Welcome, criticize my site!!!

[ckahle33]

Hey all,

here is my site. cpkdesign.com

Its clean and all but the front page needs to POP. what else could I do? I know there are a billion answers to that but I don't necessarily want anything flashy, no pun intended. Just simple text. I cant get <br /> 's to only break one line... so its all double spaced....

Also, I have a firm grasp of HTML and CSS, what should I spend time to learning next? PHP? Java? Also what literature should I purchase? Thanks,

Craig

 

[CaldwellYSR]

In my opinion you should spend time learning HTML5 and getting away from tables first. Then probably some core javascript and Jquery.

 

[d a v e]

pity the code isn't so clean and simple

<p class="Text"><span class="Text">We are a design firm located in Philadelphia, PA.</span><span class="Text">We are commited to making clean, simple websites that allow the utmost</span><span class="Text">usability. </span></p>

 

[Phreaddee]

you know its always a worry when the stylesheet consists of borders. global font style. and thats it. hmmm
another slice and dice site by the looks of it.
I'm not even going to bother.

 

[NadiaCweb]

Hey ckahle33,

It looks a bit flat. You should familiar yourself with some basics of design first. For example, your typographic skills could use some work. I actually have an free e-book available, if you'd like to check it out that is. It's at this link: http://www.nadiacweb.com . I hope it helps you.

-NC

 

[Brian Angel]

So, went and checked it out, another Philidelphian and all. Came up as untitled document. I almsot stopped there but went on to your portfolio. All bland and very wordpressish (look ma, a new word). I see you want to keep things on the cheap but, deliver something beyond a standard template.

 

[ckahle33]

Hey,

thanks everyone, and for being so brutally honest. I am creating the site in Dreamweaver, so how should I avoid tables? i feel that is how most sites are created but as you all already know I don't know a thing.. If you could all explain yourselves a bit more, it would be helpful. I realize you are all pros but you too also had to start somewhere.

All bland and very wordpressish (look ma, a new word).

Thanks Brian. Thats just my style. Wordpress can be functional and helpful for certain people. I'm not really into your whole Lord of The Rings font thing either. Some more specificity would be awesome, if you can find the time in between writing original jokes. Thanks,

Craig

 

[d a v e]

logo should be a gif or 8-bit png.

optimise your portfolio images (clients page)

tables haven't been used in sites since the turn of the century - at least not by pros
it seems a bit weird offering up beginners tuts to people offering web design, but
http://www.htmldog.com
http://www.opera.com/company/education/curriculum/

http://www.cssbasics.com
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/html-css-beginners-guide/
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/design-and-code-your-first -website-in-easy-to-understand-steps/

i feel like i would want to see some element of that front page (colourful) graphic carried over to the other pages

and using lots of images for text isn't going to get you indexed, and isn't very accessible to those using screen readers. why not use real text?!

also in the text you have some double spaces that looks pretty sloppy

it looks like your graphic design skills are up to scratch but how can you offer web design when you don't even know not to use tables for layout, and which file format to use and how to properly optimise it?

i like the simplicity of the site but i worry about the real lack of technical know-how behind the scenes.

 

[ckahle33]

Well, as you can see, I can make a simple clean looking site because I have the design chops. I went to Drexel for about 1 and a half years for Graphic Design, and right as I left we were getting into web stuff. Apparently I was taught the wrong way, aka using tables. I thought that was the way it was done but apparently not.

I want to use my design sense that I gained from school and use it towards websites. Thanks for a great response Dave. I really appreciate you not just trashing it like Frodo over here. I am only 22 and basically taught myself. I am not advertising this service to anyone yet. This is my test site so to speak, so when I graduate school I can do mild freelance and help out my network of musicians and make them sites and make a couple of bucks on the side as well. Don't worry I don't have clients knocking down my doors either.

 

[1paket.com]

It looks good now and professionally.

 

[Brian Angel]

Name calling? Is that what you call acting like a pro? I didn't trash your site. I simply pointed out you didn't even bother adding a title to your pages. I also do wordpress sites and I wouldn't give a client something that looks like you did. If you ask for a critique, expect one and for someone who states they do "web design" to not even bother with the most basic of SEO principles (no page title, no H1 tags, menus in tables and not ul, inline styles). I could go on but why bother. Don't ask for opinions if you cant handle them.