Design suggestions for top area of site?

[kjbeckett]

Hi all

I have been working on my site with the help of many of the forum members. Many thanks.

I would value your opinion / design tips on the top area of my site. I beleive the site requires some definition in the top bar. Basically the area from the top nav buttons up.

I was thinking about a simple thin grey line either above, below or above and below the top nav buttons.

Another option is to use:

A coloured bar which has become part of my sites brand (http://www.kjbeckett.com/acatalog/kjb_tag.jpg).

Indeed I think the top area needs something to define it but I dont want to over do it. Any design suggestions would be appreicated.

Kind regards

Paul

[abz]

erm...is there a link to your site somewhere?

[kjbeckett]

Hi

Sorry it is in the signature or www.kjbeckett.com

Paul

[bldstr]

I like the design overall, good use of product pics featured on the home page - fast loading yet still good quality.

The first thing that strikes me is that the top banner feels incomplete on my 1280x1024 res. I think it should be solid, have a border or something to define it. Perhaps the same can be said for the left and right columns too, there's no clear lines separating the different sections of the page.On the about us page you seem to have a picture of the website yet it has a much nicer top banner. That building next to the logo really works, although I suggest you get rid of that coloured strip, it just looks to be there because you were stuck for ideas :P though you do mention it's part of branding. It looks OK next to the black but just doesn't fit in perfectly.

I think the shipping images at the top of the site drag the quality down a bit from otherwise high quality image decorated site. The featured products on the right look good but I feel the navigation bar on the left could do with a little sprucing up.

[NZSolutions]

i am wondering what the logo would look like on a solid black bar at the top OR the logo reversed on white eg. the text is black. sitting in a box in the middle doesn't look quite right. i think going for the solid option for the top might be the better option but you will need to define the entire page from the white background to make it balanced.

i actually like how it looks when you click on the mens shirt banner on the right. having the page centered.

your banners are really good.

[kocisz]

I would just put a grey box around the horizontal links, just like the one on the vertical menu. Or.. if you want something more fancy, a silver pill-like bar. Although I would go with simplicity.

[kjbeckett]

All thanks.

I want to try and keep things as simple as possible on the page - and I think you have all picked up on that based on your suggestions.

I will give some of these a go to see how they look! Many thanks.

New banners

Many thanks for the comments about the banners. On this page I have introudced a new type of banner on the right: http://www.kjbeckett.com/acatalog/menswatches.html. Instead of being product focused on a white background, I have used lifestyle shots. Do you think the two syles of banner (e.g. product/white background + lifestyle) sit ok on the same page together?

Kind regards

Paul