Can I get feedback on this website mockup?

mynameisorman

Junior Member
Hi there,

This is my first post here so guess I should introduce myself. My name is Orman Clark and I'm a designer / marketer based in the UK.

Just working on my new site, only in the mock up stage and would appreciate some feedback on what I've got so far. Be brutal if you like, just looking to improve it.

It's not the finished article and a few bits are bugging me, particularly the logo (it's not simple, good for print, scalable etc) and the brown footer part so would especially appreciate feedback for these areas.

Anyway, take a look, let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Orman

http://www.ormanclark.com/mock-ups/orm.jpg
 
Welcome to the forum Orman.

Great work. Can't really find anything about it that I don't like. :)
 
OK I'll be honest in saying the overall look isn't really my personal taste but thats not an issue as I feel a site should portray the owner etc, and as has been said many times, design is subjective :). Having said that it does work well together and I agree the balance is quite nice too.

I do have a few concerns over some apects, the Mcdonalds M for logos, I wouldn't use that unless you have permission and you've also forgotten the reflection. I feel the reflections could maybe do with having an additional 25% on the opacity so they're lighter too, the text blends a little too much for my taste :)

I'm also not sure I would use 'bloody good egg' in the site, theres still a small stigma with bloody used in some contexts but thats up to you if you want to use it.

I'd also consider rounding off (or diagonal llike tabs) the corners on the white centre box, the square edges just seem a little harsh in relation to the rest of the site.

Hope that helps :)
 
I LOVE it!

Only question is- how will you show the whole image as the background? I'm on my 13.3" MacBook...
 
tim-ater said:
I LOVE it!

Only question is- how will you show the whole image as the background? I'm on my 13.3" MacBook...


Here...go buy a something bigger.;)


dmzexj.jpg
 
Deal.

I have a 19" screen too, but I'm saying, average user is 1024x768 are they not? That background would have to be majorly minimised to appear fully and have the same effect on that website.
 
First off thanks for all the feedback, it's greatly appreciated. I'm sat right now making some revisions and I like where it's going.

I do have a few concerns over some apects, the Mcdonalds M for logos, I wouldn't use that unless you have permission and you've also forgotten the reflection
Agreed, 'M' is now removed, put in a generic logo now. Reflection: well, it's only a mockup.

I'm also not sure I would use 'bloody good egg' in the site, theres still a small stigma with bloody used in some contexts but thats up to you if you want to use it.
Again agreed, wasn't happy with the logo at all to be fair and so this has gone and a much simpler text-only version has been used.

I'd also consider rounding off (or diagonal llike tabs) the corners on the white centre box, the square edges just seem a little harsh in relation to the rest of the site.
Not entirely sure what white box you are referring to but you did give me an idea. I've rounded a few areas and I think it looks better for it. Thanks.

average user is 1024x768 are they not? That background would have to be majorly minimised to appear fully and have the same effect on that website.
I guess I'm not catering for small screens, can't win them all. I'm using the 960 Grid System so those on 1024 will see all the main content even with a scrollbar which is the important thing. The main 'background' graphics sit within the boundaries of 1280px and the rest is just filler for those with massive screens like myself (I'm on 22in)

Thanks for all the feedback, keep it coming it's really useful!
 
Based on some of the feedback from here and other places I've done an Alan Sugar special and tweaked a few bits; the logo, rounded a few bits and changed the logo icon.

I decided that I was going to have a theme switcher so have done two more backgrounds/styles. Feedback would be appreciated and if you have any ideas for more types of background then do share. Right now I have space, earth and under the sea.

Original Mock-up
http://www.ormanclark.com/mock-ups/orm.jpg

Revised Mock-up
http://www.ormanclark.com/mock-ups/orm-revised.jpg

Space Mock-up
http://www.ormanclark.com/mock-ups/orm-space.jpg

Sea Mock-up
http://www.ormanclark.com/mock-ups/orm-sea.jpg
 
Great work orman but one thing keeps catching my eye - the previous clients logos at the bottom don't seem to fit, I think theyre too closely spaced and look more like one object rather than four. Id like to see them smaller, spaced out more and perhaps defined within a box each or something? They could even be a monotone grey or similar to the icons you've designed to fit in more. Theyre recognisable brands so I think you can get away with dulling them down slightly - theyre there to reinforce trust/reliability but its not the main feature/focus of the page.

