Critique my site please.

[sepu]

Hey guys well ...
I've been working on this forever ! for real ..... Im never happy with it ...

But anyways .... Just to let you know there are some stuff that arent upload yet ... in the about section I need to upload the XML and in my portfolio I just upload some of it to see if it was working.

Anyway let me know what you think.

Thanks

http://www.hsdesign.org/

[mkrishnan]

It's a really nice concept and elegant implementation. :) Good work!

I would suggest though, that, if possible, you make it so that the big background block that comes out of the Rubik's Cube to show the actual content doesn't overlap the quick navigation bar at the top. On most of the pages / squares of the cube, it was not visible for me.

[heehee]

It looks really nice! :cool:

[sorryiwasdreami]

Yeah, I would suggest not stifling navigation for design effects.

HAHA! I just noticed that you are in my hometown of Carlisle, PA! Awesome, man.

[sepu]

Hey guys thank ...
Yeah I notice that ... I have to change that ... that isnt suppose to happend though if you have more than 1024 x 768 .....
but its happening anyway .. I'll fix that thanks ..

hahah Carlisle Im not from here originally... I live here for now .. because Im working in Harrisburg ... Carlisle is to quite for me though. Still nice small town.

[radiantm3]

Nice actionscripting, but like 99% of all flash websites, I got bored really fast because I have to wait 5-10 seconds going from page to page because of pointless transition animations. If anything, speed them up so that the time between pages is 3 seconds tops. People want things fast on the net and purposely slowing them down for the sake of having a transition is a bad thing.

[sepu]

hey radiantm3 is it too slow when you use the quick navigation ????
You think that I should make the animation faster than that or maybe none?

about the speed I have Cable so it loads pretty fast for me pretty much in everything I also tried in DSL and it also its pretty quick. so hopefully when first load isnt that slow.


thanks.

[Quboid]

That site is pretty good. I like!!
Did you learn all that flash on your own?:eek:

[radiantm3]

hey radiantm3 is it too slow when you use the quick navigation ????
You think that I should make the animation faster than that or maybe none?

about the speed I have Cable so it loads pretty fast for me pretty much in everything I also tried in DSL and it also its pretty quick. so hopefully when first load isnt that slow.


thanks.

Load time isn't slow at all. I'm on a 12mb down cable connection. It's the transition animations that bother me. They are definitely fine by me from a visual standpoint, just too slow. The quick nav is slightly faster, but the speed that the next pages draws out is still too slow for some people's patience. :)

[twoodcc]

i thought it was pretty good :)

[sepu]

hey Quboid yeah I've been working with Flash since version MX and little flash 5 didnt touch it too much though .... although not eveything on there is Flash the Cube is a 3D animation made in Maya.

radiantm3 I will take into consideration.
I might change that for some other kind I'll try stuff. I know what you mean with being patience :rolleyes:

I will do CSS version as well. Thanks .

[BilltheCat]

I just looked at it from work on a PC with 17" monitor.
It worked fine and is actually very nice work. The only thing I wished for is more content.

But that will come I am sure!

Great work!:apple:

[tominated]

:eek:







this is what smilies were made for :)

[aussieNickuss]

Looks great on my 15" iBook. I agree about the time it takes for animation transition from page to page. Also....the rubiks cube is "mystery meat" navigation....you have to hover over to know what it is. I know you have the navbar at the top....but it took me a while to notice it.

Other than that I think its great. :)

[grapes911]

To be honest, I didn't even browse though it. I opened it up, noticed it was flash, and then closed that sucker as fast as I could. I can't be bothered with a flash site. Sorry to say, but a lot of web users feel the same way.

[srf4real]

I enjoyed my visit. I was a little sad that there was no music.:)

[Wild-Bill]

To be honest, I didn't even browse though it. I opened it up, noticed it was flash, and then closed that sucker as fast as I could. I can't be bothered with a flash site. Sorry to say, but a lot of web users feel the same way.

I usually feel the same way about Flash sites. But to be honest, I felt the Flash was unobtrusive. I liked the site a lot. Great job!

[sepu]

thank you guys for the comments.


grapes911 - well that its up to you. Flash can be used in many forms and its great for interactivity and also all that "I hate Flash" I really dont understand that, its just another medium and if you know how to use and use it right you can do pretty neat stuff, etc. if you dont like I respect it. No problem I will have my CSS version as well so whenever its ready you can visit that one.


