site redesign - comments?

[se4b4ss]

old (http://www.theconcretestainexperts.com)

new (http://www.spish.net/portfolio/concrete2)

i am adding rollover links to the top menu and putting another set of pics on the right side soon.

let me know what you think.

regards,
steve

[bnovc]

Somewhat nicer.

Old has better buttons; new shouldn't require tables (or all inline css).

[tsguitar2004]

Um... I like the old one MUCH better! I just wish that old one used CSS, but that could easily be done. Maybe that's all you need to do for a redesign...

The old design is more elegant and refined; the use of white is effective and overall it's just more stylish. The grays seem in keeping with any kind of concrete theme and the touches of red add a little spark, keeping it from being boring. The header graphic is more captivating than the new one (although, they both should be reworked).

I'm not that impressed with the new one. Somehow, it just comes across to me as a templated design.

I think that portfolio should be taken off the bottom and placed as a menu item. If you want to show some of the work on the home page, create an image that demonstrates what can be done. Maybe that's your header graphic.
-ts

[se4b4ss]

thanks for the input, fellas. it's muchly appreciated.

i am not going to touch the age-old css/table debate. i am really just asking about the design aspects.

tsguitar2004, i changed the banner of the new site quite a bit. let me know if that works a little better. i, personally, find the old design cold and uninviting and that's the last thing you want when you're trying to sell concrete flooring. :)

keep the comments coming. don't worry, i have thick skin. ;)

regards,
steve

[dniwebdesign]

I think your side images on the new design should be clearer, without the distortion. Still keep the higher quality links just make the smaller ones clearer... you can keep the image quality high with the least amount of distortion.

[Jalenack]

the title image made the entire new site a bazillion times better...it could still improve though...id do a little bit of a better text effect than the one you have now...but the general idea is much better..moving on - i think the background is bringing the site down..maybe you could just have a fixed gradient attached at the bottom or something...and fix the corners of the content box...the best way to do this is create transparent gifs with a transparent curve...observed on my (developing) site HERE (http://lenblauphoto.com/suther/index1.html) - makes everything more accessible and easier too..thanx to AaronW for that technique...well keep improving the site..good luck!

[hemebond]

link, meta, area and img elements should not have closing tags; table-based layout; link lists not marked up using links; style attributes used; area maps used unnecessarily for important navigation; area elements with empty/missing alt or title attributes; attributes used for styling; XHTML Transitional is lame; and main navigation does not work.

[Graft-Creative]

hrm, personally, neither design does anything for me. I really think you are missing the chance to really sell the client's products/services.

Maybe it's just a lack of inspiration? You seem to have found a style of design that you feel comfortable with, maybe it's time to step out of the box for a while?

The first thing I do when I am struggling for design inspiration, is switch the bloody computer off!

Forget about web design for a while and go and look at lifestyle/home improvement magazines and catalogues, make notes of the visual cues they use in order to stir the readers desire for the products they advertise.

Your client is selling a product that makes a huge, if unquantifiable, improvement to peoples lives - and that improvement is a visual one - they are making peoples lives better by improving their visual environment for them. Your design just doesn't sell that at the moment.

Hope this helps.

Kindest regards,

Gary

[KeZZeR]

Why are you saving images which have less than 256 colours as .jpg's? You should really save them as gifs (and no, gifs aren't designed purely for animations, they just support it). You could save a hell of a lot of space and make it better quality by saving those buttons on spish as well as that redesign if they were gifs (not the images, just the buttons really).

Get rid of the drop shadow on the links, it looks horrible.

Otherwise it's fine.

[AaronW]

The quality of those digital photos is definately holding the design back. I'd also agree that the site's design just feels generic. "Product in the header image: check. Pictures of product: check. About Us text: check." Then you just sort of picked a random colour scheme and threw it all onto the page.

The logo/header text isn't appealing at all. Embossed text with a white stroke and a glow? Worse still, it's navy blue on a mostly purple and yellow background. Ick. Even still, it's not even vertically centered. Eyeballing? Heh.

You've duplicated the content on the left and right for reasons beyond my comprehension. I thought they were before and after shots for a second... But no, they're just identical links on different sides of the content. Why?

It just feels like you rushed the design and jumped into the HTML portion. First thing I'd do is pick a better colour scheme. Then I'd clean up any digital photos I'd plan on using.

Keep on truckin' :)

[se4b4ss]

wow, you guys are great! i love the harsh criticism and the no holds barred approach and i appreciate it. of course, i can't nor do i want to address all of the issues raised, but i will certainly address the ones i find necessary and that i'm capable of. i will post an updated link a little later tonight.

top priorities:
1) portfolio image quality/add'l images on right
2) banner text
3) fix rounded edges on content area
4) banner links

btw, for those who posted about the bad banner text. do you have any ideas how i could fix that? i'm kind of at a loss. :confused:

thanks again for all the input!
steve

[AaronW]

I think a decent rule of thumb for text is that you should limit yourself to one effect only. Go nuts with shape and colour, but one effect should be enough I think. Unless of course that one effect is embossing, for which I have a personal vendetta... Hehe. Stroke's my favourite :) 1px solid stroke to help contrast the text just that much more from the background... Mmm MM! Good squishy.

G'luck.

[Scrowler]

much better, id say on the new one the blue area around the links should have something done with it's edge but it's not absolutely necessary.

looks very clean, nice choice of grey

id agree that the first one's buttons are better though

[se4b4ss]

i have implemented some changes on the new design. let me know what you think.

old design (http://www.theconcretestainexperts.com/)

new design (http://www.spish.net/portfolio/concrete2)

new design w/ changes (http://www.spish.net/portfolio/concrete3)

regards,
steve

[Scrowler]

i like the new yellow line in the changed one but i think the pictures are better in the new but not changed one

[Jalenack]

i was just browsing the old site a lil bit and noticed their logo - it says it was established 1951 i believe ... well that certainly has some value in it - maybe you could write that in either just below the main title or above the main links
btw im still not loving the background - otherwise its improving a lot!

[tsguitar2004]

My thoughts are:

--change the background color to white;

--lose the drop shadow on the top nav;

--change the border on the images (either different color or smaller or get rid of it!);

--much better header this time (but it looks like linoleum tile);

--are those "portfolio" images cleaned up concrete or examples of stains they *can* clean up? Since we don't know what they looked like before, we have no basis for evaluation of the job done;

--I like that those images load in the main screen without a pop-up (but portfolio2 doesn't focus on the concrete job, more like a shot of the room not the floor);

--this doesn't feel any more inviting to me than the old design (but maybe lightening things up will help);

--I still like the colors and the side navigation of the old site;

--the addition of the yellow lines was a good idea;

--I'm glad you lost the logo from the old site, though; it has a contry-club feel that doesn't sit right with me.
-ts

[Venom989]

I wasn't able to load your old version, but overall the new one looks pretty good. The only thing I really dislike is that you're using dark text on a grey background. I would go for something with a lil more contrast ratio. Just a thought. Overall, very nice though. :cool:

[se4b4ss]

i have moved the updated site into production as per the customer. so the links to the "original" design now point to the new design.

regards,
steve