Design woes: keeping with a theme

In my un-ending craze for redesigning my site I have come to a slight stumbling block. I keep making new images and coming up with some new ideas but then I have to stop and wonder "is this keeping with any kind of theme or am I just putting a bunch of ingredients into a bowl, mixing them, and calling it the special of the day?"

The site in production is here (http://www.mikesadventures.net/brazil/hybrid.php). I enjoy the color scheme and the layout. The only thing that I know needs changing right now is the navigation menu...but that's not my focus right now. At this time I am more concerned with my images and the overall appearance of the site.

See, I was bored and made the image in the upper-left hand corner (the old school spaceship). When I was done with it, I realized that it fit into the color scheme well and seemed to keep in line with the theme (kind of retro-ish).

After putting the first image in the page I decided that I would probably need a header image, thus I created what is now in the upper-right hand corner of the page (there's actually two images, try reloading to see the other--[it only changes the quote, but oh well!!]). Now, I felt as though it fits in decently. I mean, the main text is sort of 3d which goes well with the shadows and the four boxes around the edges keep it with the whole pixel-ish theme. But I am still not sure if it fits.

My other dilemma is that I am trying to make some kind of sub-header image for each page (saying home, log, etc...). I sort of like the one I have in there now, but for some reason I feel like it doesn't fit. I know the font isn't right, but it's all I could think of at the time. The flower almost seems like it is too smooth to go with the theme, but then the header image is a smooth, rounded type and it seems to go well...

Ahh! Maybe I am just trying to force too many images into the site. I think it's just that I haven't used images in a long ime and I am going crazy now. I am just trying to add a little extra touch.

Anyway, the whole reason for this post is to get some opinions. Anything will be nice, I don't care what it is...food for thought is just what I need right now.


Hurray! I just realized that this post marks my official addiction to Coding Forums! Maybe now I will be able to figure this out...

I really like the colors ya chose for the site..

The only thing I would suggest is the logo in the right hand corner. Its a green yellow type color. the space ship (wich is very cool!) is black with green. The Home image is black. I suggest making the logo black as well. It would go with the look.

Im just spouting ideas LOL:p

AC,

Thanks, the more ideas the merrier!! About the logo -- it was originally black, but I just felt that everything was becoming black and that I was losing some of the color. I mean, the site is based on being somewhat colorful and bright and for some reason the black logo just seemed like too much to me.

Another slight issue was that I think I remember the anti-aliasing on the logo when it was black was pretty bad. I think the lesser amount of contrast is what helped it out...but that isn't too big of a deal as things can be done to fix it.

But, are you saying the sub-header (home image) is okay? I just felt like it didn't fit very well...I dunno, myabe I just get too worried about this, but for some reason I still don't feel like I have a constant theme.

I think the home (sub header) image looks perfect for the site.

I agree with the above comments on both counts. The subheader looks great, fits right in .... but your logo needs more contrast - right now it's hard to see and it just needs a little POP! to make it stand out. Maybe a very thin black outline on the letters?

Thanks Spook'sGirl. I shall attempt an outline, though I fear the poor anti-aliasing on the text my prove to be an issue. I shall just try and tweak it with the blur tool and some opacity adjustments, maybe it will turn out!

Alright, so I messed around with my header image and now I have a few different versions. I implemented a couple buttons that will switch between the different versions. If possible, could any of you check and see which one seems to go the best.

I am sort of leaning towards #3...

http://www.mikesadventures.net/brazil/hybrid.php

P.S. I changed the "home" image, but it's not the version that I am going to keep so don't worry!