Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Im having the hardest time.

(( remembering the rant section where ppl named their peeves for sites and more than once it was mentioned that one huge graphic with hotspots was about as annoying as elevator muzak and getting a sharp stick to the eye)) and I went and built it that way anyways.. its the only way I know!

Anyways.. I dont have contact info on it yet.. but I will.. and the graphics on the front page will act as links to the diff portfolios as well.

Go ahead and rip it apart.. Im pretty thick skinned!  Thanks in advance!  Free cheetoes and rootbeer to anyone who will help!

Yvette

http://yvettemarie.net/kismetweb.htm

-------------------------

Going slow is for weenies!

I like the colors and the clean simplicity of it. The pictures as navigation make me curious to see what other photos you`ve done. I like them. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the site!

Just when you do the text on the other pages, don`t make it a big image. That`d be terrible for your search engine rankings and it`d make it impossible for people with vision problems to be able to increase the size of the font, so they can read it easier.


-------------------------

Well, it`s a nice place with really nice pictures, but none of them are clickable. I`m using FireFox, but I also went there with IE 6, and nothing was a link. Not the tabs, text, or seeming menu items. In IE I did get a little icon that I could print or email something, when I hovered over the first picture to the left, but that was about it.

Or maybe you`re not yet ready to click on a pic and take me to a link?

yup ditto that on Fx. didn`t try IE. Got curious and checked the page source just to see what you were trying to do, all there is to it is one image...  (?)

It`s good that you`ve gained some great insight from the community as to some do`s and don`ts of web design.  I`d definitely recommend getting a web designer/coder to turn the site into usable HTML and not one large image (but you already know that )

My one main recommendation would be to shift your "Kismet" logo and tagline at the top...to the left hand side of the page, instead of the right.  This is where users look for this type of information and it`s odd to see it on the opposite side of the page.

I think if you do manage to get this designed in a standard way (meaning not one big image), it will be a very usable, clean website.

-------------------------

Brian Cleveland,
Web Producer,
StartupNation

Well first, I have seen about several dozen photographers websites that look just like yours...I know if looks clean and professional but it doesn`t give me that feeling of THIS IS THE PERSON I WANT TO WORK WITH!!!

Which is pretty much the only reason you have a website....to generate more business....I think you should look around and find a site that excites you or look at the website of the top photographer in the country and see how you can "one-up" them in professionalize and style.

You first page right now doesn`t tell me anything about....all it says to me is "one man shop"

I know this is a rather harsh post but...I know you are going to be spend a lot a time and money on this sit and I want you to get the return on your investment.

Good Luck, I hope this Helped


-------------------------

Erik
www.usspin.com
www.unitedbusinessalliance.com

Sorry guys.. It was just the concept I wanted input on.. I dont have it all linked up yet.  I`ve revamped it and moved stuff around and will post soon, the changes.

Brian, Thanks for the input!  I did just as you said.. and moved it to the left and added contact info as well.  I`ve redone it using tables and hope that it will suffice for now.  I`d love to hire someone to do it for me, or to even buy a template, but can`t afford either right now.. and besides.. Im bound and determined to get this right.. I know I can do this!  It`s only time and lotsa reading, right?  As a single mom of 4 kids.. you`d think time would be in short supply, but not as short as money!  I`ll get it.. just watch and see!

Erik.  Nope, don`t mind the harsh post.  I frequent photography forums all the time and harsh posts work best for getting the point across!  I asked... I expected an honest critique.  Funny that my other site www.yvettemarie.net was more personable, I thought, but fellow photographers said it wasn`t clean and professional enough... so I did it this way, and now, you have me thinking about redoing it all again! If you were to hire a photographer, you would want to feel how?  I AM a one man shop, but I dont want to look like one.... I felt that getting right the gist of matters, by displaying pictures right off the bat, and then working into the text on subsequent pages, would be the right angle?  I mean basically.. as a photpgrapher, my site is an online portfolio... am I missing something?  Please elaborate, if you have the time.. Id love to hear it!  And I DID base this on a site I liked.. LOL  ;c) 

Ill get it right... Ill be sure to let you guys see the end result!

Thanks so much!

Yvette

-------------------------

Going slow is for weenies!

I see, I misunderstood what you were asking.

As far as design it looks pretty good (include what Brian said), clean, personable and easy navigation setup. Don`t know if you intend to include this already but you should make your site configure to the browser not the browser to your site. As it stands now it is about 40% too wide, one must scroll right to see that part then scroll again. I point this out because that`s also the way you have it set-up on the second site www.yvettemarie.net test your site in different browsers on different platforms (Operating Systems) and at different resolutions. Make sure the site conforms to the browsers not the other way around.

Good job.

Interesting question: "Why would I hire this photographer?"

I`d have to say my first thought would be do I like their work. That`s like the ticket to the show, but haven`t yet seen the show. So I like your work, and believe you can use a camera. The site shows me that you can use a camera, I like what results you`ve produced, and there`s an undefined "something" that strikes a resonance.

I come back to the underlying, unstated psychological aspects of photography though. If I have a product, I want it to look good. Why? So people will like it, and by extension, like me!

On the other hand, if I have a child, I want that child to be liked. I want them to be beautiful, to show the world what a wonderful person they are.

If I`m a model, I want to be beautiful, but to a much more exacting standard than just to look pretty. I want the technical expertise so that when professionals examine my photograph, using loupes, they see the "physical me," in terms of how I`ll look just that way or better in real life.

It all comes down to the inner desire everyone has to be noticed, to be liked, to be part of life and people, and to be wanted. I believe the only way you`re going to get that across is with text. Your descriptions of your images should allow through your innate sense of humor, your ability to observe, your sense of irony, and other aspects of the personality you present on the SuN forums. Why did you take the pictures you took?

I believe it`s related to Iouone2`s discussion on putting up an item for sale, asking what we`d pay for it. The last time I looked, the consensus was that the descriptions of the pictured item are a fundamental part to selling the item. In this case, your photos are examples of the abstract work you do, which is to capture images. The remaining question is, "images of what?"

You could say your images are of reality, as things are in an objective sense. I don`t buy it. Everyone`s perception varies, and so you`ve captured images according to your perception. But the magic of a photographer is, like a writer, to be able to bring to the forefront subtleties of observation most people simply don`t notice.

What do yo want to concentrate your business on? Do you want to photograph people, things, life, reality, imagination, ideas, concepts? Then write content that defines your choice.

I would agree to move the logo to the upper left corner - it`s an accepted convention is one place people look at for site identification.

Here`s my Picky Designer comment :  Why is the red bar so much wider than the images?  Will there be another image?  Will there be content as wide below the images?  My inclination would be to make the red bar extend a little wider than the images (ie if the images are 700px, make the red bar 720px or 740px), and have the menu items (Portfolio through Contact) flush with the edges of the images.


-------------------------

arp laszlo | www.inkwire.net | web design, development, marketing