My bands new site.

[Dopple]

Hi. I ended up getting bored with my old site so have created a new one. Only thing is I'm not the greatest web designer. I can code ok but my mad design skillz aint so mad. I'd like some critisism on this.
My Site (http://www.namik.co.uk)

[WebJoel]

It's nice. I see some things that I liked.

:)

[etechdesigns]

Layout is ok. However, I think you should minimize the size of banner. You should design good logo. You can improve your design so as to visitors should stay for a while at your site. You should design good navigation bar as well for easy and simple access. Good Luck! :)

[pcthug]

The massive white logo is very distracting on a black background,
Your site could also do with some type of rollover effect for the navigation as well,

[bathurst_guy]

I think that it serves its purpose, but it could use a more appealing design. I agree with current comments, that the banner is too large, and the navigation is boring. Now I'm not sure what type of band it is, but I still think it can do with more colour, even if you pick a single colour that suits the band and have a couple of larger photos or something.

[Dopple]

Thanks folks. I agree. The banner is a tad too large What I may do is stretch it accross the whole of the top and make it a touch more narrow. I'll also alter the text a bit to make it less distracting/contrasting. You have hit the nail on th head regarding the navigation bar. It's an image map you see, making it slightly more difficult to do rollovers.

[KDLA]

Very large banner -- there's no doubting your band's name. ;)

The red/blue graphic on the left would probably look better farther up the page, possibly having the top of it align with the top of the "N" of "Namik."

I'd use a different shade of blue for your links. More like the blue used in your graphic.

Good Luck -
KDLA

[Editor]

I agree with the banner being a bit on the large side. I'd also think it'd be better if it blended better with the black background.

One thing that struck me is that you don't know what sort of music the band plays. How about adding a tagline under Namik to give readers more of a clue?

[Dopple]

One thing that struck me is that you don't know what sort of music the band plays. How about adding a tagline under Namik to give readers more of a clue?
I know what you mean. But you're right, I can't really make my mind up what we play. I've yet to get around to altering the banner but my plan is stretch at the sides to cover the black space and fade it to black at the bottom. I'm having difficulty with link colour though because of the gray background I can't get a colour that contrasts well but also fits in with the scheme.

[ProWeb]

One additional point.
Get a copyright notice on there!

"Copyright 2006 Your Name Here. All Rights Reserved."

[Dopple]

Good point. Forgot all about that. Next thing I know Madonna has ripped my **** off!

<%
if Browser <> "FireFox" then
response.redirect "http://www.getfirefox.com"
End If
%>

You're implying there's a greater browser than Firefox? heh heh ;)

[ProWeb]

Er, Yes I am, infact IE is better, as of the auto update yesterday.

My FF is now goosed. cant right click images and View image, same with background image, wont go to https pages, the 'copy' command on the right click context menu has disappeared off the bottom so i have to scroll to get it...need i go on?

[Dopple]

Damn. I haven't resarted my firefox browser yet since last night. I think I'll just reinstall the verison I installed froma couple of weeks ago. Cheers for the warning!

P.s. My words have been thoroughly eaten. :o

[chazzy]

Er, Yes I am, infact IE is better, as of the auto update yesterday.

My FF is now goosed. cant right click images and View image, same with background image, wont go to https pages, the 'copy' command on the right click context menu has disappeared off the bottom so i have to scroll to get it...need i go on?

Your version must be buggered, I'm running 1.5.0.1 and i can do most of those. Specifically I don't know what you mean by "right click context menu ahs disappeared off the bottom"

[ProWeb]

Right click, context menu appears....'Copy' on mine is now way off the bottom of the menu as they have added more fuctions to the context menu....

[chazzy]

Right click, context menu appears....'Copy' on mine is now way off the bottom of the menu as they have added more fuctions to the context menu....

When you upgraded, did you click the button that said "Download extension updates as well"? Did you check if your theme needed to be updated. Mine works perfectly fine, especially that (copy appears at the top for text, 2nd tier for textboxes/areas.)

[ray326]

I've had no problem with the update.

[Ness_du_Frat]

Oh, so I'm glad I never update my browsers, then...

So, back to the review ^^
Ok, thousands of people have said it already, the banner is definately too large.
Then, I don't like the gray background for the content, it's a bit dull.
The font on the navigation is a bit like "my first computer, once in the 70's". Not so cool for a band, I guess. It's true you could use a cool rollover effect, and maybe highlight the category that was selected.

Other than that, I liked the pictures on the left. And yeah, the website is functional, and thousand times better than some others. But, it could use a bit more originality. The only problem I see with it now is the fact that it's not as eye-catching as it could be. You really need to tell the visitors what they are looking at. This is a website for a band, not for some random dishwasher. So, use your pictures !

I really liked the effect when you put your mouse on an image !!! It's cool !!!! (this one, you really have to keep it !)

[Dopple]

*My Browser seems to be ok.

I've been thinking the same. I might just do what I did with my last site and have white text on black background with a bhorder round the content.

Yup. Deffo got to get round to sorting the banner out. I dunno though. I kind of like the spectrum looking font but you are right it doens't fit in with the feel of the site.