jaapv Posted July 7, 2008 Share #1 Posted July 7, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have my new website online. I still have many photographs to add, but it is working. Two young designers, brother and sister, designed it for me as their first project. Please tell me what you think. JaapVPhotography Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 Hi jaapv, Take a look here Please criticize my new website. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
earleygallery Posted July 7, 2008 Share #2 Posted July 7, 2008 None of the 'buttons' work ! I get a message saying 'this button has been blocked'..... The title page is good (like the scrolling images) but I'm not sure about the choice of font, it's not easy to read, OK for the logo and a few key words, but not if that's what has been used throughout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted July 7, 2008 What browser do you use? I tested it on IE and firefox... Rightclick has been blocked throughout the site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 7, 2008 Share #4 Posted July 7, 2008 The buttons work for me, but I completely agree with James about the font - it's a "triumph of style over substance" and just makes my teeth itch. There is no reason for it - I know Aerial is boring as hell, but it is popular for one very good reason - it is easy on the eye. The current font makes the site too "busy" and too "hard" and thereby diminishes the (striking) imagery. Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtodrick Posted July 7, 2008 Share #5 Posted July 7, 2008 Sorry...gotta agree. The layout of the site, and the images are well done. That font though really has to go. I had to look twice at a couple of the words to be sure of what they were supposed to read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted July 7, 2008 On one hand I see what you guys mean about the font - I'll give it a hard think - I quite like it, and it is for the buttons only, not for the info etc. I was designed specifically for the site - I'll sleep on it. Thanks for the comments, appreciated Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenneth Posted July 7, 2008 Share #7 Posted July 7, 2008 Advertisement (gone after registration) None of the 'buttons' work ! I get a message saying 'this button has been blocked'..... The title page is good (like the scrolling images) but I'm not sure about the choice of font, it's not easy to read, OK for the logo and a few key words, but not if that's what has been used throughout. Worked fine for me- Apple Mac+ Safari- great site and asking for criticism is a novel way of getting traffic- good one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted July 7, 2008 Share #8 Posted July 7, 2008 Jaap - More than just the font has to go. What really must go is the extremely low contrast between the font and its background making the buttons very nearly impossible to read. The font itself might be acceptable but with that low contrast we'll never know. After you fix that I'll run a full usability expert review on the site. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share #9 Posted July 7, 2008 ?? It is white on a black background. What browser do you you use? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted July 8, 2008 Share #10 Posted July 8, 2008 Jaap, my brief experience with your website was like "visiting a Heath Robinson Machine". Please excuse my exageration, but it indicates how I felt. This site promises to be a great thing, but what does it do? I used Firefox & Opera. Opera found all clicks blocked. That is usually my browser of choice. Since it didn't work, I switched to Firefox. That was better, but it failed to progress to the next image. On the front page, the 'look' is great, but reading the subject headings is very off-putting. Simple Arial is guaranteed to be readable. Your reference to a young brother & sister duo making their first effort at design I think is the clue. The result is typical of such enthusiasm that one expects from such a source. They are seeing "their website" rather than "your photography" I suspect. The vehicle must be played down to further enhance the passenger, if you know what I mean. Feel comfortable about it so far, but learn from feedback and improve it with time. A website is always "work in progress" in my opinion. I look forward to returning when I can navigate it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest joewehry Posted July 8, 2008 Share #11 Posted July 8, 2008 I like the concept, but I find the gallery pages with the photo in the middle of a black box with white frame and black background with the large white bars to be an eye strain. Contrast too high, and photos too small. I'd like to see your nice photos take center stage but the white bars are distracting. My suggestion: If you want to keep the format, make the black a deeper grey, and the white a midtone grey to keep it neutral but not so high contrast. You want the site to shrink into the background while your photos shine. I like the bold design, the font is hard to read, but once I got clicking, it didn't matter. If you want this to be more professional with higher click-through rates and eventual photo orders, you must make it legible and faste to read or visitors will move on. If the font is part of your