Stained Glass website

[invision]

Hello,

I'm developing a website for a stained glass company based in Scotland and have made the following design:

http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/siteidea3.html

I would very much appreciate some feedback on it.

It's really lacking some 'oomph!' to make it more eye-catching but frankly I suck at Photoshop. I have lots of images of the stained glass and want to put them to good use.

Any criticism and feedback is very much appreciated.

I also made other designs you can see at http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/sites.html but they're not as good.

[chrismartz]

I like that layout....nice and simple!

[zabel]

I agree, I love simple websites without too much clutter on them. I was thinking it would really nice if you could make the words "stained glass" into a stained glass panel? I'm not great with photoshop either but you can learn alot by going to photoshopcafe.com and learn how to make a panel like that.

[bcr]

I think it's going good so far.

It's a nice clean design, the navigation is simple, and it's not too cluttered.

I was also looking through some of your other examples. Some of them are good, are you going to stick with this design?

I'd consider having another look at those design's before making the decision.

[invision]

Many thanks for the feedback so far.
I'd like to mix the ideas from some of the other site ideas, what do you think of the others bcr, which is your favourite?

Thanks again.

[bcr]

Originally posted by invision
I'd like to mix the ideas from some of the other site ideas, what do you think of the others bcr, which is your favourite?


Yes, that's a great idea. Get some of the idea's from the other sites which you created which have the same basic look and feel of the one you chose, eg: this one (http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/siteidea1.html)

Or, you have an example like this one (http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/siteidea2.html) which is in a completely different direction. But, I think you're on the right track with the one you chose.

I think just keep working on the one you picked, you'll end up with something great.

Good luck!

[invision]

Thanks bcr.

I'll be back soon with the finished product.

[Jona]

I kinda' liked the fourth one the most, myself. ;)

[CyCo]

I like siteidea2 (http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/siteidea2.html)

[davidbrent]

siteidea2 is just the basic Blue Robot layout and doesn't really float my boat. siteidea4 is a bit plain also i can't see how you can take it from there



hmm i will keep looking.

[Jona]

To be honest, I would have gone in a completely different direction with the whole thing; it's often a good idea to make the web site's actual layout themed, rather than just its "style." I just like the fourth idea more than any of the other choices.

[davidbrent]

my idea would be to make a similar style to a stained glass window. have a big BG picture and then insert content into blank spaces within the layout making it crazy yet easy to navigatge...

[Jona]

Originally posted by davidbrent
my idea would be to make a similar style to a stained glass window. have a big BG picture and then insert content into blank spaces within the layout making it crazy yet easy to navigatge...

Exactly what I was thinking! Theme the layout, not just the colors, graphics, etc. :)

[davidbrent]

great minds think alike! :p

[invision]

It sounds a good idea, but how do I go about it?

I've got some of the pics :

http://michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/img094.jpg --> http://michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/img114.jpg

I would very much appreciate if one of you could rastle up a quick idea of what you mean, and I can take it from there. Credit will be given if it is used in the end.

Thanks for this.

[davidbrent]

i might be able to rustle something up during my lunch break. depends if i can get my iBook sorted out as i prefer desinging on that now to my work pc.

ok i will see what i can do. it might end up just being a MSPaint diagrama of what i mean.

Best Wishes,
David

[davidbrent]

after thinking about it it seems a little tough to do. plan 2..

[davidbrent]

ok rustled this up based upon your idea http://www.michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/siteidea8.html

[Jona]

I think it would be interesting if you highlighted specific parts of a larger image (the best one I've found would be here: <http://michaelmcg.co.uk/RMSG/img096.jpg>), when you mouseover a navigational link. But that's just another idea. ;)

[davidbrent]

however you would have to lower the detail in each frame as you may want text and text over a busy background doesn't work. trust me.

jona, the only problem is how would you place that in a page. an image right in the middle? that's where i was stuck! its hard, no way would i stretch to fit the page.. it's interesting.

[Jona]

David, I didn't think about it in a lot of detail. If I meditated long enough, I'm sure I'd figure something out. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to do so, however.

[invision]

Many thanks for all the contributions and thought you've put into this.

I think I should go with darker colours like dark and light browns maybe and olde font.

Jona, thanks, that's a great idea, a disjointed rollover so when they rollover some text or a navigational link a bit changes to say what you'll find on the page and a pic, its the time as always is the key problem. May take too long to load.

Thanks again, I'll work on it and get back to you.

[LJK]

Hi -
I enjoyed your 'templates' very much, but I think
for this design idea, it may be time to drop the
table-based layouts [though entirely possible, as
I'm sure someone else will post about] and go for
CSS instead.

You could take, say img#94 into your favorite graphics
editor, select a square area away from the main 'action'
of the photo, and lighten the gamma/brightness/decrease
contrast to fade the colors, then use it for your title
or links area.

To use as a background for the body or a container div,
add -
background{
white url("folder/filename.ext") no-repeat 0% 0%; ... ;}
And tweak the %'s to move it a bit more if necessary from
the top and left of its container/element.

Use it to cover about 2/3 of the area - then play with what's
left to your (he)art's content!

Good luck,
El