New Site Design.

[kjdenison]

I have updated my site again for the spring, the new design is implemented on all the main pages, anything beyond that is outdated and will be updated in the coming month. I could use lots of comments for the new style, if you think it will work alright, etc. Thanks guys!!

Kurt
www.kurtdenison.com

[snkTab]

The design looks great, but the fonts look bad. The big fonts are distorted and the small fonts run into each other.

[kjdenison]

good call. What i have built i had to build on a crappy windows pc and there is hardly a font library on it. I will be back in chicago tomorrow on my mac, and I am going to update all the fonts on the pages, and then i'll post and see what ya think. Thanks!

Kurt
www.kurtdenison.com

[PlaceofDis]

nice clean and simple design, i like it, but mentioned above the fonts do need some work, other than that i like it

[maya]

The design looks great, but the fonts look bad. The big fonts are distorted and the small fonts run into each other.

I have a problem with the ultra small fonts. :(

[kjdenison]

now i feel terrible about the font! It's a myriad pro font at 11 point. Does anyone have any suggestions? I haven't had a typography class till this coming quarter, so I basically look through them and use what appeals to me. I hate to just use a tahoma, times or arial kinda thing, but if it would be more effective I definatley will. Thanks!

Kurt
www.kurtdenison.com

[maya]

now i feel terrible about the font! It's a myriad pro font at 11 point. Does anyone have any suggestions? I haven't had a typography class till this coming quarter, so I basically look through them and use what appeals to me. I hate to just use a tahoma, times or arial kinda thing, but if it would be more effective I definatley will. Thanks!

Kurt
www.kurtdenison.com

I am just used to AA fonts and "Lucida Grande:. :) <-- that is just me though small is fine too small is bad for all visitors.

Everyone does not have perfect vision myself excluded. Just nice to think of others, thats all. :)

[javabear90]

The font is fine, it is just the anti-alising that is so bad, the text looks pixelated.

[kjdenison]

When i save the slices I save the text slices as .gif's. Where the main text is located I save those slices as .jpg's It keeps the load time down. Would it be worth my time to slice a section around that text also, and save that as a .gif also? What are some solutions?

Kurt
www.kurtdenison.com

[snkTab]

Actually I would suggest jpeging everyting within the picture even if it includes text. Or maybe better, placing the jpeg image down and then putting text over it (in html).

It's not really the font but the way it was incorporated into the picture. There is no anti-aliasing, which leads to your fonts looking blocky. In photoshop when you select the text tool, somewhere on the menu bar it should have a AA option. Yours is probally set to none, i prefer smooth most of the time.

When using small fonts though you dont want to use AA fonts, because it blurs. Well in some programs at least. I know in Paint Shop Pro (earlier versions) it blurs or looks choppy, while Photoshop does a good job of making it look nice. In your case you're not using AA but the font is still sticking together. It's because of the way your imaging app did it.

best advice: just play around until you find something you like.

[snkTab]

I am just used to AA fonts and "Lucida Grande

=P you are a true apple geek when you do web dev in lucida grande.

[maya]

=P you are a true apple geek when you do web dev in lucida grande.

:'( It's so easy on the eyes though. :o :)

[rozwell]

my biggest advice is...

-unify the site. settle for ONE design. ONE look and feel... its ok to mix it up, but after clicking around, it is really confusing as to where i am at.
-secondly learn Image Ready or how to use ' Save for web... ' in adobe programs. it is simply amazing. look for the option to save text in a different quality (higher) than the rest of the file, i know its there, but i cant remember where.

-rozwell

[Littleodie914]

Hmm. Yea, the font definitely needs to be changed to something AA. Other than that though, it actually looks really good. I really like the pictures for each section, especially the one on the music page. If you're feeling really enthusiastic, or maybe have some free time, I think it would be really nice to maybe set the inside of the navigation (where the pages show up) in its own frame, so that it doesn't have to reload the navigation bar every time you change sections.

[mnkeybsness]

I think it would be really nice to maybe set the inside of the navigation (where the pages show up) in its own frame, so that it doesn't have to reload the navigation bar every time you change sections.

Frames = NO!

we don't need to get into this discussion again, but it really doesn't take that much more time to reload those couple tiny images. Keep it simple.

[snkTab]

Frames = NO!

I agree. Never use frames.

[603]

i'm sorry, but your new "design" is an exact copy of how the Apple site used to look in the apple.com/g5/ section when they introduced the first G5 in the summer of 2003. the Apple pages had the same exact black gradient and light grey text for navigation, and obviously, you're using Myriad. i know the design was simple, but this is an exact copy. i wish i had a screenshot of it. shame on you!

http://www.pirated-sites.com

[603]

!

[maya]

!


You are RIGHT indeed. :)

[603]

http://www.apple.com/xserve/

this would be no big deal from a regular person, but this guy is a commercial designer... wow.

[snkTab]

lame...

[mnkeybsness]

I'm very disappointed to see this.

[rozwell]

shame on you.

' get a clue, get a job... '

[rendezvouscp]

This is indeed sad. I thought more of your designs in the past, but now, I'm quite sad. Furthermore, you could've done what you did in a much more standards compliant and spirited way. C'mon Kurt, get it together!

And seriously, why is this whole design so pixelated?
-Chase

[maya]

http://www.apple.com/xserve/

this would be no big deal from a regular person, but this guy is a commercial designer... wow.


That is even worse. "Kurt start your photocopiers". ;) :) <--- to late for that. :)

[The Past]

I have a question about the pirated-sites link posted by 603. First, thanks for the link, I was not aware of that site. Second, some of the examples there looked as if they may have used templates from one of those places that sell them to make the sites. In that case, it is possible that they look alike. Does this pirated-sites website look for that or consider that at all? Just curious.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Kurt's site as Apple obviously does not buy templates and build its site.

[kjdenison]

Wow!. I am just using their design as a frame for my content for the time being. I have tons of work to do on all the pages before i design a frame and navigation that i really like. I noticed it a while ago and thought it would be something nice and simple to drag in and use to start building. I hope its not illegal!!! im not selling anything, so i figured it would be fine for now. Im not sure who came up with me being a commercial designer? ha ha, I'm just a student, but thats ok. Im going to start working on a theme now though instead of waiting until I finish my content though!! I'll post my content with an updated theme later this week. Thanks guys.

Kurt

[603]

Does this pirated-sites website look for that or consider that at all? Just curious.

nah, i doubt that the webmaster of the site (Tim Murtaugh) does that. well, he may consider it, but it's impossible to know about all the different templates. you're right though, it would be pretty harsh to get called out as a plagiarizer when all you paid the same amount for the template as the other guy.

[The Past]

Thanks 603.