Does this website make my butt look big? Feedback appreciated...

[blue2blue]

It was time to redo the ol' mechanic's-broken-car website. I'm sorta liking it but there's one issue that cropped up in testing that I'm not sure I can weigh out properly, not knowing how many people browse using IE7's page-zoom feature... (I tested in FF2, IE7 and Win-Safari. Opera or Netscape feedback especially welcome.)

 

www.TKMajor.com

 

 

The banner logo may be short-time... it was just a goof one day when I was fooling around with my pen tablet.

 

Anyhow, deep appreciation for any problems you spot or your insight into general design, tone, etc.

 

cheers

 

TK

 

 

PS... I think I stole this thread title from someone around here... if you need it back...

[Super 8]

Does this website make my butt look big?

 

It's in proportion with your thighs.

[blue2blue]

You really know how to hurt a guy.

 

Actually, at my age, my problem is more the opposite... it's hard keeping my trousers up. It doesn't help that jeans seem to be designed for people with very different body types. I hate belts but I've had to start using one more often than not... or suffer the consequences of walking around holding my pants up like a suburban wannabe.

[temnov]

Blue2blue, I like your site and its design, it's very good, I think. And I've spent 10 years in this field, too.

 

What I didn't like is the black background at the portofolio page, even gray could be better, I think. But again, other than that, everything is very clean, clear and well-designed.

[Ed A.]

I think you should change the "Owe us money? Pay here" link to "Owe us money? Pay up now, deadbeats".

 

But really, the home page is probably not the place for a link that says "Owe us money? Pay here". It does make it look like you have accounts receivable problems with your clients.

[blue2blue]

 

Blue2blue, I like your site and its design, it's very good, I think. And I've spent 10 years in this field, too. What I didn't like is the black background at the portofolio page, even gray could be better, I think. But again, other than that, everything is very clean, clear and well-designed.

 

I'll try out a nice charcoal and see how that works. I initially liked the boldness of the black... since many of the sites had white or light backgrounds.

 

(That reminds me... I need to rewrite that page to properly use CSS. Another one of those pages that started years ago and just sort of evolved. In fact, I just took a peek at the code in the body -- I definitely need to clean that up... I should have taken care of that before I pointed anyone to it. [i'd sorta been spending all my time in the header, getting the CSS tabs honed in. Props to Stu Nicholls at CSSPlay who came up with them. I'm using them with bitmap backgrounds but it'll work without them, too, and look almost as good, you just loose the gradient] )

 

But I think you've got something. I've thought about it before. Time for a change...

 

Thanks!

[blue2blue]

I think you should change the "Owe us money? Pay here" link to "Owe us money? Pay up now, deadbeats". But really, the home page is probably not the place for a link that says "Owe us money? Pay here". It does make it look like you have accounts receivable problems with your clients.

 

Yeah... I was being cute. I think you're right, though.

 

I was getting a lot of clients and possibles who were asking about online payment so I gave that a prominence it shouldn't probably have.

 

I think what's going to happen is that I'm going to eventually move to putting realtime time and billing info on the site (properly secured, of course). One thing I've been getting is some clients with flurries of nickel and dime changes who may lose track of how it's all stacking up. I think it might be helpful for some to see their daily balances. (Of course, what would really help them out would be if they were to use some of the user-updateable stuff I've implemented for them.)

 

Thanks for the feedback! I think you're right.

[spokenward]

I'm kind of an advocate for text searchability. You might be missing an opportunity by not having (name, identity, bag of tricks) embedded in page footers. You also might want to think about the metatagging opportunities. The web does not love an unused metatag. And by structuring the tags of the different sites that you manage you can link them to this site in searches.

 

The "serif shadow logo" might be a good opportunity for CSS text styling. (That would also make it text searchable.)

 

The banner says "creative", but it doesn't completely convey all the other stuff like "creative with databases", "real easy to work with", "the sort of person that you are just fortunate that you know". You might be able to layer that into a banner graphic.