About the content yeah I have to add more. I just need to finish up some details.

I will address the transition time. I'll think in something else any ideas ?

Music MmMm Im kind of doubting that. Im not sure if I should or not.

tominated - ? didnt get your msg

[grapes911]

grapes911 - well that its up to you. Flash can be used in many forms and its great for interactivity and also all that "I hate Flash" I really dont understand that, its just another medium and if you know how to use and use it right you can do pretty neat stuff, etc. if you dont like I respect it. No problem I will have my CSS version as well so whenever its ready you can visit that one.

I guess my comments weren't very constructive. I'll elaborate.

Here are my “Flash Annoyances” (I am not saying to did any of these, I’m speaking more general). While these are not inherent to flash itself, they are common in flash sites and led to the poor stigma of flash.

1. Flash makes bad design more likely.
a. Flash sites are generally more concerned with looking good than having quality info. Flash intros and unnecessary transitions delay the user’s ability to get what they come for – content.
b. Flash sites have this theory that ‘If we can make something move, then why not do it?’ They never stop and ask ‘What gain does the user get out of that movement?’
c. Some flash sites make you wait a couple of extra seconds to watch redundant animations/transitions every time you click a link.
d. Flash pages are more likely to have sound. It’s just annoying.
e. Flash sites look more like a PowerPoint presentation than a website.
f. Many times designers create two versions of the same site. If you really need two versions, then the designer probably did something wrong or made a wrong choice. Why not integrate the two in to one kick ass site?

2. Flash doesn’t conform to web standards.
a. The back and forward buttons. They just don’t work well (although Flash MX has made them some what useful). If a user is browsing a Flash site and then hits the back button and it leaves the entire flash site, there is a chance they won’t come back. No one wants to sort though the pages again.
b. Flash developers sometimes create their own nonstandard GUI styles/controls. A user is used to how things look and work. Keep it that way so they don’t get frustrated and leave.
c. Search engines have trouble with flash. We live in a Google driven world. If users cannot easily find the site in at least one of the more popular search engines, then it might as well not exist.
d. The browser’s find/search tool doesn’t usually work.
e. The browser can’t overwrite fonts and sizes. This is terrible for people with poor vision or disabilities.

3. Flash requires too many resources.
a. Flash typically requires more bandwidth than an HTML site. Many people are still on dialup. The longer the page takes to load, the more people will tend to close the page before they even see it.
b. The resources used for the site could be better used to enhance the content.
c. Many times you can start using an HTML page even if it isn’t finished downloading. This is rare with a flash site.

Before developing something in flash, stop and ask yourself, ‘is this the most effective way to do this or will HTML work?’ HTML is more user friendly. That being said, I love when flash is integrated into a page much like a image. It can be extremely powerful this way.

Please don't take any of this personally. I'm just offering my opinions and experience with website development.

[sepu]

Im dont take any of these personally however now tell me what of all this that you say applies to my design.

1. is my site a very bad looking site? if so tell me where I can improve if you say so. And that usually Flash site are bad design, not even close my friend. I can show many studios that are pretty good.

2. Do you see a Flash Intro in my site? What do you mean with quality info? mine doesnt have that?

3. that isnt the true. You think that I thought ok I want movement in my site let make it Flash. No its all about interactivity.

4.Not all the time. And that was one of the reason that Im going to change my Quick navigation.

5.That is why I dont have sound.

6. Sorry but that its just funny "power point". I dont think so.

7. There is nothing wrong with the code. Is what you said one its for dial-up people and the other is who wants a different experience.

8. There is way for back buttons in Flash.

9.This applies to my site.

10. You can hide HTML links when you embed you flash movie. But isn't as HTML. Still works

11. Here is where you decide what is your target audience.

12. Use more bandwidth than HTML true, but if you know how to use Flash you can try to minimize that.

"Before developing something in flash, stop and ask yourself, ‘is this the most effective way to do this or will HTML work?’ HTML is more user friendly"

I know what you mean and I sit down and I plan before I created my site. I just didnt come and said "I want to make my site in flash because its cool or because it makes movement".

There are a lot of true in what you mention here however as I've said many time if you know how to use and when I dont see why not.
You just the best of both world.

[beefwellington]

Sepu,
I like the site. Being a designer (graphic), I like the clean look and nice use of color too. I agree that the transitions could be streamlined a bit, but they didnt bother me too much. You have to keep in mind that someone might be checking out your site along with 50 others, so anything to slow them down won't help you.

