Skateboarding site.............

**zoranvedek** · 06-30-2002, 10:06 PM

I've been working on this site for some time now(too long in fact). There is no way I can have an objective opinion about it, however I feel it is lacking something............

What?

I don't know.

There will be more content coming out soon(as soon as it gets to me)products, photo's etc., and the 'about' page is nowhere near completion(difference in opinion of the owners). Bear in mind that all the product descriptions are generic for the time being...........

Ok, be brutal:

http://www.darksideskates.com/

-Jason

**gasbag15** · 06-30-2002, 11:23 PM

It's not very professional..
The blue on black really sucks and I think you need to either make it bigger or place it in the middle with <br> tags.

**zoranvedek** · 06-30-2002, 11:36 PM

Originally posted by gasbag15
It's not very professional..
The blue on black really sucks and I think you need to either make it bigger or place it in the middle with <br> tags.

Very eloquently stated(sucks, good word). Actually I'm not happy with the color choice either, but thats not up to me. I was told to use the blue on black, "midnight blue".

What is your screen size? It is centered on an 800x600 screen, I will put out different versions for different resolutions when it's all done and complete, for now I'm just keeping it like this for simplicity alone.

What, in your opinion, would make it more proffesional looking?

-Jason

**keith5885** · 06-30-2002, 11:43 PM

i like the skateboarder at the beggining ollie up the curb and the name. that is the best thing about the site. other than that it needs work. try better rollovers and putting the items in better order. hmm maybe do it all over again

lol or if the guy you made it for likes it, its good ENOUGH!

**MrHattrickMr** · 06-30-2002, 11:44 PM

mr. caffiene seems to have not much nice to say...

i liked it,,,a lil ambient music would be nice...it serves it purpose . <period

**gasbag15** · 06-30-2002, 11:46 PM

My resolution is 1280x960.

The darksideskates.com logo needs changing and the navigation too. Try not the make the font smaller just to fit the word in, make the buttons bigger. Personally I'm not a fan of gradients, especially blue :P

And if I were you I would advise them against the color choice, I mean you are the designer after all.

**gasbag15** · 06-30-2002, 11:48 PM

You asked for my critique, that's what I'm giving you :P

**zoranvedek** · 06-30-2002, 11:52 PM

Originally posted by keith5885
i like the skateboarder at the beggining ollie up the curb and the name. that is the best thing about the site. other than that it needs work. try better rollovers and putting the items in better order. hmm maybe do it all over again

lol or if the guy you made it for likes it, its good ENOUGH!

Actually they like it alot, but I'm with you, in thinking about tearing it down and starting from scratch(keeping the animation of course). Like I said originally, something is striking me as "not right" about it but, I can't put my finger on what.

You mentioned product organization......

Any ideas would be helpful.

MrHattrickMr, The music the want me to put on it, is a little aggressive(punk). I think this is a bad idea, but how do you explain that to someone who has the head set on something that is obviously going to annoy about half of the visitors?

I actually had an idea of offering a choice of musical styles and letting the user pick what they like.

-Jason

**gasbag15** · 06-30-2002, 11:55 PM

Sorry to butt in again :P
But you are the website consultant as well as developer, so you should tell them what is right. After all, this is what you do!

**zoranvedek** · 07-01-2002, 12:04 AM

Originally posted by gasbag15
Sorry to butt in again :P
But you are the website consultant as well as developer, so you should tell them what is right. After all, this is what you do!

You are 100% correct, but with these guys I'm skating on thin ice as is. In fact this thing has been a big headache from the word go. I've been working on it for well over a month now, and most of it has been changing things to fit their idea of what it should look like. Besides they're paying for it, and I gotta obey that golden rule.

Changing the menu is a good idea(GREAT IDEA in fact), this is the third one I've had, the first my favorite, would only show 1 1/2 button's and scroll, right or left depending on mouse position, that was quickly vetoed in favor "easier navigation".

