SITE REVIEW: DigitalWave Design

Hello,

I have started this design for my own site, and I would like to get some feedback about the design, content, usability, appeal, etc. Any comments are appreciated. Thank you for your time.


Link:
DigitalWave Design

I like this website. It's a nice simple design, well organised, and the colours compliment that.

The only thing I'm not sure about in regards to design is the nav bar at the top. To fit it in properly with the colours used I would have made it the colour that the 'wave' word is in your logo. You should also have some rollover effects on there.

If you're going to be running a website like this, you shouldn't be using subdomains or free hosting. It is unreliable and it makes your website look second-rate even before a potential customer has looked at the website.

Unflux, a member on this forum, has a web hosting website that you should check out: here

I'm glad to finally see a website that's XHTML valid well done. But it looks like you've got one CSS error.

You should have some meta in there - keywords and description - so people can find you.

You've used one small table in there instead of another div. Just so you know, tables is one of the things I hate in web design.

I've just noticed something else on your page that should be fixed. That picture of the boat you've got in there is all wonky. You should straighten in (quite simple in photoshop) and try to fit the whole boat into the picture.

That's about it. All in all a good website.

You have a neat and clean website. I liked it. But I think, you should have more links.

And why you have not created bottom navigation? And what about Sitemap?

the 'portfolio' and 'contact us' pages are a few mm to the left of the other three, so when you switch between pages you can see the page jump a little. it's a tiny thing, I know, but it bugs me........

I like the way you've made your header images cycle, so you get a different random one on each page. very cool.

I like your name and logo. I love the color scheme. I like the general layout, clean and readable, nothing superfluous about it.

I'm not sure you're using your left-side content well. I realise that things like 'completed portfolio page' or 'hosting server established' were great milestones for you (I well remember how psyched I was to set up my first website) but think how informative or useful they really are to your potential clients? You might do better to add some content there that will interest the average visitor - news from the design world, for instance, or new special offers, or some such. I also expected for the news to be clickable, i.e. to lead to longer stories.... this way the left-side column feels insufficiently interactive.

Otherwise, great work! All in all I'd say it's an excellent site.

oh, and I'd disagree with breeze on only one thing - the boat image. I like it just the way it is

You know something ... I'd like to see what this website would like like with a bluish colour scheme instead of a green one - because that name is digitalwave, and because you have sea-related images rotating in the picture you have at the top.

I guess it's the photographer in me that says 'because the horizon is so prominent in the picture, it should be straightened'. It could work, but I think you'd need a more striking picture than that ... it's boring compared to the rest of them. You've got nemo there, a beautiful sunset, and other nice images ... then that one.

hmm you don't think blue would make it too blue, breeze? cuz there is a lot of blue in the header images... they're mostly seascapes.... so maybe the green breaks that up a bit... plus I bet that most people who use the idea of waves/ sea/ water in their logos or company names automatically go for blue color schemes.......... so this could be a way to stand out, keeping it green................... I must say the color works for me. though it might be interesting to see a blue version and then compare the two...............................

I agree ... might be a bit cliche ... perhaps orange as well, because orange goes fantastically well with blue.

Thanks Breeze,
Well, I'm only hosting the site until it is completely finished. I plan to get a paid host, because it is very unreliable. About the meta tags, I planned to do that in the future, but I wanted to get some feedback before I go any furthur. Thank you for your compliments, and the meta will be added soon. Thanks Breeze.


Thanks mit,
Well, I don't plan on adding a bottom navigation because I don't feel it is necessary with the size of the site. But about the sitemap, the "News" on the left is a place holder for where the sitemap and further navigation will go. But again I have not finished that section before I recieved some feedback.



Thanks celandine,

Well, like I said above the "News" on the left is going to be a more in-depth navigation, but I do like the idea of expanding news, maybe I will contemplate about the purpose of that section some more. Thanks for the compliments.


Here yo go Breeze, I made a sample blue background page. Let me know what you think, I just want to make sure the colors keep the design clean. But maybe I should go with a blue to match the name.

hmm currently it's gray and says 'problem loading page'

Just proves to me I've got a long way to go before I can have a web site as professionally looking as that.
As some one who is a novice to all this web site building stuff, if I were a potential customer as I would be happy to visit that web site.

@ celandine:

Yeah, that happens because of the host. If you can, you might want to refresh it.

@ Neil (UK):

Thank you very much for your compliments, I'm glad people are as happy with the site as I am. Thanks.

That blue background with the green actually looks alright. The only thing now is the top nav ... it just feels a bit iffy ... like it's part of the background ... maybe you could do a drop shadow on it like the main content areas, or a stroke of 1 or 2px, or both ... keep trying things to see what you like.

I agree with Breeze about the navbar. I'd probably lower it a bit, there's just too much space between the navigation and content IMO...

Generally tho I do like the site.

Right, lower it a bit.

Hey I love the cleanliness of the site. It pops, but a nice amount of contrast. I really love the logo! Awesome. BUT I absolutely hate the TABLES. The site took a really long time to load also. Not sure why. But I almost closed it. If this is an issue that others might have, you might want to look into ways to optimize the site. Like using CSS and getting rid of the tables. But nice job.

Also, I don't like how you have the upper nav in a capsule. I would try to integrate the nav a little more into the content box. Too many rounded corners!

Good luck!