 

Congrats for actually doing an update! I've got three "ghost ship" identities that need work. This helps me to think about it.

[Super 8]

I'll try out a nice charcoal and see how that works. I initially liked the boldness of the black...

 

Actually, I like the black. It has a stark contrast with the blue and the white which I think looks cool and clean.

 

I like the website. It's very simple and easy to navigate.

 

Personally, I would have toned down the music side. Keep the business side separate from the pleasure side.

 

And also,

 

I'm sure I saw you on Homicide: Life on the Streets, didn't I? You and Detective Munch used to rile Pembleton up?

 

[blue2blue]

I'm kind of an advocate for text searchability. You might be missing an opportunity by not having (name, identity, bag of tricks) embedded in page footers. You also might want to think about the metatagging opportunities. The web does not love an unused metatag. And by structuring the tags of the different sites that you manage you can link them to this site in searches. The "serif shadow logo" might be a good opportunity for CSS text styling. (That would also make it text searchable.) The banner says "creative", but it doesn't completely convey all the other stuff like "creative with databases", "real easy to work with", "the sort of person that you are just fortunate that you know". You might be able to layer that into a banner graphic. Congrats for actually doing an update! I've got three "ghost ship" identities that need work. This helps me to think about it.

 

 

Great points. I realize now I was premature in asking for comment, since you guys are now doing valuable design and testing work for me (and thank you verymuch ) ... yeah... I guess I was so swept up in the new look I hadn't even got around to sullying it with some of the important stuff. I actually thought I did get metas in on key pages but checking just now I realize that's not the case. My slip was showing on that one.

 

Happily, the style sheet tab menu degrades pretty well in non-CSS browser, though, of course, it's the in-betweens you have to worry about. (My take on that is that if they use an 8 year old browser, they must certainly be used to things looking funny. It may not be the right approach, mind you. )

 

The degradeability issue I'm worried about is the new page-zoom in IE7. Because it puts real cracks in my virtual tabs going big and "crumples" the nice angles and curves going small. Still navigable, of course. But it's not pretty. In Safari and FF, going too big with the text zoom will eventually push a tab to wrap which looks a little awkward but is also quite navigable and the tabs look good as they resize.

[blue2blue]

Actually, I like the black. It has a stark contrast with the blue and the white which I think looks cool and clean. I like the website. It's very simple and easy to navigate. Personally, I would have toned down the music side. Keep the business side separate from the pleasure side. And also, I'm sure I saw you on Homicide: Life on the Streets, didn't I? You and Detective Munch used to rile Pembleton up?

 

You're probably right... the site underwent a change in emphasis as I found myself doing more web work. Maybe I shouldn't have a mutant limerick about formalism, either...

 

In fact, I've decided. This site should be about you. Not you, Super 8, but you the potential customer.

 

And... so... the About TK Major page shouldn't actually be about me.

 

As you can see, it started out with a least a sense of that. But I think what we need here is an About TK Major page that's more about work philosophy, design approach and that kind of thing. I can always bury this page a little... sort of a "But who is TK Major, really?" page...

 

 

 

But, yeah... the picture's a little severe.

 

Looks like I've pretty much got the soul of Pembleton and the looks of Munch...

 

I was asking folks down at the coffee house about it (the picture) and the reception was surprisingly positive -- but then they're so used to seeing me with the considerably less urbane 4 day beard, rumpled t-shirts and flannels... so just the novelty of seeing me looking like someone who might walk into a bank or liquor store without making folks nervous likely accounts for that.

[Super 8]

But, yeah... the picture's a little severe. Looks like I've pretty much got the soul of Pembleton and the looks of Munch... I was asking folks down at the coffee house about it (the picture) and the reception was surprisingly positive -- but then they're so used to seeing me with the considerably less urbane 4 day beard, rumpled t-shirts and flannels... so just the novelty of seeing me looking like someone who might walk into a bank or liquor store without making folks nervous likely accounts for that.