personal image, it might work well in printed pieces for a heading or two. A very useful book to read is "Don't Make Me Think" about web usability. Not just for photographers--and I think those sites have interests not covered by the book--but a good starting point. Also, check the newstands. There is a photo mag (I believe one of the ones published in England?) that currenetly has a show case of top photographer websites. Best wishes, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted July 8, 2008 Share #12 Posted July 8, 2008 Jaap - I am using Internet explorer, the most common browser in use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lotw Posted July 8, 2008 Share #13 Posted July 8, 2008 Mooie vormgeving, maar op je vorige site had je via thumbnails overzicht over al je thema's en dat heb ik liever. nu moet je op woord doorzoeken, d.i. een niet-visuele manier, dus ook niet zo fotografisch eigenlijk. verschuivende balk binnen thema's mag van mij sneller. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hiles Posted July 8, 2008 Share #14 Posted July 8, 2008 Looks very nice - but with some problems. I am using Opera, and I can only make the links work by Right Clicking and then Opening. Left clicking does not work - I also get a blocked message. I have to agree regarding the font. Great and very stylish for the logo, but for the links, it is too hard to read. You have to work at it - like listening to another language of which you have some knowledge but are not fluent. Your viewers should think about the pictures - not about getting at them. Also - you might think about making the images a little bigger. But as I said - it looks very nice and a little tweaking will give you a classy site. Cheers, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfage Posted July 8, 2008 Share #15 Posted July 8, 2008 How about this? The photos are too small. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_peter_m Posted July 8, 2008 Share #16 Posted July 8, 2008 Jaap, Good start The font you used is tribal, very hard to read. What are you hoping to achieve by disabling right click besides losing traffic. This is very annoying to many people. If you are worried about someone taking your images disabling right click won't do the trick. Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
giordano Posted July 8, 2008 Share #17 Posted July 8, 2008 Hi Jaap, Like others I find that the design distracts from the photographs. The basic motif of black background with the large white elements makes it hard to concentrate on the very small image presented in the centre. Presenting a small rectangular image in a heavy square frame seems wrong too, while the seemingly random scrolling of the thumbnails is a further distraction and makes it hard to select an image. IMHO the things that look like < and > buttons but aren't, and the moving back to selection link are UI no-nos. There also needs to be a way of scrolling from one image to the adjacent ones. And the blocked right-click is a further annoyance. Block individual menu items if you must, but not the whole menu. All in all, I feel your designers have not served you well. (BTW, you're welcome to criticise my site!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
earleygallery Posted July 8, 2008 Share #18 Posted July 8, 2008 I'm using Opera too. The main thing is that a website has to work - make life difficult for people and they just won't bother looking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spylaw4 Posted July 8, 2008 Share #19 Posted July 8, 2008 Jaap - The images are great and deserve a somewhat better designed site, alas. A good, but flawed, try is my summary. A lot of my feelings have already been expressed above but here are some of mine in detail. Taking the home page as a starter - Too messy variety of fonts: the title font is fine - a nice fancy announcement of you - but the "Photo gallery" is in a totally out of style font - it should IMO be in the same font as the Jaap V Photography. The individual gallery names are frankly almost unreadable. If you have a problem with Arial, there are a number of other fonts that are equally legible but possibly more "stylish" that might do instead. In the galleries each indiviual image is presented too small, and the layout is distracting. Overall your designers need to learn simplicity simplicity simplicity. Well - you did ask! And as John said - you are welcome to criticise my site in return! BTW I'm using Safari 3.1.2 and Firefox 3. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted July 8, 2008 Share #20 Posted July 8, 2008 I ran a website of my own design for several years, displaying my text font designs (I discontinued it after companies like Linotype took over the displaying). Everything works fine with Safari. BUT while the effect font is OK for a logo, do NEVER try to use something like that for text that you actually expect somebody to read! If you want something that is readable in moderate amounts, but still looks a bit special, go for Futura, for instance. Also, negative text (such as white on black) has to be fairly large and with ample leading (vertical space between lines) to be readily read. The old man from the Age of Lead Type Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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