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Website critiques Website Designer's Portfolio Site - Creative-Dynamics

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    Still sorting some last minute alignment issues but feedback will be truly valued.

    http://www.creative-dynamics.eu

    Thank you in advance.
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      CommentAuthorSpydaWeb
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2010
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    Site looks good. I would only suggest one thing and that would be make your sitemap an actual page with clickable links not just a link to the xml one (I'm presuming put in there to satisfy Google).

    If you're linking to a sitemap it will be clicked by people looking to find their way, what's there at the minute won't help them.

    Other than that I like the design :)
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    Thanks that means alot!
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    Hiya,

    I like the design, I would look at the following areas:

    Accessibility - your image rotator on the homepage all have the same filler text alt attribute, meaning that content is invisible to screen readers, and search engine etc. Remember, if you are using images to show text content, make sure the is a text equivalent.

    Other issues include your use of flash for the contact form, this content is completely invisible to users as well. I am also surprised that your using that particular flash design, the text represented on the top of the card is small and unreadable, its also pixelated. This could cause confusion for users (eg, is it content they should know about, are you hiding something, ).

    Other issues with the markup include the incorrect use of tables for layout, and poor obtrusive use of javascript. I would consider that this site has been generate at least in part using dreamweaver and fireworks (i am pretty sure i have seen those JS functions before). I am suprised with you experience and services on offer you are not hand coding / using modern table free layouts.

    Other issues are around the interaction with the lightbox gallery, a couple of the images / screenshots open at 900px x 800px, this will cause scrolling and screen lock for most users (as a general rule i try to keep thickboxs to a max height of 450-500px).


    If i was being really nitpicky i also notice a few issues with your copy, for example, Illustrating rather than "illustration". Other areas i would be concerned about is copy like the following:

    "We can analyse your business and optimise your search engine placement bringing relavant and valuble visitors to your site and getting you that valuable 1st page position on Google and other Major Search Engines."

    in some areas of the site you are using the first person, (i) and in other places referring to many (we) as i said, being nit picky but these things are important.

    Sorry if the critique seems harsh, however the site has several implementation issues which let down the very strong design.

    Cheers,

    Jamie + Lion
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    Thanks Jamie,

    Not harsh at all, I know its coming from one of the best. :)

    Will get working on that right away.
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      CommentAuthorDoug S.
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2010 edited
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    I agree with Jamie about the markup and accessibility (and not just because he knows more about both of those things than I do).

    Since he has that stuff pretty under control I'll review a few other aspects of the site...

    Content
    Looking at the text, as Jamie says, you mix your tenses a bit and are a little wishy-washy. If this is an "I" company than be an "I". Likewise, don't say "we" if it's only you. I know some people think it makes you look professional but I really don't think it does. You can be a pro and be an "I". Look at Dan Rubin and Elliot J. Stocks.

    As for the text, you use a lot of, "we can" and "if" sort of language. It basically comes across as, "If you let us, here's what we could do for you." Instead you should be writing with a tone more like, "If you hire us here's what we WILL do for you." Be more assertive and less "you can" and "you should". Using things like "Click here to download X!" instead of "You can click here to download X!" can have a better effect on conversion.

    In your portfolio section you need to review your links. Some of them aren't leading to the right images (or any images). To address the issue where it's loading big images you might want to switch to Fancybox as it will scale your images to fit in the screen (or not if you tell it not to). The other option is Shadowbox which, if the image is too big, will make it draggable.

    Design
    Right, let me start by saying I'm a design-nazi-snob who holds other people to a higher standard than I do myself, half the time. So keep that in mind when I'm pointing stuff out I'm being a bit more exacting than is probably necessary. I'll let you decide where you want to draw the line.

    First thing I notice on your site is your navigation. It lines up with nothing. If you moved it down it'd get lost in your caption (which looks like a link but isn't). Instead I'd say move it up in line with the top of your logo and make the text bold. Right now it gets lost a bit so you really need to draw attention there.

    At the very top of the page you have a "Text Only" version of the page. I'm going to be honest, I'm not sure what the point of that really is when the services you're providing are highly visual in nature. However, if you're going to add that I would either hide it from normal users or at least de-emphasize it. Make it a dark tan and move it to the right side of the screen or something to that nature.

    Your software and experience section has these really highly-polished logos which are rather pretty but they don't match the initial branding you've created for yourself. Your header and titles are grungy while they're "web 2.0"-ish in nature. Also, they're all one image which is bad for SEO and accessibility.You might want to review them anyway so the branding feels more consistent.

    The contact section has the exact same problem with yet one more visual style mixing in. That and Flash contact form... That is truly a sin, my friend.

    Right now, I think the biggest issue is that you have three different styles conflicting on the site. It'd be a good idea to choose one.

    The second issue (or first depending on your personal priorities) is the accessibility and code issues which definitely need to be addressed.