 

Oh I like the picture...don't think I don't like the picture. You've got that sorta ruffed up but soulful Bryan Ferry look. I think it's cool.

[blue2blue]

 

 

 

I know I already addressed this post (but there was so much in what you said) but I just realized that maybe you didn't realize the tabbed menu on my site is actualy just a UL list (I know that's redundant) tarted up with CSS code. The links are actually straightforward text links. The only bitmaps are just used for supplying gradient backgrounds on the tabs by the CSS -- and it works fine without them (though it's still subject to the IE7 page-zoom issues I think I mentioned).

 

 

But... now... on a slightly different but not altogether unrelated note, isn't there some sort of fundamental design principle being violated by having two bitmapped logos on the same page? A goofy, artsy airbrushed one and a retro-fussy typer-writer font on the other?

 

Clearly, my mutiple personalities are going to have to come to a more complementary power sharing arragement there.

 

 

See, the previous version was very restrained, had no graphical banner (save the TKMajor serif-shadow thing) and was... well, boring. And then I decided to use this CSS tab menu, which I'd stumbled on looking for menu ideas for an e-commerce site I'm in the middle of... and I realized how cool it looked if you slipped a bitmap in back of the tabs and... well... there was the airbrush kinda thing and... it's gotta go, I guess. Yep.

[blue2blue]

I know it sounds absurd -- it sounds absurd to me, for sure... but I think, secretly I really was trying to show two sides of TK Major (the commercial entity -- not me, per se). He's two, two developers in one... the guy you hire to do a web database project and the guy you hire to do a website for your gallery or record label.

 

It's occurred to me in the past that maybe there ought to be two entities (and that way I'd only have to work half as hard ) to cover the kinds of prospects and clients who've come to me...

 

One would be buttoned-down, business-like, but hopefully stylish.

 

The other would be some terminally arty, Flash-drenched, info rules-busting, a trainwreck of pretension and bandwidth consumption...

[spokenward]

excerpted

 

But... now... on a slightly different but not altogether unrelated note, isn't there some sort of fundamental design principle being violated by having two bitmapped logos on the same page? A goofy, artsy airbrushed one and a retro-fussy typer-writer font on the other? Clearly, my mutiple personalities are going to have to come to a more complementary power sharing arragement there. See, the previous version was very restrained, had no graphical banner (save the TKMajor serif-shadow thing) and was... well, boring. And then I decided to use this CSS tab menu, which I'd stumbled on looking for menu ideas for an e-commerce site I'm in the middle of... and I realized how cool it looked if you slipped a bitmap in back of the tabs and... well... there was the airbrush kinda thing and... it's gotta go, I guess. Yep.

 

 

 

Well, it doesn't have to go, but it might - evolve.

 

And yes, the people who wear black would definitely frown on two identity devices (logos). You might not want those people to frown because they might be looking for partners in a right brain - left brain client split. They might even be looking for db support or be dragging their stylish heels over an ugly database conversion project.

 

Hey I looked for that text-shadow property I was thinking of in CSS. It is in CSS2 and 3, but no browser supports it. http://www.alistapart.com/articles is great for inspiration on all things CSS.

 

I also wouldn't recommend hiding the music stuff. Charles Ives was an insurance executive, for pete's sake. People like accomplishment and discipline, that doesn't have to exclude music.

[philbo]

Very nicely done ergonomics.

 

Very professional looking, and an excellent showcase for your work.

 

I hope you inspire others to avoid the excesses of eye candy with null content that is so prevalent on the web.

[daklander]

Overall a nice, clean, uncluttered look for the business site.

However, I like a consistent look throughout a web site, particularly within a theme so I don't like the look of the portfolio page as it relates to the rest of the site's pages.

I also agree about the separation of the two sides of your endeavors, business and music. That is where the thematic change would work and would, IMHO, emphasize the differences between the two.