Lastly it seams a shame a lot of people wont get to see the backgrounds - I really like them. Is there a way of sneaking some of the "theme" into the visible space? if not its no biggy theyre a cool addition. Just remember a huge amount of people are getting laptops these days and limited on screen size.

Great work though, Look forward to seeing it live.

edit: tiny, niggly little change but may as well voice it - on your logo it might work in your favour to distinguish the seperate words within "mynameis" just to make it clearly readable.. A different grey for each word maybe?
 
br3n said:
Lastly it seams a shame a lot of people wont get to see the backgrounds - I really like them. Is there a way of sneaking some of the "theme" into the visible space? if not its no biggy theyre a cool addition. Just remember a huge amount of people are getting laptops these days and limited on screen size.
Now I'm no expert on this but couldn't you do a script (or similar) that would load a random one up each time you hit the home page, rather than having a fixed one each time.

I've also realised with the new mockups that your background images don't work past the screen of the image, what are you doing about the background on bigger screens?

It appears you didn't get the rounded corner bit I was on about earlier - your website is in a white box (above your background) with all the other main elements of you site inside it. I still feel that the top (and maybe bottom) of this white box could be rounded off, it looks a little harsh compared with the rest of it.
 
I like the space one especially, looks really well polished (but then again all of them do).


To be honest there should be no reason why you shouldnt show the image correctly for different screen sizes, just crop your backgrounds to:

  • 640x480
  • 1024x768
  • 800x600
  • 1280x1024

and then use this script to redirect people according to their screen resolutions...

HTML:
<script language="JavaScript">
<!--
if (screen.width==800||screen.height==600) 
window.location.replace("http://www.yourwebsite.com/800x600")

else if (screen.width==640||screen.height==480)
window.location.replace("http://www.yourwebsite.com/640x480")

else if (screen.width==1024||screen.height==768)
window.location.replace("http://www.yourwebsite.com/1024x768")

else if (screen.width==1280||screen.height==1024)
window.location.replace("http://www.yourwebsite.com/1280x1024") 

else
window.location.replace("http://www.yourwebsite.com/any_bigger")
-->
</script>

All you'd have to do is create upload the same files to a new directory with a different sized background each time. you can win them all now ;)
 
what about the bigger screens or is he going to need massive versions too :p
 
the previous clients logos at the bottom don't seem to fit

Yep, I take all your points on this. I had them in grey scale before actually but changed it to make them stand out. I guess like you say, they're reputable brands so I guess it doesn't need it. I'll more than likely change this back to how it was.

Is there a way of sneaking some of the "theme" into the visible space?

I'm going to try and sneak some theme in but what I haven't shown yet (because I haven't done it) is how each page will have some kind of header graphic, nothing massive. I'll aim to make these eye-catching enough for people who can't see the entire bg to be satisfied but those than can not to feel overwhelmed... or something like that!

Now I'm no expert on this but couldn't you do a script (or similar) that would load a random one up each time you hit the home page, rather than having a fixed one each time.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I could do this. Not sure that all users would appreciate it though. Wouldn't they rather be in control than be jumped from one style to the next? I dunno.

I've also realised with the new mockups that your background images don't work past the screen of the image, what are you doing about the background on bigger screens?

Bit confused. The bg is 2000px wide. You must have a HUGE screen ;)

It appears you didn't get the rounded corner bit I was on about earlier - your website is in a white box (above your background) with all the other main elements of you site inside it. I still feel that the top (and maybe bottom) of this white box could be rounded off, it looks a little harsh compared with the rest of it.

Ah yes, get it now. Bit slow obviously!

Thanks for the feedback!
 
Really like it. Should find some faults but I can't see any on first glance.

Only thing to think about is you have 'choose your style' which I like, but if you choose space or sea the options seem to have disappeared, so you can't change your mind. I may be wrong and they may be there somewhere though :D
 
Regarding the background,

Personally for me the most important aspect about this and any web design should be the content, I personally would stay away from using Javascript in order to serve different background image / sizes for end users. the weight of the js and the over heads don't warrant the results.

As long as your content and site is functional at the lowest res ala 1024*768 (found out from your research!) then those who have lager resolutions will benefit from the nicer! background.

just my 2 cents as usual.
 
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