Review and Critique of Website Design

[TheShaner]

Hey all,

My company's website design has still not been finalized so I'm here yet again with another design attempt. This one can be found at: http://www.espinc1.com/esptest.

I'm looking for mainly critiques on design, color scheme, professionalism, ease of readability, etc. All XHTML and CSS should validate. I've tested in IE 5.5, IE 6, IE 7, Fx 2.0, Opera 9.25, and Safari 3.0 and they all lay out the same. The only links that work are the main menu links at the top. Some pages have actual content while others do not. The contact form does not work either.

On a side note, the CEO wants the news scroller (found on every page other than the home page), so I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother pointing out that it's irritating, haha.

Thanks for your time!

-Shane

[Fumigator]

Well I really like blues in general, so the color scheme sits well with me. The only thing I might suggest is lightening up the main background grey color ever-so-slightly to make the black text more readable. Also I wonder if making the border a really dark blue or grey-blue color would look better than the white? I would try it and see... but it's really quite nice as it stands.

Fonts are slightly inconsistant in the side bar; the links are a serif font, everything else is a sans-serif font. I'd also left-justify the news scroller text.

Graphics are very very good imo, they fit right in with color scheme. I would change the font colors on this graphic:

http://www.espinc1.com/esptest/images/home.jpg

That black text disappears and the title doesn't stand out as well as titles are supposed to.

Layout is standard-- but that's a good thing! Very solid work. I'm sorry but I can't really find anything to trash

OH P.S.--- WHAT'S WITH THAT SCROLLING TEXT, HOW ANNOYING!!!!

[TheShaner]

Originally Posted by Fumigator

The only thing I might suggest is lightening up the main background grey color ever-so-slightly to make the black text more readable.

I agree! I've toned it down now. It was at c0c0c0 and now is cccccc.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

Also I wonder if making the border a really dark blue or grey-blue color would look better than the white? I would try it and see...

I was also wondering about that as it seems a little too much of a contrast. But as I changed it around, nothing really stood out and fit my liking, so I think the white will stay for now.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

Fonts are slightly inconsistant in the side bar; the links are a serif font, everything else is a sans-serif font. I'd also left-justify the news scroller text.

I've left-aligned the text in the scroller, and padded it appropriately now. As for the fonts, all titles are Century Gothic while everything else is Verdana. All fonts degrade to Arial. I'm not very keen on typography so should this be changed?

Edit: Oops, I forgot to declare a font for the side bar, so that's why the inconsistency. The links are now Verdana.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

I would change the font colors on this graphic:
http://www.espinc1.com/esptest/images/home.jpg
That black text disappears and the title doesn't stand out as well as titles are supposed to.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I was just trying to get the text to really look like part of the scene and blend well. I know a title is supposed to standout, but I was trying to prevent it from being an eyesore.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

Layout is standard-- but that's a good thing!

Design isn't my forte, so for me, a standard layout is easiest to present. The design styles and techniques become more limited, thus forcing me to only be semi-creative, haha.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

Very solid work. I'm sorry but I can't really find anything to trash

Thanks! I appreciate the thorough review. I sometimes hesitate to post a critique because I'm usually skeptical of the reviewers, but I knew once I saw your name here I'd at least have one solid review, haha.

Originally Posted by Fumigator

OH P.S.--- WHAT'S WITH THAT SCROLLING TEXT, HOW ANNOYING!!!!

Hmm, so close to getting rep until that comment

-Shane

[Apostropartheid]

Ooohhhhh, you have a nice taste in typefaces: I haven't seen Century Gothic on the web in a while, which is a pity.

Yes, again, the title on that home picture needs to stand out more. I had to lean in a bit to read it. (on the subject, the person second from the right...why is..eww)

The sidebar is totally unintelligeable to me. There are four...five...six abbreviations on there that I have NO idea what's going on with, although I very much like the fact you put a title on it. Awh.

It's very easy to navigate too, something I can't annoy you about for once.

But why espinc1.com? Why not espinc.com?

