I spent most of the summer redesigning my website (and waiting for fall!). I used some new presentation methods, and I wonder what members if this fine community may think. Many of the images have appeared here on NPN. Your comments and criticism are welcome. Thanks.
Posted by Richard Wong on September 12, 2008 at 2:06 AM
The navigation is good as long as good image choice. What I would do is move the images closer to the thumbnails so I dont' have to scroll down just to see the image. And the verticals do not fit entirely on my screen w/o scrolling.
Powerful images displayed in an easy to view format.
Posted by Kenn Leonhardt on September 12, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Looks pretty good. I'd recommend removing the ugly blue borders that go around your navigation links. Just add border="0" within the img tags.
Posted by Brad Mangas on September 12, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Initially looks good Jeffery. I do think images in gallery should be moved up slightly closer to the thumbnails to prevent viewer from having to always scroll down to see each image entirely. It has the classic dark look which bodes well for photography. One additional point I may mention is that images description I believe is beneficial to the viewer, even something as simple and obvious as "Zebras At Watering Hole", or "Fern Detail In Old Growth Forest". Anyway I think you have done a good job. If your like me you will be tinkering around and fine tuning it for sometime. Have fun.
Brad
Posted by Guy Tal on September 12, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Great images, Jeffrey, and although I'm generally biased against Flash, it does work well here and streamlines the navigation. I agree with the comment above on scrolling. On all but a large high-res screen, the images are cut off at the bottom which spoils the initial impact a bit. Maybe moving the thumbnails to the side rather than over the main image will make for a more effective layout?
Guy
Posted by Lon Overacker on September 12, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Jeffrey,
Your work is showcased well and that is of course the most important thing. Your work is excellent. As far as the website goes, here's a few thoughts:
1. Any plans to add an "about/bio" page? Print info? Artist statement? I know that too much info can be bad and overwhelming - I think my new site suffers from that, but on the other end, lack of information can be a detractor as well. It's finding that happy medium.
2. I agree about having to scroll to see the full vertical images
3. Definitely put in the border=0 for the nav bar. I might even consider downsizing the nav menu a tad
4. I don't mind slide shows, but as a viewer, I would like to have the option of stopping it for those times when I want to examine an image for more than 5s.
5. I'm sure a function of the flash design, but what I found somewhat distracting is the fact that the 5 displayed thumbnails always switch back to the 5 thumbnails that contain the currently displayed image. In other words, while the slide show is playing (which I can't pause,) I'm scrolling thru the thumbnails (next 5, next 5, etc.) Then, as soon as the displayed image slides to the next image, the group of thumbnails jump backwards to the set that contains the current image. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well, but I should be able to scroll thru the images independently of the currently displayed image.
- This is of course a personal opinion and really just a minor annoyance. I don't know anything about flash so I don't know if it's something that can be tweaked or not.
6. Brad brings up a good point. The images should have titles or file numbers so any potential customer can reference it for purchase or inquiry.
Hope this helps. I too spent the summer rebuilding my site so I feel your pain... :-) My conclusion was - and still is: If you can afford it - pay someone else.
Discussion
7 repliesMy Photo Site
Brad
Guy
Your work is showcased well and that is of course the most important thing. Your work is excellent. As far as the website goes, here's a few thoughts:
1. Any plans to add an "about/bio" page? Print info? Artist statement? I know that too much info can be bad and overwhelming - I think my new site suffers from that, but on the other end, lack of information can be a detractor as well. It's finding that happy medium.
2. I agree about having to scroll to see the full vertical images
3. Definitely put in the border=0 for the nav bar. I might even consider downsizing the nav menu a tad
4. I don't mind slide shows, but as a viewer, I would like to have the option of stopping it for those times when I want to examine an image for more than 5s.
5. I'm sure a function of the flash design, but what I found somewhat distracting is the fact that the 5 displayed thumbnails always switch back to the 5 thumbnails that contain the currently displayed image. In other words, while the slide show is playing (which I can't pause,) I'm scrolling thru the thumbnails (next 5, next 5, etc.) Then, as soon as the displayed image slides to the next image, the group of thumbnails jump backwards to the set that contains the current image. I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well, but I should be able to scroll thru the images independently of the currently displayed image.
- This is of course a personal opinion and really just a minor annoyance. I don't know anything about flash so I don't know if it's something that can be tweaked or not.
6. Brad brings up a good point. The images should have titles or file numbers so any potential customer can reference it for purchase or inquiry.
Hope this helps. I too spent the summer rebuilding my site so I feel your pain... :-) My conclusion was - and still is: If you can afford it - pay someone else.
Lon
"I got blisters on my fingers" --John Lennon