    You're listing coding as a service and as your site is right now I would not hire you. While what you're doing isn't extremely bad and you might be able to get away with on client work you're not going to get away with it on your own sites where people like us and other studios who might contract out to you are going to expect your work to be a level above anything that a client goes for.

    One of the reasons I'm going for Html5 on my own new personal site (still in heavy development) is because I want to show prospective employers that I am keeping up with the industry. Though I wouldn't recommend that for you since your site is about clients, I would say at least move away from tables as any savvy client who looks at your code is going to know something's wrong.

    One other thing I'd like to say is that you should always remember a website is a work in progress so while it currently has some problems these are all very fixable and a few are the sort of things you could do in a solid day of work. I'm looking at the designs you do and at your site and I fully believe you're capable of fixing the stuff we're picking on you for. The design is nice and clean and has a good flow. The other thing, which is rather nice, is that the site does feel like you've followed some of the current trends a bit but while some people imitate this feels like you've said, "Yeah, I like that. Now how can I make it work for me?" which isn't always easy to pull off.

    Hope you've found some of this useful and don't think I'm just ripping into you!
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    First of all, thank you so much for your detailed analysis. Receiving feedback from a 'Design Lord' is valuable for a Peon such as me! You have certainly given feast for thought!

    CONTENT

    What can I say, you are completely right! I will change this to be more assertive with more direct call to actions. The Text Only option at the top left was put there as that is the first place of where a screen reader would see. Would you believe I actually used to be a accessible designer and used to produce sites BOBBY AAA but have gone completely wayward! I get your point about de-emphasizing it but at the same time am in conflict, kind of need Jamie's advice on this as he seems in tuned with online accessible design at the moment.

    DESIGN

    Navigation - I have always thought in the back of my mind that the usability of this wasn't great, I will re-address it and take on what you have said.

    Interesting what you say about the mixture of three designs, I actually didn't want to focus only on one style (Creative-DYNAMICS) and was going for a 'Retro Grunge' look which after long thinking could probably be called 'Indie'. With polished logos of my software experience (with the Indie style in mind) I was going for a 'Sputnik' kind of thing but realize now how it could be seen as Web 2.0. Hmmmm I am confused now.

    The contact section is very different (coffee, biscuits etc.) but DID feel that this maybe didn't go with the style but liked it too much to exclude it. The Flash form was just something I stuck there for the time being and DEFINITELY needs to be updated when I find a suitable script for there.

    I am focusing more on developing using DIVs now rather than tables but its a steep learning curve and is frustrating and can't find much in quick and concise tutorials.

    From what I can see Doug, you went to UoA right? After talking with my wife who also went there (now at Design Academy Eindhoven) Set styles in design is extremely important. Something which I could have learned and have benefited me alot, if I took a more Art & Design route rather than a Creative Computer scientist! (Especially that I am better at design than coding!).

    I would be really interested in your opinion on whether I should go with this 'Indie style' (now that I have labeled it) or whether I should put my foot down on set style like Grunge.

    Thanks again m' lord!
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    I have been advised that a 1 page website is really bad for SEO as it decreases the page rank.

    I wouldn't have thought so much with the landing page having the most keywords, content and meta tags?

    What are your opinions in terms of potential client impression on a 1 page site? Do you think they would prefer a more segmented approach and have multiple pages?

    As always, open to new ideas and improvements.
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      CommentAuthorDoug S.
    • CommentTimeJul 10th 2010 edited
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    starydynamo wrote: I have been advised that a 1 page website is really bad for SEO as it decreases the page rank.

    Never heard that one before. In fact, didn't we have a discussion about just that topic on the forum? I thought the consensus was it wouldn't be bad for page rank.

    Rich?

    starydynamo wrote: What are your opinions in terms of potential client impression on a 1 page site? Do you think they would prefer a more segmented approach and have multiple pages?

    To be honest, I think it's all on how you sell it. For example, I think single-page designs allow you to more easily create a narrative across your content. For example, on the new single-page website I'm creating for myself the narrative goes like this: Hi! Here's who I am, here's what I use and what I do with it, here's who I've done it for and here's how you can contact me. The page will allow you to float from section to section but it makes that base-narrative much more clear because I can give each point in the narrative it's own little section on the page which is clearly followed by the next piece.

    With multi-page sites it's more difficult and I think that the use of multi-page sites is more crucial when the narrative is more complex. A company like Apple would have dozens of theoretical narratives to tell and their site structure reflects that. My personal site has a very simple narrative: Here's what I do now hire me.
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    Doug S. wrote: In fact, didn't we have a discussion about just that topic on the forum? I thought the consensus was it wouldn't be bad for page rank.

    Can you provide a link to this discussion, I have searched the forum but can' t find it?

    Many Thanks
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    AH GOT IT!!

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