-Jason

**bm289** · 07-01-2002, 02:15 AM

I did work for a now defunct flash based and driven site for skateboarding too. If you look back in my history i think you can find it, however they went out of business and the whole prject was a head ache for me from the start as well. And all i can do is give you what i learned from the experience. Don't fight them unless you have enough clients to back your loss. What I mean is, customer is always right unless you are making enough money to take an "artistic stand" on the situation. If you are not proud of the project, then don't list in your portfolio, but list them as a reference...if they are happy with your product they will give you good word of mouth.

I can tell you this, If you have at least one more project on the side then just pull them aside and tell them your artistic point of view and if they are still not happy then give them the work you have done up until now and say bye bye. If they paid you in full then give them a refund for what you haven't done. This is why i do an hourly system and take half up front and half afterwards. If their "vision" is utterly devoid of vision then i abandon the project and give them their property up until that point and cut and run. But when money is tight that is not a choice so be nice, nod your head alot, agree with what they say, dont make funny faces when they give you an aweful idea they want incorporated, and get your money and deliver the product.

If they are happy with the site, then keep it as is...don't add anything more than what they want, despite the fact you might think it is a cool addition or better. Because in the end, it is their money and your "opportunity" to make some.

**zoranvedek** · 07-01-2002, 05:17 AM

I took some of the ideas that where floated around. I changed the font on the menu, so that none of words needed scaling. And added some elements to fill up the screen a little more. I think I like it better this way, but you be the judge.........

http://www.darksideskates.com/area51/

Please keep the input coming(don't know what I'd do without it)..........

-Jason

**gasbag15** · 07-01-2002, 05:37 AM

The nav is much better! I still don't know about all the blue gradients.

**MrHattrickMr** · 07-01-2002, 05:44 AM

well u can mix it up i would assume

put 1 punk song in
1 techno?
1 weird?

which every you would like to do, make sure u have sound adjust and sound disable though

**zoranvedek** · 07-15-2002, 02:20 AM

About down to the wire on this one:

http://www.darksideskates.com

Talked them into steering away from the punk loop, and played around with some different background images. I still don't have an intro, and am open to any suggestions that you may have(does it actually need one???).

Again, thanks for the input,
-Jason

**coolmilo** · 07-15-2002, 10:58 AM

I understand what you mean about taking a long time, I also had the same problem with this site.

http://www.goodbar.com.au

It's not an skateboarding site but believe me, lots of skater go to this place. In a way it had to be raw, funky and trashy at the same time.

Are you a skater?..if not, you have to think like one, chec out their magazines and what they do with their graphics.

If I was to buy a skateboard I would not be convinced with a blue skateboard as a menu to start with. this guys want something crazy and huuu! No brains no pain.
You have to think about the type of people checking the site, and they're always cool right...he he

It is sometimes better to start from start and re-cycle some of the work already done.

Can they give you some cool picks (skateboards-tracks, ramps, jumsp..etc...) for backgrounds

some more inspiration
http://www.skateboard.com/
http://www.fuct.com/
http://www.b-house.com/
http://www.scskate.com/home.html
http://www.consolidatedskateboard.com/
http://www.skateboarddirectory.com/

I'm not a skater but I surf! and I can somehow relate.

I hope I have helped, good luck !

**coolmilo** · 07-15-2002, 11:02 AM

very important to keep it simple, don't do too many effects, it will take you too long and if you want to update it's a drama.

Don't kill your self, as you can see in some of the previous links, they mostly rely on cool graphics and simple rough looking interfaces.

ok..I think that's it from me for now.

**ioMojo** · 07-15-2002, 11:19 AM

About down to the wire on this one...
http://www.darksideskates.com

U gettin' anywhere with ur site Jason (I'm posting kinda late here)? I just saw it, first time. The chain-link fence is pretty cool. The graphic top and bottom is cool - I understand what ur trying to pull off there - but it's too "dot-matrix" like. Can u increase the image resolution to reduce the heavy dots and still keep the blueish chroma?

Can y incorporate maybe some moving low-res video? It could be single color like gshock.com (wrist watches). Or if u could check out some of the intro video for something like Tony Hawk Pro Skater III for XBox or PS or something?

HTH

**mikecoutermarsh** · 07-15-2002, 04:31 PM

its ok change the bg,, and put in better content

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