As for the Flash/no-Flash subtopic. You really cant generalize here. Many designers overuse flash, use too many animations, sounds, and doo-dads. Some of the most amazing and innovative content I have seen was devloped in flash. And sometimes the point of a website isn't always ease of use. It is the brilliant design and interaction. Surely many commercial sites require everything be very straight forward, and dumb it down for the lowest common denominator. I love to find a site that makes me explore and has an interesting twist on interactivity.

That's my 2 cents. Keep it up Sepu.

[sepu]

hey beefwellington
Thanks for your comments ....
yeah I'm totally agree with what you said about Flash site .... there's a lot of people who overuse it and just put everything that they can find in site, etc ....

its all about how and when to use my thing was its just another tool and you can make very cool stuff and can complement your design as well, like hybrid site (HTML, Flash, CSS) etc.

[enda1]

hang on. You do have sound! There is a clicky noise when clicking a link or even hovering over the cube. Very annoying in my opinion. I and i'm sure many people listen to music while browsing, (Stephen malkmus at the moment by the way!!).

So loose the sounds! Nice site though.

Just noticed. A load of stuff aint working for me. It asks me to contact you. How appropriate! Its in the who am i area etc.

[sepu]

yes I have those sounds on my btns ... I like them though ..... Thanks for your comments.
About the who Am I area..... I haven't upload the XML that is why you are getting that error, its just an error that I through there in case the XML doesn't load and since isn't there yet ...

Thanks

[Les Kern]

Sepu,
I like the site. Being a designer (graphic), I like the clean look and nice use of color too.That's my 2 cents. Keep it up Sepu.

I do as well... as for the "flash" comments above, I think they should be "reserved" for design businesses. :)
The site looks fantastic, and the modest changes suggested are optional.

[jaguarx]

Why does it take me 3-4 clicks and a good 10 seconds of pointless animation that covers the quicker ui to get from section to section? Why two separate navigational systems? Why do I have to mouse over everything to find out what it is? There's nothing wrong with designing decoration but decorated design is just plain bad. Form follows function, it never gets old.

Flash has its place and its uses but all-flash sites are slow to load, slow to use, largely pointless and extremely difficult to use for a lot of people. In the UK they actually breach disability access legislation in many cases.

[sepu]

if you read other post they told me about that the quick navigation. So I know that, I'll change that.

Why not 2 separate navigation systems? one for the user who which to interact with the site the other one who doesn't.

rollover to find out everything that is why you have the quick navigation so you don't find out.

Flash has its place and its uses but all-flash sites are slow to load, slow to use, largely pointless and extremely difficult to use for a lot of people. In the UK they actually breach disability access legislation in many cases.

That's why you decide that before doing the site ... that is what I call PLANNING.... and also there is where you decide what is the target audience. and many other thing. Pre-Production its the key for everything.
Slow to use well that depends how you use Flash.
Difficult to use, elaborate please ?
But once again all that it has to do with what you do before getting into the computer, just with a piece of paper and pencil.

And as I said earlier I'm doing the CSS version as well so people who hate flash can have an option. Dial up v/s Broadband.

Thanks for your comments Les Kern, jaguarx.

[Muskie]

You know, I see this argument all the time. And I agree with pretty much everyone's generalized statements here (yea wow, agreeing with many people on one subject, aha) But really it comes down to your audience. Like sepu has said several times, he has planned this website from the beginning and has a target audience in mind. If you know what you are going for and there is a market or target you can hit, then go for it. I love playing around in flash sites. I do find that transitions can be uncessarily long, or load times can be slightly annoying, or the sound is bad (that's why flash users started creating buttons that turn on/off music) or any number of typical *problems* that can be associated with entirely-flash websites. It's still an amazing platform to build highly interactive pieces with. And can be a lot of fun.

So I say, of course keep pretty much everything stated in this thread in mind. But that's all you have to do, keep it in mind. There is a time and place for everything. If you want a full flash website and it will work for you and your clients/friends/colleagues or whoever else, then go for it.

Great job sepu

[dreamfocused]

nice work

[CanadaRAM]

Text is pretty much unreadable for my 46 year old bifocaled eyes. Microtext white on green or white or red on black BG, all caps, with an unconventional font - this is a worst case legibility scenario.

