[thelist] 24caratdesign.com critique (was: Swish... > Critiques)

.jeff jeff at members.evolt.org
Sat Jul 14 23:55:49 CDT 2001


sharon,

:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: From: sfmalo
:
: Boy, I'm really getting it between the eyes
: today. Oh, well.
:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

just shrug it off.  come back and re-read it when you have a clear head and
see if any of the input has any merit.  you might be surprised by your
conclusions.  then again, you might shrug it off as a bunch of opinions from
uptight, blowhard, clueless list members.  *grin*

:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: If you want to see what I like (only personal
: taste of course), you could click on my site
: (see below). I'm sure I'll get shudders on that
: one too. Have at it.
:
: http://www.24caratdesign.com
:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ok, here's my thoughts on the site above:

overall design and what i like about it:

1)  you've done a good job of maintaining
    consistency across the various pages of the
    site.

2)  no font tags anywhere

3)  external stylesheet

4)  external javascript file for the functions
    used on more than one page of the site.

5)  identifying the page being viewed within
    the header of the page.

6)  good job with the html and css and getting
    it to validate (not sure about advertising
    it on every page though).

overall design and problems i've got with it:

1)  coming from a jewelry background, i've gotta
    ask if you intended to use the spelling of
    [c|k]arat that refers to weight as opposed
    to the one that refers to purity of gold.
    i'm guessing  you intended purity of gold since
    you use the number 24 in conjunction with it.

2)  the logo doesn't rely standout from the rest of
    the site.  the font choice is too comical/chicken-
    scratchy.  the contrast against the dark red bar
    at the top is too low.  parts of the logo almost
    disappear into it along with the byline underneath
    it.

3)  the title doesn't include the name of the site.
    if i bookmark your faq page the text associated with
    that bookmark will be "FAQs".  that doesn't tell me
    much when i'm going through my bookmarks looking
    for a faq bookmark from the 24 carat design site.

4)  i'm not hot on the yellow "glow/shadow" on the
    navigation.

5)  the javascript for the rollovers could be tightened up.

6)  i'm not sure i see the point of the click image swap
    on the navigation.  i don't even see it happen before
    the page changes.

7)  the bottom of each page is inconsistent across the site.
    some pages have a banner, others have a applet news
    scroller, still others have contact information.

8)  don't dig the border on the table for the terms on the
    "glossary/definitions" page.  same with the pricing page.

9)  member of the html writers guild?  not something i'd
    advertise.

10) certified web designer?  certified flash animator?
    certified by who?  if you're going to claim certification
    then you should provide documentation somewhere about
    who the certification is from and who to contact to verify
    it.

11) you've got a domain name, but you're using your msn mail
    account for contact throughout the site.  i'd at least
    set up an alias from your domain.

12) value meal site development doesn't meet business needs.
    small clients may not realize this, but larger clients
    will.  if you wanna go after the big boys, lost the pricing
    page altogether.  develop an overall hourly you're willing
    to work for (something that meets your bottom-line and is
    marketable in your area) and learn how to estimate development
    time on a site by site basis.

13) on the homepage -- i despise status bar scrollers.  not only
    are they exceedingly annoying, but it obscures the destination
    of the links on the page -- a classic usability and
    accessibility no-no.

14) what's going to happen when a browser that doesn't support
    external javascript files hits your page and the user mouses
    over your navigation?  wham-o, big fat javascript error and then
    another one when they mouse out of the navigation to click the
    ok button on the error.  give this a read:

    http://evolt.org/article/thelist/17/9054/

if you want to throw out my observations, that's ok.  at least do yourself a
favor and read them with an open mind.  i didn't say anything out of malice.
you asked for input and i made note of what i saw -- simple as that.

good luck,

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/






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