[blue2blue]

 

excerpted Well, it doesn't have to go, but it might - evolve. And yes, the people who wear black would definitely frown on two identity devices (logos). You might not want those people to frown because they might be looking for partners in a right brain - left brain client split. They might even be looking for db support or be dragging their stylish heels over an ugly database conversion project. Hey I looked for that text-shadow property I was thinking of in CSS. It is in CSS2 and 3, but no browser supports it. http://www.alistapart.com/articles is great for inspiration on all things CSS. I also wouldn't recommend hiding the music stuff. Charles Ives was an insurance executive, for pete's sake. People like accomplishment and discipline, that doesn't have to exclude music.

 

http://www.alistapart.com/articles looks like a great site. I'm bookmarking it right now.

 

Yeah, I know the extra identity device (I like that) has to go...

 

And, as a database guy who has spent a lot of time with arty types, I know I have to try harder to get the right tone, design-wise. Generally I have the idea that it's far too easy to look like you're trying too hard -- but I think I was just feeling goofy after working on technical issues all afternoon.

 

Thanks for the words of support for the music content. I was looking at the page as a kind of resume so I think I was looking to make myself look well rounded.

 

But I now think the key is to have the about us page be about about the business persona and then that can have a link to what's essentially the existing page.

 

And that way, I can easily keep that page in my signature line here at HC. I like being able to click on it and instantly remind myself just who I am...

[blue2blue]

 

Very nicely done ergonomics. Very professional looking, and an excellent showcase for your work. I hope you inspire others to avoid the excesses of eye candy with null content that is so prevalent on the web.

 

 

Thanks.

 

I sort of feel like I ought to design an alternate site with all kinds of cheezy-but-trendy tabloid graphics/layout just to prove I can. Clearly, it's something one should be comfortable with. I've might just have something up my sleeve.

[blue2blue]

 

Overall a nice, clean, uncluttered look for the business site. However, I like a consistent look throughout a web site, particularly within a theme so I don't like the look of the portfolio page as it relates to the rest of the site's pages. I also agree about the separation of the two sides of your endeavors, business and music. That is where the thematic change would work and would, IMHO, emphasize the differences between the two.

 

 

I hear what you're saying about the portfolio page. It's going to be remade using [cough] Flash. (I hear the groans.) I plan on keeping it very straightforward -- just using Flash to do image handling with a little, understated flair. That's the plan. I just feel I should have something that demonstrates that side of things.

 

On the music separation thing, I'm leaning pretty hard that way. At the bottom of the newly envisioned, more businesslike About Us page, I'll have a link to a sort of personal interests page where I'll have the music and blog stuff and the players.

 

Thanks for your input, man.

 

___________

 

UPDATE: One of my friends reported that on her IE6, mouseovers from side to side on the menu were causing both to "blink"... I have IE6 on my laptop so I checked that -- I didn't get blinking -- but the gradients used to "fill" the tabs came in really slow... I wonder if anyone else noticed that?

[Gus Lozada]

I liked the website.

You look kinda sad at the picture... you're a musician, bro'. Smile! ... ot get a "bad guy" face... like others I know ...

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

You look kinda sad at the picture...

 

To me not really sad, but kinda pseudo intellectual. ---> You need another photo on your website, or you will attract neurotic people...

 

:D:D:D:D:D

 

.

[the stranger]

He is neurotic...

 

And that pic blew me away. It isn't what I expected.

[Rudolf von Hagenwil]

He is neurotic...

 

I feel guilty now. However, I don't think that blue2blue actually is neurotic.

 

As amends here a neurotic, pseudo philosophical song "Life Is A Dream" I wrote for my new album as exclusive preview for HC forumites.

 

File Name: Life Is A Dream.mp3

Size: 5MB

Download Link:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/f09b25

 

 

.

[blue2blue]

So... it does make my butt look big?