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orion_joel
01-25-2009, 12:26 AM
Hi All,

If you have a minute to spare would be interested in any comments on my new header at No Fixed Office (http://www.nofixedoffice.com) . Dont seem to have the old one anywhere as a comparison sorry, though some of you may remember it from when i first launched the site, it was a laptop sitting in green grass with the the title of the site, and a little blurb set into the laptop screen.

Anyway if you have a minute please feel free to take a look would be interested in your thoughts.

vangogh
01-25-2009, 10:38 AM
I like the images you're using. Each one tells part of the story about what the site is about. They came out pretty good visually too.

The text logo I'm not crazy about. It seems a little too plain. As it is right now the image of the logo is a little blurry too. If you're going to use text only you might just want to set the logo as text instead of an image, but it still feels to me like it needs something more. Maybe a little color or a different font. I don't think it needs a lot, but something. Right now it doesn't stand out to me.

Also the tagline. I know what you're going for, but again I think it can be improved. Maybe instead of the ellipsis you can use a question mark. Seems like you're asking a question there so why not make that clearer. I think there still could be a better way to say the same thing too.

billbenson
01-25-2009, 02:51 PM
Other than what VG said, if you change the "no fixed office" to text, you could put it in an h1 tag which would reenforce your title. Sometimes I put text in the header area for that purpose. Seems to work well.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 08:39 PM
I probably would not have minded using the actual text that wordpress puts in the header, however i cannot figure out how to change the code to align it to the top right of the header image. Otherwise it will be smack bang in the middle.

Anyway i have changed the font and effected it so it doesn't look so plain, and have changed the tagline from "Worked somewhere differently lately..." to "Freedom to work anywhere!" Although i am still not sure if the wording quite works.

Steve B
01-25-2009, 08:58 PM
You spelled "anywhere" wrong on the website.

I'm not sure the new font is what I would have chosen. But, I like the new tagline a lot.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 09:22 PM
Lol, thanks for picking that up Steve, the spelling that is there at the moment is the way one of regular suppliers company names is spelt, guess i must be more use to typing that then the correct spelling.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 09:32 PM
Also VG the images that i used are stock photo's, but i put the white border and drop shadow / shading around them to give a little texture, i had thought about just putting the pictures but it just didn't have much feeling to it.

vangogh
01-25-2009, 09:54 PM
The border and drop shadow look good as does the arrangement of images.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 10:28 PM
The logo isn't doing anything for me. If you want to keep it as all text make it text and not an image and try a different color

I am guessing that you are meaning the actual text "No Fixed Office" in the graphic header. What i find as the problem is that while i can use the text that Wordpress can add to the header by default i cannot figure out how to adjust it's position on the header. Because of how i lay out the pictures it doesnt work in the middle, in any colour really, however if i could align it in the top right corner where the text is now, wouldnt be such a problem.

vangogh
01-25-2009, 10:45 PM
I do mean the actual text 'No Fixed Office.' Funny that you're copying my Twitter post and pasting here.

The basic way I'd set up your header is:



<div id="header">
<p id="logo">No Fixed Office</p>
</div>


Then in your css



#header {background: url(path to your image) no-repeat}
#logo {text-align: right}


You could also float the paragraph with the logo to the right and add other styles. When I start a theme in WordPress the first thing I do is get rid of all the css in the default style and then redo the html in the different files. I think the default theme is a little bloated.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 11:00 PM
The primary reason for copying the tweet, was 140 characters wouldnt cut it on twitter and the response may not have made sense here without the quote.

Also i am still a long way off anything but slight modifications to the default. I have a book on css and html which i got after previously recommended here but at this point still working through it.

orion_joel
01-25-2009, 11:20 PM
As soon as i put the Logo into H1 tags, it puts it almost half way down the header image, as soon as i take the H1 tags off it places it almost at the very top of the header image. I am thinking it must be to do with the H1 tags but i really dont know???

vangogh
01-25-2009, 11:29 PM
The <h1> has default margins which you want to reset. Try:

#header h1 {margin:0}

though in all honesty I wouldn't make your logo an h1. Save the h1 for the post title. You should only use one and only one h1 per page and the post title is a better use of the h1. The default WordPress theme doesn't really use header tags the best way.

I just thought the Twitter post here was funny and also shows how useful social media can be. We're having a conversation in two different places.

seolman
01-26-2009, 12:55 AM
Well..I was going to comment on the new header but Vangogh took all the cool things I was gonna say...:mad: man! What good is typing 175 words a minute when somebody takes all my great comment ideas before I can say 'em?

Nice header dude - just need a better Logo (echo echo echo)..

orion_joel
01-26-2009, 01:18 AM
I think the biggest issue that i have is that i am lost as to what a better logo looks like, so many blogs and sites i see just use normal writing for there site name. So i am not entirely sure where to go with making the logo better.

vangogh
01-26-2009, 01:34 AM
You can use text if you want. You just don't need to dress it up too much. My logo is mostly text. I changed the color where the words break and added an image of a color wheel in front. I figured it fit with the idea of design. Then I added a reflection to the whole thing. Not necessarily the world's greatest logo, but it's pretty simple.

Don't try to do too much with it. If you want to keep it as text that's fine. Try a color other than the basic black. Don't add too many effects. Most come out looking cheesy.

Here are my delicious bookmarks for logos (http://delicious.com/vangogh99/logos). If you want to see some of the thought process that goes into creating a logo read this post by David Airey (http://www.davidairey.com/logo-design-for-giacom/)

I think the mistake people make with logos is trying to do too much with them as far as effects and imagery and then failing that fall back to doing nothing. Keep it simple, but make it more than just black text.

KristineS
01-26-2009, 12:58 PM
I love the pictures. I think they capture the spirit of your idea nicely.

The text is another matter. You have one font for the logo (very plain) and another for the slogan (a little more elaborate). They don't really work together, and, in my opinion, they don't look pulled together.

I also have to wonder if you couldn't come up with a little catchier slogan. There have been things like "Escape from Cube Nation" that were kind of catchy and cute. I'm not sure that your slogan is in that category yet. I don't know what I would suggest at this point, but I'll think about it.