Ideas/Tips

It says site is under construction. I think you forgot to upload.

 

-Why is there a blank space in the middle of your navigation menu?

-The logo is weird on the main page; the shadowed box ("Where a dream design...") overlaps with the divider to the right of it.

-Im not sure what you're trying to achieve with the hyperlinked pictures in that main box there. Either make them more obvious as links or just have them as images.

 

I don't like the splash screen, didn't even click to get in..

 

QFT.

My first two thoughts were:
What's with the huge space and the font.

I am not a large fan of the font, but the overlap was noticeable. I feel that the design has some great aspects, but then there are some parts I don't like as well.

Additional, the reflection of the logo is awkward, perhaps move the logo to the bottom where the reflection would seem more fitting? (When the page was loading, the reflection hadn't loaded - iThink I like that better) The navigation bar boxes seem to be of different spacings - for example "Services" seems much higher up then "Testimonials" or "Contact Us" The pictures just seem awkward - my first thought on them was "Google Images?"

I do like the design of the website, those are just my thoughts.

Keep the simplicity - maybe reduce the clutter.

 

It looks decent, but the frames need to go. Since you said you have basic web skills, I guess I can forgive you.

I'd also say that the splash screen needs to go. I always ask myself, "what does this actually accomplish?" when dealing with web "frills" and if I have no good reason, I don't use it.

 

Hey Nick,

The image that is attached shows the "overlap." On further examination, they are not touching, but we are talking about pixels? My first thought was that they were touching, so overlap might not be the right word. I personally think that the shadow just doesn't look good, but that's just an opinion.

Like I said earlier, I definitely like what you have presented, some cleaning up would turn it into a great looking site, especially for a "beginner."

If you keep iWeb simple, you can do some clean things. Here's an example of a website I did. I know little, but just followed the keep it simple approach and clearly had just watched Helvetica.

Perhaps on the Portfolio, use iWeb's gallery feature?

 

Hey Nick,

When I referenced the frames, I was referring to any code that starts with <frame .... >

Basically, when you are navigating through your site, if you look at the browser address bar, you'll see that it still displays http://www.grapevine-design.org rather than http://web.mac.com/nick_neddy/Grapevine-Design/Contact_Us_.html which is what address of your contact page really is. Did you want to set it up this way so that your mac.com link is not displayed in the address bar?

I've honestly never used iWeb, so I can't really comment on that app. I use Coda and Espresso for my web development, mainly because I like hand coding things. Maybe iWeb likes using frames? Don't know.

Another suggestion is to do away with the "Home" button, and make your header image the home link.

Good luck and we'll be glad to help you out as you progress.