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HireLogoDesign
08-02-2012, 04:45 PM
A designer's weak link = creating for himself.

Please critique

vangogh
08-02-2012, 07:14 PM
I hear you. :) By the way the link in your signature wasn't set up correctly and wasn't working. I fixed it for you.

First impression: The design seems fine. I won't tell you I love it and won't tell you I hate it. If anything it seems on the ordinary side. Pretty standard, which is neither good nor bad. It does come across as professional. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to do business with you because of the design.

I'm not crazy about the color. I have nothing against the orange, but I'd like to see another color that contrasts with it to make important information (like page headings) stand out.

The layout is pretty good. It's easy enough to find what I want on the page. I'd prefer the font size be bigger. My old eyes have a hard time with smaller fonts. 14px or larger is more readable. Even better size your type with 'em's. Something other than verdana might be nice too. I'd probably reduce the line-height a little.

You don't need the tweet button where you have it. Save it for informational articles on your blog. I'm also not sure you need all the payment information right away. I know it's good to include, but it could probably work as well in the footer if you want it on every page. You could also reserve it for pages like contact and price where people will more naturally be wondering what form of payment you take.

Why the 2 menus? The lower one across the width of the page comes across more like sub-navigation for sections in the global navigation at the top. The links don't change though. I'd go with one or the other, unless you plan on turning the lower of the 2 into some kind of sub-nav where the links do change across sections.

I do like the message that gets communicated on the home page: easy, speedy, committed. There might be a better word for committed, though. It's a good message and I think it addresses some common objections customers might have. I don't think I'd have the order form on the home page though. It's too soon. It's unlikely people will land on your home page and ready to contact you. At first they're going to want information about you, your work, the process of working with you, basically information to help them decide if they want to contact you. Direct them to that information and provide links to your contact page on those other pages.

Another thing I like is how you make it clear quickly what the site is about and what you do. The name naturally says you design logos, but the main heading on the home page let's people know right away you also do more. Again though I think this heading would be better in a different color so it's not missed. Right now the images and the message below pulls my eye more than the heading.

Ok I'll save thoughts about the content and other stuff for whoever follows. Hope something above helps.

KristineS
08-03-2012, 12:25 PM
I'm kind of with Vangogh on the design. I probably dislike it more than I like it, but it's not horrible.

Since I'm a writer I tend to focus more on the text of a website, and I have to say your content needs some work. I know there is advice out there that tells you to write like you speak, but in this case, I don't think that's working for you. If you're looking for people to hire you, the main thing you want your text to do is sound personable but professional. That means avoiding slang, writing clear concise sentences and making sure everything has been proofread for grammar and spelling. For instance, in the business logo creator link, business is misspelled.

Other than text, I did notice a bit of craziness in how the site works. I'm viewing it in Firefox 14.0.1. Some of the menus are skewed. If you haven't already, you may want to view your site in several different browsers.

vangogh
08-03-2012, 02:35 PM
I'm viewing it in Firefox 14.0.1. Some of the menus are skewed.

Figured I'd test that too. I'm not seeing any issues with the menu in FF 14.0.1. I'm on a Mac and I assume Kristine is on a Windows machine. Earlier I was looking in Safari (also on a Mac) and I didn't see any issue with the menu there either.

KristineS
08-03-2012, 05:04 PM
Yes, I am on Windows. I have to say the problem appears to be intermittent. Sometimes the menus are weird, and sometimes they aren't. One time the contact form was on the wrong side of the page, the next time it wasn't. So not sure what's going on there.

vangogh
08-03-2012, 05:20 PM
It's possible you just happened to be on the site while Chris was working on it. Of course if no one's been working on the site the last day or so it's worth testing more.

HireLogoDesign
08-04-2012, 12:15 AM
Yes, I have been working on it nonstop. That would be the reason for the craziness. Its a new site now and I'm still working on it a bit more. I'd hate to ask you to take a look again, but what do you think? How do I get responses when I have replies to my posts here? Content is probably messy from lack of sleep!

Thanks for fixing my signature vangogh!
Edit: The lower nav is going to broken up into categories for more content while the upper navigation is for the basic important aspects of the site.

socialme82
08-07-2012, 07:26 PM
Actually I love the use of lightbox and it is very simple/clean which gives emphasis to the images. The only down side might be the simplicity of the checkout system and less call to action than probably is needed to make higher sales volume.

vangogh
08-07-2012, 09:54 PM
How do I get responses when I have replies to my posts here?

Are you asking how do you know when people reply to your posts here or how to you get people to reply in the first place? If the former you can subscribe to threads. I forget exactly where, but in your Settings one of the pages lets you automatically subscribe to threads you post in. There's also a drop down at the top of each thread for Thread Tools and one of the options is to subscribe to the thread. If it's the latter I think you just try to make threads interesting and keep them active so more people notice and want to reply.

I have a question about your logo. Why the bee? What does it specifically communicate about you or your services? Here's the identity portfolio (http://justcreative.com/portfolio/#identity) of a design who's work I like a lot. If you look at the graphic symbols with the logos they all communicate something about the brand. I'm also linking to the site since it's a good one in general and might give you some ideas for content.

HireLogoDesign
08-08-2012, 11:23 PM
Right, how do I get an email notification. I think I figured it out though. I'm not real sure about the bee. I just started to hate the old logo so I went with something different. I changed it a bit to something a little more clean. Interesting stuff in that link thanks for the idea. I've got a long way to go on content, but I'll get there. Thanks

vangogh
08-09-2012, 10:57 AM
If you don't get the email notification let me know. I can walk you through it if needed.

You'll get there with the content. Just keep making little improvements and before you know it, you'll have the content you want.

HireLogoDesign
08-21-2012, 04:23 PM
Alright I have re done the design, look and feel. This is it for me on the design as I need to focus on the content.

vangogh
08-21-2012, 11:50 PM
It's looking good. I think you addressed most, if not all, of the questions I raised. I know you can always improve any site so I'm sure there are more things you can do, but it's looking good to me.