In dire need of design advice

[mat1979]

hi everybody

i'm just back from holidays and i'm putting together a small new website, it's not finished yet, but will be soon.

this site however has one huge problem : it is ugly :eek:

so, i'm going to show you one page of that site, and am more than willing to receive your feedback on its ugly design. All the other page will/do look the same basically, so no need really to browse the links (but you're free man)

i'm utterly interested, mind you, by easy solutions :D
i'm not really looking forward to spend too much time over that site, it's just that it is really not looking good, and simple but useful ideas are my dream. but anyway, i'll take whatever is coming.

for info, it is just pure html

here is the typical page : palm valley (http://www.kia-sorento.org/palm-valley.html)

thanks people, a forum is a great place! i love the internet!
see u

[KDLA]

Well, you could advertise your site as retro: a flashback to web design from the 90's. That would be an easy solution! ;)

Actually, the design not that bad. Mostly just boring, not really ugly. What it needs is:
- some sort of container, to hold your content together. Right now, it looks too much like a flier rather than a webpage
- a color scheme that works with the photos. Man, those are BEAUTIFUL photos. Read up on how to mat and frame photos (for the home). Take those design hints and apply them to your web's design: frame/mat color, arrangement, etc. You won't believe how many parallels their are.
- Get a web-friendly font. "Times New Roman" is really for print media, not screen. Choose verdana, arial, or even trebuchet.
- arrange your content so the photos are the focus, not the navigation. The centered navigation clutters up the screen and pushes the photos down to where I have to scroll to see them all. Go the old web standard - side navigation.

Good Luck -
KDLA

[mat1979]

thanks KDLA for your hindsight, i'll try and work up on that.
cheers, mat

[LJK]

Hi -
Sometimes can't help myself;
tried an idea for you - attchd. .zip.

El

[mat1979]

Hi LJK

You've just opened my eyes

i'm glad you couldn't help yourself, now i know the truth out there!
i'm gonna work on that website when my hard work day is over.

thanks !
thanks for your time! thanks for sharing your thoughts!

mat