Sure thing, here's my .02
Right off the bat, I really like the layout and the color palette you chose which is soft, complimentary with warm accents coordinating with cooler colors. The rounded corners is well done, with a classy bevel in the masthead where the background color there is also found in one of the content graphics down below. I like it when sites look properly coordinated, and I also really like the gradient background as opposed to the usual boring black or other solid color used. I give you 5 out of 5 stars on the overall feel and usage of space on the site.
Noteworthy issue:
Your site does not validate by W3C standards, although I notice you are using div's for layout, CSS and so on, bravo for that. The validator reports minor infractions mostly including tag open/close mismatches. Fix those before going public, someone surely will check just as I did.
FYI:
Using Firefox 2.0.0.14 under XP your site disables my scroll button on my mouse, which isn't a big deal but in my experience means you've got some JavaScript that is checking for a certain event trigger which corrupts how the browser is able to focus. If you are not finished coding yet, disregard, otherwise check it out - other browsers might behave more oddly. I saw in your HTML source references to onKeyUp that calls an alert function plus functions that deal with the graphics that popup when the smaller graphics are selected (which is cool, love it) but might be contributing to this issue.
Time to get picky:
- Masthead links should use color, maybe a warm yellow, on hover
- Text link hover color should be darker (not enough contrast) but if you prefer that, at least underline the link on hover which makes it more clear to the user its a link (aside from the cursor change)
- When clicking on one of the graphics on the right, after the larger version shows, make it so clicking on the large image closes it. Currently the user has to click on the small graphic for that to happen (or any other small graphic). And if a user clicks on a different small graphic while the larger one is displaying, make sure it not only closes (as it does now) but also opens it's associated large graphic. You might consider using the GreyBox library which adds a "X" to close, much more intuitive, and looks spectacular too.
- Have you considered adding a 4px very transparent subtle shadow effect and possibly match the small bevel for the rounded boxes that hold your various content? Very minor, subtle graphical changes to match the effects in the masthead and keep the site consistent. Very classy.
- As I tell everyone, the mailto should be replaced with a "contact us" form which also allows users to select a reason for contact in a pulldown menu. Yes, yes, I know you encoded the actual email address so spammers and bots can't steal your address from the source. Good job doing that, at least.
Beyond that, the site isn't finished and the limited content is presented beautifully with a simple interface that does it justice. I see no need to add more columns, break up the flow in the layout as some might suggest - sometimes a simple layout IS the best. Just fix those validation errors, make some improvements in the logic and design regarding the small/large graphics and maybe a few minor cosmetic enhancements involving hovers (CSS) and image bevels and shadowing effects and you've got a real winner.
This is my .02, everyone has an opinion, no need to address all issues to please me, maybe you have a reason you did what you did! Peace.
-jim
) since I've made a site for myself, and I'd love to get some feedback on this latest iteration.
