website critique please

[james]

I have been working on making my website cleaner. It is a tedious process. It is a flash site, so the pages are all done through photoshop.

I am not a pussy. If you have something negative to say, say it. ie: this is not a "constructive criticism" thread. The only way to 'better' something is by learning what is wrong and fixing it.

Bear in mind that I am not a graphic designer by any means. Sure, I would love my 'bio' and 'contact' page to look more "designerish" but I am not much of a designer.

oh...also I know there aren't a whole lot of images on there. That is not what I was fixing. I was merely making the layout cleaner and simpler to the eye.

http://www.jamesgottschalk.com

Thanks

[BURRITO_mike]

Super clean.
only thing i would change, is to make the navigation a little more obvious, took me awhile to figure out how to use it.. other than that its awesome

[Ed]

pretty sweet shots.

i think the website is a little bit dry though... your about and contact sections really need some work. maybe add some more colors, maybe add a nice background, one of your shots, and make it almost invisible, and a different background color? a dark color?

IMO websites with a white background are really boring, then when you have just whatever text you want on there (IE your about me section), it gets even worse.

you may want to add James whatever your last name is Photography... at first i was unsure of what i was looking at, then i noticed it was about photography.

also, maybe some captions to the pictures, or some kind of text describing the event or whatever it is?

the menu seems a little cheap.

you asked to be brutaly honest. so i am being honest about it.

dont take it the wrong way.

i had something else to say but i cant remember now, if i do ill post again.

and im no website expert myself so my opinion may not be the best

[james]

pretty sweet shots.

i think the website is a little bit dry though... your about and contact sections really need some work. maybe add some more colors, maybe add a nice background, one of your shots, and make it almost invisible, and a different background color? a dark color?

IMO websites with a white background are really boring, then when you have just whatever text you want on there (IE your about me section), it gets even worse.

you may want to add James whatever your last name is Photography... at first i was unsure of what i was looking at, then i noticed it was about photography.

also, maybe some captions to the pictures, or some kind of text describing the event or whatever it is?

the menu seems a little cheap.

you asked to be brutaly honest. so i am being honest about it.

dont take it the wrong way.

i had something else to say but i cant remember now, if i do ill post again.

and im no website expert myself so my opinion may not be the best

thanks for the honest :2cents: . it irks me when people want to learn but will only take constructive criticism.....what a joke!

anyways, yeah, i agree about mentioning that it is a photography site. I need to figure out a way to do it without saying "james gottschalk photography". that is so played out.

thanks again man

[Ed]

thanks for the honest :2cents: . it irks me when people want to learn but will only take constructive criticism.....what a joke!

anyways, yeah, i agree about mentioning that it is a photography site. I need to figure out a way to do it without saying "james gottschalk photography". that is so played out.

thanks again man

let me know when you update it, i'd like to see it again.

and yeah the whole "insert your name here" photography is kinda old

[Princess12]

Overall, I think it is a great start. You take awesome pictures and they deserve to be the focus of the website! I really like the homepage! Here are a couple of my suggestions:

-Find a way to integrate a photo into everything! After all, you are a photographer. What better way to display your range of subjects than to integrate them into every page.

-The overall layout is appealing, but when you scroll through the photos in your portfolio, the white space becomes pretty overbearing. Maybe continuing a theme similar to the homepage would add a little contrast and make the entire page more appealing without taking away from the photo displayed.

"About Me" Section
Not a huge fan of the font choice. I guess when I think about "clean," that particular font is not the one I would have chosen. My initial thought would be to use a photo as the focal point and a much simpler font to compliment it. There is also a spelling error. "Persue" should be "Pursue"

"Contact" Section
Again, I think I would choose another font.

[r0bb86]

Probably been said..
Not digging the font choices.
Maybe implement photography into the theme a bit more?

Good job though.

[Paul]

honestly... it looks like a flash site from 2001.

- too much flash; it isn't SEO friendly, takes too much time to load
- too much white
- txt isn't very clear

if you need any other help let me know i do development for a living.

[james]

honestly... it looks like a flash site from 2001.

- too much flash; it isn't SEO friendly, takes too much time to load
- too much white
- txt isn't very clear

if you need any other help let me know i do development for a living.

I don't have much choice on the flash standpoint. its a flash based site. I suppose the only thing I can do is make it look better. I don't really know how. As far as picture viewing, its going to stay the way it is. The contact and bio pages are the only things I can really change - its all photoshop. I suppose I could have something made in illustrator or what have you, but I am only fluent in photoshop.

What is SEO?
Too much white, I can fix that - the options aren't too varying though. I think I can do white, black, gray, off white....maybe a couple others


not too sure why the text is unclear. I need to just pick another font and re do those two pages. any specific font suggestions?

Thanks paul for the advice. I know you do this stuff way more than i do, so i appreciate the input.

[.blank cd]

This page requires Adobe Flash player.



Guess I gotta get off the iPhone. I'll check it when I get home

[Paul]

dude if you want a template i have access to a ton of them - all you need is an html editor like dreamweaver

[james]

ok i tried picking out some new fonts today. thanks to everyone for their advice and suggestions. if you would, take a second look. I think its a ton better, but I need more opinions than my own.

www.jamesgottschalk.com

[Paul]

looks better but still kinda blah

[.blank cd]

I like it, id rather see a black background. and instead of flashing the pictures to the next one in the slide show, can you fade them out to the next one?





nice work BTW!