Local Portland Business Website Design

helloworld

New Member
* At the time of this post, this website is at around 95% completion.

Hello World Design has worked closely with the client with every step of the branding process. It is really great working with startup business that are so passionate about their products (which happen to be quite wonderful scottish inspired handmade soaps, candles, and lotions)!

here is a production link for your review:
http://weemindings.com/2013

Really happy with how this one turned out, and it showcases parts of our all new Hello World Design Client Admin v2.9.. which is quite slick if I may say so myself.

Thanks for reading forum, your comments and praise are welcome as always.
 

leroy30

New Member
Pretty slick!

When I landed on the home page, I expected it to scroll. Then I realised what I saw at the bottom is not content but in fact a footer. I think it is the background colour making me feel this way.

I don't like on the get in touch page how there is a part at the bottom where the background shows through, and the background doesn't scroll. It feels old school.

In the shop I think you could do a little work on the products to make them look more like products. Even just a border or something? To give it that feel I'm accustomed to with online products for purchase. Also the text here is very crowded. Try reducing it if you can.

Add to cart button should be bigger IMO!

I know you're fighting download size, but can you make the background images sharper!?
 

helloworld

New Member
hahaha.. thanks for the feedback!
lack of whitespace was the last complaint i was expecting for this site!

and i definitely see where you can see 'old school' with parts of the design.. but i assure you, this is very new school indeed. i will give on the background images.. i'll even go as far as to save out as pngs.. just for you leroy.. cheers! :)

the add to cart button styles/placement and finalizing the cart itself make up the last 5%.. stay tuned!

anyone else care to chime in?
 

Edge

Member
Nice background image on home page and other pages too. In my opinion the fixed background works for me. I also like the way on other pages a portion of it shows up in footer - nice effect.

On the shop page I think you should have a menu which isn't so tall as the products are hidden below the fold on my laptop. I think when someone lands on a product page they should immediately see products wham bang, not a huge load of white space to the right of the word shop. Also each product needs social media share buttons so that users can easily tell their friends - you only have this feature in the gallery. Layout needs adjusting as two pictures centrally aligned just doesn't look right. Also if I'm buying online I like to have a good look at what I'm buying so images should be clickable and pointing to larger version (as in gallery).

Headings wise, the product titles should be h3 not h2.

The overlay on 'view details' is a nice effect but I just don't see the point as the page isn't exactly crowded. From an SEO point of view I'd prefer to see that link go to an individual product page.
 

chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
lack of whitespace was the last complaint i was expecting for this site!

Whitespace is actually vitally important for human being to understand the structure of a document. The concept of "paragraphs" is drummed into us from primary school (first grade in the modern idiom), so we naturally look for gaps in the blocks of text to segregate and separate the individual sections.


The font starts to break up at lower screen sizes.
1024x768
1024x768.png

1280x980
1280x980.png


And the font-size for a content link looks a bit odd

link-font-size.png
 

d a v e

New Member
nice feel!
one the about page you have "The knot has long been a mystical and spiritual symbol eluding to the infinite cycles of birth and rebirth." what you mean is "alluding" to refer indirectly to, rather than avoiding capture, which is what you have at the moment :)

love the background image, the centered logo, my daughter is wandering off so have to go...
 

FrontPage97

New Member
A background image can really make or break a website. This one sets a nice mood.

I don't like the fact that the linked pages have different images. It's almost like you're clicking to go off to different sites.
 

d a v e

New Member
i'm definitley with the egde on this one (though i assume it's THE edge from u2 :))

the logo and naviagtion and everything else remains consistent so no chance of feeling like your on another site
 

chrishirst

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I don't like the fact that the linked pages have different images. It's almost like you're clicking to go off to different sites.
Personally I think that adds to the overall charm of the whole.

Where is the rule that states that all documents on a particular website HAVE to be identical or have a corporate "identity"?

It is only developers with zero artistic skill that have brought that about.
The design of ANY document should reflect it's content and/or the message it is meant to portray. Sure if you are selling a few hundred different variations of woodscrew, there isn't a lot you could do with that, but for this site, which is for items that are personal choices for individuals, a "corporate look and feel" wouldn't really work.
 

AsheSkyler

New Member
Didn't expect the purple on the contact page, but I rather like it.
The knotted forward/back buttons on the lightbox are pretty cool.
Also, love the different backgrounds. They're beautiful photographs and I think they really add to each page they're on.

In short, still like your stuff. You do good work.
 
Top