I need some feedback please

FranciscoMachado

New Member
Hi to all, new here. I am about to launch me as a freelance web designer and developer in New Zealand, which is very different from my country (Argentina) in terms of ... well everything jaja (we don't even laugh the same)

I think NZ is a bit like the UK, or so I constantly hear, so maybe you guys can put me in the right direction.

First things first, I have a website that I just got online.
http://www.fjm.co.nz

I have been working on it constantly for the last weeks in design and development, so I am sure I am too involved, too close to the tree to see the forest and I made so many compromises to put it online quick that I feel I could have done better. So brake it apart if you may and tell me what works but more importantly what doesn't.
  • I am particularly concerned about the contact page, specially the contact interface. Will it work. If you are trying it out I do not mind you hitting next and sending me a message, just make it a nice one.
  • There is something I cannot quite put my finger on about the overall look/feel of the site that isn't quite right. Perhaps the lack of imagery (I plan to add some vectorial illustrations for each section) or the text is not sufficiently hierarchized, any thoughts?
For what I read, there are a couple of people in the forum that really know their trade and I would love to have your feedback.

Thanks in advance!
Francisco
 
Hi welcome to the forum :)

I'll do what I normally do that with my normal work, bullet points as I see them as I'm looking through :) Note I'm not a web designer although I can code (the basics at least) and am working on my own site so have been 'researching' a great deal about the fun area of responsive coding (yeah I know lol)

Homepage
  • Lack of prominent branding, no logo (not necessarily needed) and the Francisco Javier Machado is quite small. The navigation also seems more prominent than your name.
  • was expecting a little more from the red box, maybe a slideshow could be added to the 'animation'
  • that 'red' and 'brown' combination is quite jarring for me, the red is far too overpowering for the brown. I'd say a darker 'brown' is needed or a slight rethink on the colour combination.
  • font size is a little small by today's standards, I think most recommend around 15/16pt as a base size... are you sure you want to use px for sizes, it seems em's are more popular with responsive design. I did a quick firebug on your font to 15/16pt and it looks much better on my screen (24inch - 1080p) although you will need to adjust the 'width' of the site slightly.
  • Does seem a little template/theme based in it's styling.
About Page
  • Not sure I like the white text on the red, might be different with larger font
Work Page
  • Smooth animation (first time I actually saw any of your coding skill on your site, see later)
  • People aren't likely to know what those icons mean unless they're in the business
  • I wanted to click the whole box not just the 'open' box - got to make it easy for me :)
Contact Page
  • I personally hate the contact setup that work like your does, I like to see what I need before I'm halfway through a message
  • Give me a nice simple contact 'form'
Bonus Points
  • Do you really want your email address out there for spam crawlers?
  • Does your site really show what skills you have, you list a lot of skills but to be honest there isn't a lot there that shows it... I could probably do most of it (eventually - in joke with the forum about my own site) and I don't have half the skills you have listed and seem to be able to show on other people's sites.
  • Web design is VERY competitive, you need to show the best of what you can do and I'm just not sure if yours is if I'm honest.
FranciscoMachado said:
I think NZ is a bit like the UK, or so I constantly hear, so maybe you guys can put me in the right direction.
Insert obligatory upside down joke here :p
 
Levi said:
Hi welcome to the forum :)

I'll do what I normally do that with my normal work, bullet points as I see them as I'm looking through :) Note I'm not a web designer although I can code (the basics at least) and am working on my own site so have been 'researching' a great deal about the fun area of responsive coding (yeah I know lol)

Homepage
  • Lack of prominent branding, no logo (not necessarily needed) and the Francisco Javier Machado is quite small. The navigation also seems more prominent than your name.
  • was expecting a little more from the red box, maybe a slideshow could be added to the 'animation'
  • that 'red' and 'brown' combination is quite jarring for me, the red is far too overpowering for the brown. I'd say a darker 'brown' is needed or a slight rethink on the colour combination.
  • font size is a little small by today's standards, I think most recommend around 15/16pt as a base size... are you sure you want to use px for sizes, it seems em's are more popular with responsive design. I did a quick firebug on your font to 15/16pt and it looks much better on my screen (24inch - 1080p) although you will need to adjust the 'width' of the site slightly.
  • Does seem a little template/theme based in it's styling.
About Page
  • Not sure I like the white text on the red, might be different with larger font
Work Page
  • Smooth animation (first time I actually saw any of your coding skill on your site, see later)
  • People aren't likely to know what those icons mean unless they're in the business
  • I wanted to click the whole box not just the 'open' box - got to make it easy for me :)
Contact Page
  • I personally hate the contact setup that work like your does, I like to see what I need before I'm halfway through a message
  • Give me a nice simple contact 'form'
Bonus Points
  • Do you really want your email address out there for spam crawlers?
  • Does your site really show what skills you have, you list a lot of skills but to be honest there isn't a lot there that shows it... I could probably do most of it (eventually - in joke with the forum about my own site) and I don't have half the skills you have listed and seem to be able to show on other people's sites.
  • Web design is VERY competitive, you need to show the best of what you can do and I'm just not sure if yours is if I'm honest.
Insert obligatory upside down joke here :p
Thanks, for your detailed answer Levi! It is really helpful.
 
Generally speaking I think the site is clean and functional. You’ve got the makings of a brand in the way you have chosen to style the site but as Levi pointed out, your name could do with being a little more prominent as people will need to remember what it is as they will likely browse a number of sites before making contact.

Given that you’re offering the full service web experience, I think you need to give you’re site more of a wow factor, especially on the front page. At present it errs slightly on the clinical side which may be popular with designers and devs but they’re the one demographic who probably won’t be wanting your services.
 
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