/critique fresh eyes......

[SignManiac]

C'mon Adrian, be a man and pull them out three at a time

 

[signmeup]

C'mon Adrian, be a man and pull them out three at a time

Ouch!! That'll make your eyes water! More fun than messin' with website issues though.....

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Gypsy my own sign is the one on the homepage that reads "Handcrafted Signs".

In that case...

I'd like like to see your sign used in the header and utilize that center content area for a "featured sign of the month." this will keep your site looking updated/fresh and allow you to highlight whatever sign your most proud of. give some nice fluffy info but NOT all the details... keep that part brief and they'll be compelled to read more. but do include some words that will be good for the search engines, such as HDU.

i think just a few alterations will make a difference in the overall look. toning down that bright green and deepening the red works better with the old-world concept as well.

 

[J Hill Designs]

nice, GG!

Ouch!! That'll make your eyes water! More fun than messin' with website issues though.....

Haha that usually makes me sneeze

 

[signmeup]

Some great suggestions there GG! Thanks! I'll get on that as soon as my wesite induced tics subside. I can only stand small doses. I can work on turning the 'Handcrafted" sign into a logo though. Thanks again!

 

[signmeup]

I see Joe Diaz lurking down there.... any suggestions Joe?

 

[TheSellOut]

Oh yeah, Gypsy's got it!! Nice touch!

 

[Jim Doggett]

Should have mentioned... the first two pics on the business signs page open to pages about the sign you just clicked. I intend to make all the pics do this eventually. Does this seem like a good idea? Or should I just let the pics get bigger and forget about the second page?

Noooooooooooo!!!! Never mysterymeat navigation. Say Click Here to See All Our ... or whatever. Don't hide the good stuff -- make (tell) people to look at the good stuff, if they aren't already.

IMHO

 

[Ghost Prophet]

I used to do web design for a living and although your site does not resemble CNN or something with an obsessive amount of flash/css work... It is really nice and easy on the eyes, perfect for a sign business. If I had to judge poorly on something it would be the "Showpiece Signs" banner. It looks a bit distorted and I think the shadow you have around the rectangle border could be a little darker. ^_^

 

[signmeup]

One more vote for "make a logo already" eh? Thanks for looking ghosty.

 

[Ghost Prophet]

Gypsy my own sign is the one on the homepage that reads "Handcrafted Signs".

Heath, I've never done a logo for Showpiecesigns.... I just come up blank.

Right now I'm battling a jpeg that won't load...... Argggg! I love the program (Xara) when I'm making the site but it's a pig when you want to load or edit the site.

Why are some of your images JPEG and others PNG? Why not just make them all PNG? Much higher quality and "tweak-ability" in my experience.

 

[signmeup]

Xara does that on its own. I start with all jpegs. When you click "export as website" it makes some files png. Don't know why.

 

[Ghost Prophet]

Xara does that on its own. I start with all jpegs. When you click "export as website" it makes some files png. Don't know why.

It's because JPEGs can't be transparent. The program is creating PNG files when it needs to stack more then one image, which is silly, they should just all be PNG. Bad programmers.

 

[signmeup]

It's because JPEGs can't be transparent. The program is creating PNG files when it needs to stack more then one image, which is silly, they should just all be PNG. Bad programmers.

Bad programmers? Well....... lets see your software for people with little to no idea of how to make a website. If it beats Xara for ease of use and the things it lets me do I'll be mighty impressed.

btw....what issue are the jpegs giving you anyway? To be honest I don't even know what a png is. How do I make one and can I edit it in photoshop like a jpeg?

 

[signage]

Signmeup a png is a portable network graphics. They can be created in Corel.

 

[signmeup]

Thanks Brian. I just googled it. Sounds like a tubocharged gif but without the animation. I dug into the software a bit and it seems I can click a box that makes all the images into pngs or if unchecked it leaves my jpegs alone and makes the other images it needs as it sees fit. Bad operator apparently.

 

[Joe Diaz]

It's because JPEGs can't be transparent. The program is creating PNG files when it needs to stack more then one image, which is silly, they should just all be PNG. Bad programmers.

Bad programmers? Maybe not. Some (mainly older) browsers don't display PNGs correctly. We used to not use them at all. Now we use them but only when we need to.

 

[signmeup]

Here is a pic of the mods I made per GG's ideas/suggestions. I thought I would post it up before I changed the actual site. Any thoughts before I put it up? (I have only done the one page so far)

 

[TheSellOut]

100% improvement SignMe!! The original header seamed so generic which your work is anything but! I'd say run with it!

 

[signmeup]

Finally got the site up with the suggested changes. http://showpiecesigns.com/index.htm

Special thanks to GG and Heath!!

Still can't get the "contact" and "info gathering" forms to work....but I'm too busy to care right now. I used a primitive "fix" on the contact page. It'll do for now.