Front page doesn't give me enough information about what I am looking at or why I should enter.

I'm not into searching for hidden rollovers. Life's too short. If I want a game, I'll fire up a game.

If I want a clock I'll look at my menubar clock. If someone has to explain to me where the quick navigation is, the point of 'quick' has already been lost. Then when I click on quick navigation, nothing happens. Doh! just about the only text on the screen that isnt a link is the one that says 'Navigation'

Page to page transitions took too long. Menus in the portfolio take too long to load -- I had actually decided that there was only one project in the list (Letterhead) and clicked on that, before the rest of the list drew to the screen.

I presume the error on the About page is due to the site being in beta still.

To sum up:
I would have to be otherwise motivated to go into the site to find out what it was about. If I was looking at it from a google search for design companies, for example, I wouldn't have made it past the opening page. Even if I were predisposed to be interested in this company I might still bail, because I can't read the $^^@#*& text without a lot of effort.
Don't make me work so hard as a viewer, because you'll lose my interest.

[sepu]

Thanks guys for the comments ...

CanadaRam I wont repeat myself, but I already gave an answer for what you are asking for..... I Know what you mean about its difficult to read for older people but as I said I already talked about that , Im working on a CSS version.

Thx Again.

[grapes911]

Thanks guys for the comments ...

CanadaRam I wont repeat myself, but I already gave an answer for what you are asking for..... I Know what you mean about its difficult to read for older people but as I said I already talked about that , Im working on a CSS version.

Thx Again.

I think that having two versions of a site is not a good solution for the problem. It's so unprofessional no matter who your audience is. You obviously have the technical skills for web development, but I think you are lacking in the usability department.

[sepu]

so Grapes11 can you give a good solution for the problem then please if you don't mind.

Thank you.

[ezekielrage_99]

That is one slick web site, I really like it.

Well designed, well thought out, very good navigation, good use of colour and the site with the use of Flash fills the purpose of the site. I really like the continuity of the site with feed back when you hit a link or something that is supposed to do something.

I do agree with some of the comments about using Flash just for the sake of using Flash but for a designers' portfolio design agencies expect a good know of Macromedia Studio and Photoshop (3D is a bonus).

I think the site covers all bases, it's functional, looks great and uses a good range of software.

Again great site I like it.

[grapes911]

so Grapes11 can you give a good solution for the problem then please if you don't mind.

Thank you.

I think you should make an HTML/CSS site. Embed flash in the site much like you would embed a picture or a button. I think you have the skills to pull it off and still keep it more like a standard site for easier navigation and viewing. Right now the site looks like it was created by a design student with too much time on their hands. It's just too 'busy' of a site.

By the way, you said you have a target audience in mind. Can you explain who your audience is?

[shecky]

rather than showcasing the work the site showcases the site itself. a portfolio website should be about the portfolio, not the website (even if you are a web designer - showing restraint so the site does not overwhelm the work in the site is a good idea)

people who make entirely flash based sites often do so in some part to be able to rework the standard web interface (rollover underlined text, highlight, click, etc..) into a completely original interface. the problem with this is very, very very few people understand interface design so you end up with a lot of hard to navigate bling. it quite simply looks like you are trying too hard.

i think designing for your audience is a good idea, but i also think you need to understand who that audience really is. design directors and art directors, contrary to popular belief, are NOT impressed with all the theatrics of a site like this, they want to see your work, right now. not wait for a bunch of animations. what they are impressed with is a site that provides a context for the work, that enhances the work, that allows for some kind of a way to convey the overall idea behind the work to the viewer.

[dadsp33k]

nice template :-\

[ezekielrage_99]

nice template :-\

Template Monster (http://www.templatemonster.com/) :confused:

[sepu]

I really dont want to get in this war Flash vs CSS becuase I love both equally!
Its like PC vs MAC and many more.

so Im not going to respond anymore about why flash etc etc ..... I really just ask for an opinion on the site if you dont like that's cool if you like great as well.

So thanks for all your comments so far.
I will take it into consideration for my next version.

[beefwellington]

Mac... definitely Mac.

Something I wanted to add. For some reason designers feel that they have to make their website a more impressive portfolio piece than their actual portfolio work. The point of your site should be to give the viewer quick and easy access to what they came to see (examples of your work). Simplicity in design, color, and layout can really make your actual portfolio work look even better.