iWebDesign Critique and Help!

[yoyo5280]

Hey!
I am reopening my site soon, and I just threw together this design.

Please note that it has a lot of problems and it is not done!

Even so, I would like opinions of the layout and general idea. How should I arrange the actual article area of the blog section?

Many thanks!

-Omi

Linky here

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

First, it loaded really, really slowly for me. Reminded me of the dialup days, meaning your server is not exactly grinding out data. Once it loaded I realized your design wasn't so simple (large blocks of solid colors loaded first, details come in slowly) - so for those reading, wait until it fully loads.

• Borders are too thick for my taste
• Color palette is nice, but the contrast isn't enough for the brown text in the beige area at the bottom. Need to darken the text, I think.
• The Ajax that loaded in the gray RSS block - I am expecting to see a feed there, what it loaded I am not sure, probably a future tweet area but without any links or information, I'm clueless.
• Change the title to something more than just "Blog", i.e. personalize it, and while you're at it, include a little text in the masthead or nearby which explains the purpose of the site.
• Check your spelling - "After deep amounts of though" (should be thought)
• The 3 links on the top right don't function and they're positioned (as viewed via my FF3 on Windows as I'm at work) too close to the top of the masthead, plus the first two don't stand out at all. Easy to miss them.

Overall a nice color palette, but spend time working on the details, i.e. maybe consider adding gradients in those solid color areas, using some shadow effects in the logo, thinner border (use CSS to do it). I noticed the silver Apple, that's always nice to see!

-jim

 

[geekindisguise]

I like it, but it does take FOREVER to load. Thats a big issue. I like the layout but it just takes a long time to load. And for those links at the top right corner, maybe you should change the color they are underlined with. Blue doesn't look so good with your site.