Edit: AAHH! THE NEWS THING! KILL IT! KILL IT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

[harbingerOTV]

On the home page I would fix the graphic in the content area. On even 1 text resize it breaks at the top. If you add 1 more line of content on either side, it will probably happen as well. And I would look into setting a width on the 2 sidebars so that if the text is resized the right one doesn't jump under the left.

Personal preferences on the interior pages:

I would like a brighter hover colored on your text links in the content. They turn black (or close to it), maybe a brighter blue or white would help them identify better.

More padding on the sides and bottom for the text would look better to me. I like padding though so...

The text indent on the paragraphs I'm not keen on. I used ot like it, but now it looks odd to me. Maybe because basically no web site does it so it's become the "norm", or maybe I think it looks like literature rather than, uh, well

I would also like to see a bottom border on the inner page header images. Probally just continue with the 5px white you have going on.

all in all though, simple and nicely layed out.

[TheShaner]

Originally Posted by CyanLight

Yes, again, the title on that home picture needs to stand out more. I had to lean in a bit to read it. (on the subject, the person second from the right...why is..eww)

It's been changed finally. And yes, the picture does look a bit funny, hehe.

Originally Posted by CyanLight

The sidebar is totally unintelligeable to me. There are four...five...six abbreviations on there that I have NO idea what's going on with, although I very much like the fact you put a title on it. Awh.

If you're in the business, they all make sense Plus that's why they have the title on them.

Originally Posted by CyanLight

But why espinc1.com? Why not espinc.com?

If we had a choice, it would be that way. Unfortunately that domain name has been taken for a long time and my company acquired its current one before I was employed and could have a say in it.

Originally Posted by CyanLight

Edit: AAHH! THE NEWS THING! KILL IT! KILL IT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

And now you can join Fumigator in Spook's dungeon

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

On the home page I would fix the graphic in the content area. On even 1 text resize it breaks at the top. If you add 1 more line of content on either side, it will probably happen as well. And I would look into setting a width on the 2 sidebars so that if the text is resized the right one doesn't jump under the left.

I've added the width, so that won't happen now. However, fixing the graphic will be a test of my artistic ability. Unfortunately the break in the image you see is actually as far as the actual image goes. That was the top. So I'll see if I can "complete" it on my own.

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

I would like a brighter hover colored on your text links in the content. They turn black (or close to it), maybe a brighter blue or white would help them identify better.

Links now hover to white.

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

More padding on the sides and bottom for the text would look better to me. I like padding though so...

The sides and bottom of the content now have an extra 5px.

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

The text indent on the paragraphs I'm not keen on. I used ot like it, but now it looks odd to me. Maybe because basically no web site does it so it's become the "norm", or maybe I think it looks like literature rather than, uh, well

Haha, yeah, I was noticing that too. I took out the text-indent. It does look better.

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

I would also like to see a bottom border on the inner page header images. Probally just continue with the 5px white you have going on.

This has been added now also. I agree this improves the look.

Again, thanks for the quality reviews! They have helped tremendously. I still have some work on making things look a bit nicer on text enlargements, but that's on the back burner for now. If there is anything else you see, please feel free to comment and criticize.

Thank you,

Shane

[harbingerOTV]

Shane,

looking good. Not sure if white is the best for the hover, but better than black i guess.

try this and see what you think, add to your div#content line-height: 1.6em;. I like space I guess.

[TheShaner]

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

Shane,
looking good. Not sure if white is the best for the hover, but better than black i guess.

It's really hard to find a color that will look good on #ccc, so I went with #00f as the hover. It brightens up enough to see the hover, yet doesn't strain the eyes in the least bit to see like white.

Originally Posted by harbingerOTV

try this and see what you think, add to your div#content line-height: 1.6em;. I like space I guess.

I went with a line height of 1.5 on p, address, and ul tags. That way, my forms and pictures don't break. I then went with 1.3 in the p and address tags on the home page. It definitely looks much more legible.

Thanks again!

-Shane