Mini site

[flashfrog]

http://turtletop.com/traveler/traveler.html

This still has a long way to go but I was wondering if anyone would like to comment on it. Do you think it needs sound fx? Anything you think would improve the intro? Does the gallery transition look OK? Any thoughts are appreciated.

[3PRIMATES]

Hi there,
well there are a few things right off the bat that catch my eye.

I myself am really not a fan of gradients. The gradient background to me detracts from the content of your site.

The green background color also kind of detracts.
I would much rather see the background as white and have the silhouette be a darker color.

What would look cool to me is to have the content windows kind of come in with a slight movement transition. A little bounce
Blur the background silhouette and make the content windows just a bit transparent.

The buttons could be jazzed up just a bit.
Maybe also increase the speed of the RV movement above the buttons.

I don't care for the image scroller in the gallery section myself. Pretty outdated.

LOL, these are suggestions of how I would do it. I understand everyone is different, and in noway am I saying you need to do it this way. Just some insight to how another designer would have gone about it.

3P

[flashfrog]

Thanks for your comments 3P.

I don't have say on the design on here. It was done by one of our designers then passed on to me to flash it. I intend to do the content windows like the gallery one, sort of a bounce up effect. I'll see what I can do with the buttons to jazz them up. I don't want to overdo it with all of the other animation going on. Perhaps speeding up the RV will help there.I agree the image scroller is outdated & I will try to comeup with a better solution. Right now I don't know how many images there are going to be.

Anyone else like to comment?

[wbwd]

I agree it 3P in everything. You could work on thoes buttons more and maybe on your text... The way you present your data is a bit bathering and boring ( maybe it's because i'm a pixel font addict, but i don't like the font that you've use, needs more contrast ). Try to "make" or get hugher quality graphics, the ones you use are a bit bicelated and not pro looking, work a bit on them. Good luck.

Regards,
Biro

[kamybaby]

instead of the gradient put a green-shaded tiles wallpaper design ...moreover one bug is that the WHITE patch snaps slightly down while your page loads...see it !

[flashfrog]

http://theterratraveler.com/

I took some of your advice but had to stick to the proposed design.. I plan to make upgrades in the near future but they needed something launched pronto.

What do you think?

[3PRIMATES]

Its always a shame when clients make you stick to a design that falls short.
Thats the problem with most clients, they think they know how to do your job.
I haved dropped more than one client because they tried to micro manage my skill set.
I always find it kind of funny when a client hires me to do a job and then tells me how to do it. If they knew how to do it in the first place, why didnt they.

3P

[flashfrog]

After 7 years of doing this work, I have finally realized there are battles worth fighting and others that aren't, and at the end of the day its about billings not ego. I look at it this way, if I get to do one project my way and 5 their way, I come out on top in both billings and ego. Not every project ends up in the portfolio bin . Also this leaves to door open for more mini sites for their other projects... you see where that path leads..

[3PRIMATES]

Oh for sure, but for me its more about integrity than it is billing.
Just like any other industry, the responsibility lays not with the consumer but with the professional. The consumer has an idea of what they want but the professional knows how to do it. Making the consumer understand that what they need may be different than what they want is a big part of being a developer.
OK, I am a bit of thread here so I will leave it at that.

3P

[wbwd]

Yeps, 3P is totaly right. We are here to "make" what the customers want, but we have the duty to make the customer understand that we want his best and they changes that we make sometimes( in the original plan ) are only for his own good.Theoreticaly we are the guys with the "experience" and not the customer, many people just don't have that "artist inside then" and that's when we come in screen and try to help them get the best.

( Sorry for my bad spelling but i'm tired and i just couldn't sit witouth commenting upon this post )

Regards,
Biro

[flashfrog]

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I work under a simple guideline regarding this. I give the client 3 rounds; the first round I pitch the moon and stars with the hope of landing at FWA; second round I compromise to meet the client in the middle; lastly I just do what the client wants. Rarely does a client do exactly what I want, but usually they will compromise, and occassionally I have to do exactly what they think they want. This is complicated by the fact I don't meet with the clients and our sales team is eager to please the client (and make margins) without regard to my professional advice. So in this case, I compromised with the design to make the client happy, and on to the next potential award winner....

[wbwd]

Yeah, and one of the most inportand things in web design is to make the client happy. Sometimes you can't make him understand that your idea is better then his or that it would work better, but if you make the page the way he want and you see him happy then it's great ( his the one paying you know ). Client is the BOSS.

Regards,
Biro