View my 1st website

[computercat]

Hi all, 1st off I love 1st page 2000. great editor.
2nd, I made my 1st offical website. http://www.angeliquesarbor.com
I am pretty much self taught on webdesign, just learning the joys of CSS and a little java script.
Go see, any feed back would be appreciated. Eventually want to go to school for web design.
Thanks,
computercat

[wing_sew]

Hi computercat! Loved your artwork, loved the snowflakes from the mouse, loved your pages.

If I were making a wishlist for your pages I would want: The kissing angel in the bottom to be animated, and a bit larger of a font. My eyes are bad, so a larger size would make it easy for folks like me.

I have been told that it is not technically correct to place your text on top of a graphic such as you have done with the first page but the roses look really good as a background. Perhaps with a larger text the words will not compete with the background.

Well done,

T

[DCElliott]

This is both a generic and a specific observation.

I have a number of creative friends who do 'manual' artwork who also have websites. Somehow their sites accumulate a bunch of little icons, animations, graphic backgrounds all competing for the viewer's eye and detracting from the main purpose of the site - to showcase their artwork! When you hang paintings in a gallery, do you make sure there is flowery wallpaper behind them and flashing lights to distract the viewer? Do people have to pass through the equivalent of a carnival souvenir shop to get to your pictures? You see where I am heading here, don't you?

There are some very good virtual galleries on the net, but they are very clean and simple. Just like it is difficult to get the right balance of space and light in a real gallery, you have to try to achieve the same balance in a webpage. . . and I don't think you have done that. This may not have been the reaction you were expecting, but I don't crap on everyone, only ones I believe are worth it. ;)

I don't know what skills you have in terms of Photoshop or other image manipulation software. You really do need some graphics that match the quality of your other work. Graphics that are picked up from web "design" sites are rarely able to provide a coherant graphical theme to a site. Instead they serve up a confusing smorgasbord of styles that are unsettling.

Step back and take a hard look at the site and my comments. I think you can showcase your talents in a far better way. There is help available here if you decide to do so.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum :hmmmm:

An example of a very 'clean' site would be that of my friend Stephen Patterson (http://www.stephenpatterson.com/frames-mainpage.htm).

DE

[Terminator1138]

I agree, when designing sites, you can't make them so much artsy, cuz you take away from your work and visitors get lost.. For first site, not bad though, i've seen some that have done many and still does not look that good.

[computercat]

This is both a generic and a specific observation.
Hi and thanks for your critique of my website, much appreciated to have an unbiased opinion.

When you hang paintings in a gallery, do you make sure there is flowery wallpaper behind them and flashing lights to distract the viewer? Do people have to pass through the equivalent of a carnival souvenir shop to get to your pictures? You see where I am heading here, don't you?
I have a plain colored background behind the pictures displayed. So I am confused on what you are talking about here. I have only 1 url background on the lst page the rest are plain. So maybe you could be more specific for me. :hehe:
There are some very good virtual galleries on the net, but they are very clean and simple. Just like it is difficult to get the right balance of space and light in a real gallery, you have to try to achieve the same balance in a webpage. . . and I don't think you have done that. This may not have been the reaction you were expecting, but I don't crap on everyone, only ones I believe are worth it. ;)
Dont mind your reaction at all, glad to know that mine is "worth it" I have 2 animated gifs on these pages and you dont see them once you scroll down to see the art work. :order:
I don't know what skills you have in terms of Photoshop or other image manipulation software. You really do need some graphics that match the quality of your other work. Graphics that are picked up from web "design" sites are rarely able to provide a coherant graphical theme to a site. Instead they serve up a confusing smorgasbord of styles that are unsettling.
I have BANNERPRO 6 as my button and gif manipulater. Are you talking about the buttons I made in the navagation side that isnt working with the rest of the website? I thought that the painters pallet gif worked with her theme of paintings and murals. The princes fairy for her ebay page button is the gif that represents her Ebay business
Step back and take a hard look at the site and my comments. I think you can showcase :) your talents :) in a far better way. There is help available here if you decide to do so.


Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum :hmmmm:
Thanks!!
An example of a very 'clean' site would be that of my friend Stephen Patterson (http://www.stephenpatterson.com/frames-mainpage.htm).

DE

See the above replies after the quotes........thanks :order:

[Tarmithius]

Okay I will start by saying that there are two body tags in the source html. This can easily be fixed though. You are missing alt descriptions for your images. On the second and third pages there seems to be these tags < > just below the main logo and on the left hand side.

As far as DE was saying is that the site looks very unprofessional for someone who wants to sell their wares. Using buttons for navigation in that way just does not seem to work since you are using very pixelated gifs. The rose background is very distracting from the text and the rest of the site. Most people who would stumble in would think amateurish and move on.

I write these comments as constructive critisism so please do not take offense.

[computercat]

No offense taken I really appreciate the advice from pros. I will be working to make my site more proffessional as I learn more about web design.
Does anyone have any advice on a good but inexpensive on-line webdesign school or college?
Thanks,
ComputerCat >^..^<

[Terminator1138]

w3c schools....all the way...
google it

[DCElliott]

One of the most comprehensive series of tutorials for HTML and CSS is from Westciv (http://www.westciv.com/style_master/house/index.html) the folks who sell Stylemaster CSS editor. The link above leads to their tutorial page and there are a number there that can help. You need to learn the CSS and (X)HTML together because CSS changes the way we write HTML - the HTML gets simpler and more streamlined as we dispense with table-based layout and font tags. Since standards-compliance and validation are important one should try to work with the most standards compliant browser available which is currently Firefox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/). Get things working in Firefox (and validated) and then make the adjustments needed to get it working in IE and other browsers.

Now back to your design. I have to admit to a certain prejudice here. I hate animated gifs, am not fond of backgrounds that reduce text contrast and readability and feel that a lot of the iconsets (like the forward back home graphics) are kinda passe. So I kinda jumped in with my cleated boots and stomped around your page. But I do stand by my assertion that the site design is detracting from the art rather than enhancing it.

Here is what I would do.
Work up a color scheme that provides better visual contrast (use something like the Online Color Schemer (http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html)) I'd even consider putting your art against a near-white or a black background to give the art a contrasting but neutral-toned background. The art should have a lot of space around each image (think gallery space) rather than being cramped together. You need more content to really justify having a site. It appears the artist works in different media so there is a natural categorization for your pages. You need a better home page "about me" that tells more about what the all about. You might consider including a picture of the artist, even something like an over-the-shoulder shot at an easel if you don't want to show an identifiable face.

Everyone's aesthetics are a bit different. However, I do believe the web somehow encourages people to add too much decoration at times, detracting from content.

DE

[Dubzero]

i hate the falling things from your cursor
it's very innoing

[Terminator1138]

i hate the falling things from your cursor
it's very innoing
For the original poster who posted back in March? I do not see anything falling from the cursor what so ever.

A short word of warning:
In the past DubZero, aka thawebman aka thewebmanner, you have been forwarned about frivolous postings and we are giving you a new chance to change.
:cool: