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[eximum]

Hello all,

I haven't designed a web-site since the early 2000's and recently my workplace called upon me to revise their web-site... so I feel like a noob at this. The current/old web-site (that I did not design) is at http://www.netcare-inc.com.

The new/in production web-site is at http://netcareinc.squarespace.com. The company wanted to use Squarespace so they could actively edit content after I was finished designing. I did all the graphics, coding, HTML and CSS myself and I was wondering if I could get some feedback on the layout of the web-site and sub pages. I think it looks much better than the old web-site but it is easy to think your own work is awesome after you stare at it long enough... so I am hoping for some feedback and critiquing from other people. Thanks!

 

[d a v e]

not bad but (there's always a but)

1. mouse looks out of place - i would take it out all together
2. gradients are too severe - especially the one behind the navigation
3. clouds look like bubbles - and yet feel heavy
4. all the text in the images (logo, headings etc) doesn't look properly anti-aliased
5. body text needs more line-height (around 1.6 for that short line)
6. favicon from the logo
7. why the duplicate (+a bit extra) navigation at the bottom? i would suggest copyright info and privacy policy link only
8. the blue at the very top looks like a differnt hue to the blues in the gradients
9. text is waaay too small e.g. about us page

 

[Phreaddee]

have to agree with all that dave said. but of most importance i think are
2, 5 and 9 and dont fully justify.

also not sure why you went to such trouble to code the site when you are using a "paint by numbers" website. it purely defeats the purpose of what SS is about...
and if they want to "update" it when your finished that's exactly what they will be doing, so it would be best to use the built in architecture.
otherwise in no time at all it'll be a dogs breakfast!

the ease for which a client can totally destroy a website when using squarespace is the reason I've only ever used it a few times (my non-tech boss signed them up before I began working so...) i'd try and convince them to transfer it over to something with a bit more guts.
joomla, wordpress etc...
you'll also have more control over what they can edit too.

 

[eximum]

@Dave -- thanks for the detailed critique. I have made some changes based on what you've mentioned:

1. mouse looks out of place - i would take it out all together
--- mouse is just a holder for now. those images will be replaced ---
2. gradients are too severe - especially the one behind the navigation
--- lightened up on the gradients. removed the nav gradient and made it a solid color ---
3. clouds look like bubbles - and yet feel heavy
--- I like the clouds the way they are, but I did take the opacity down on them a little bit ---
4. all the text in the images (logo, headings etc) doesn't look properly anti-aliased
--- looks fine to me ---
5. body text needs more line-height (around 1.6 for that short line)
--- I had small line height because it was affecting my image slices. I modified the CSS to allow a stronger line height and let my images fit together at the same time. It definitely looks better with the heavier line height. ---
6. favicon from the logo
--- done ---
7. why the duplicate (+a bit extra) navigation at the bottom? i would suggest copyright info and privacy policy link only
--- good point. I put this down there because the boss suggested it but you are right. copy right info and company info looks way better. ---
8. the blue at the very top looks like a differnt hue to the blues in the gradients
--- modified the colors to be the same top/bottom. ---
9. text is waaay too small e.g. about us page
--- indeed the text was too small. i changed it on all the pages to be a regular size. ---

Thanks alot for those suggestions. They were easy for me to overlook and probably easy for you to spot at first glance. Any further comments or critiques would be appreciated.

 

[eximum]

@Phreaddee

Perhaps I spoke too soon when I said I coded and did the CSS myself. It is mostly Squarespace although I have added many custom CSS's and Javascripts to it. Since I work for this company I can probably fix anything that someone else happens to "mess up" while trying to edit content. It would be a different story though if I were designing this site for a novice to have full control over.

Oh and I only have full justification on the home page. Once we get the real text in there instead of the "Lorem Ipsum" we will decide if it looks OK with full justification or not.

Thanks.