SITE REVIEW: ViolentWorkOfArt

Alright, i've cranked out another website, and i kinda like the design . I'm a long time fan of this band, and now i'm their official webmaster. The site and content is still under construction, but the design is finished, for the most part:

http://violentworkofart.com

Thanx!


=============EDIT================
Hey Big Webmaster, you ever though of using NOFOLLOW for your robots meta tag, so prevent some of the people who come here for inbound links from taking some of your website's reputation? Just a thought....

I like the design, especially where the site slides up and down but the picture with the group members don't, nice feature. The only thing that bothers me are the many icons. I would put real pictures in stead. For example, in "The Music" I would put pictures of their album covers. Try to make it more funky and disordered; the site as a whole is quite 'rough', but the content with the little icons is ordered so neatly.

Also I would get rid of the 'my account' and 'website options' links.

Cheers

Yeah, lol, i've been catching hell about the icons . I'm working on that. The links i want to leave there, because i want their fans to see that they can actually INTERACT with the band. Plus they take up some room in the otherwise extra large menu.

Be careful with dark colors. It's too dark here, make a contrast

I think it looks great, you might add a module that plays music on the site though. It is very common with many band sites these days.

Nice design, no way... 8/10

I love the green faading of the band faces... looks like ghost

I like also the double bar yellow and dark grey...

Violent Work Of Heart

Sorry just opinion, It seems cold and univiting, I would add a little colour, It seems kinda robotic. I would have placed maybe a sound track in back, maybe new news on the front, something other than just the photo.

Well, Happy New Years

VWoA

I like the feel of the site. My main thought would be to change the nav slightly. IMO it looks like the white text is just floating on that 'safety tape' bar. Maybe put a drop shadow on the text to make that feeling stronger. Alternatively, you could change the text so that it looks like it is burned or carved into the bar.

I think for the navigation, change "Front Page" to "Home" or "Homepage." Within the navigation, there should be some kind of indicator of what page you're on currently.

The icons on each page don't go with the style of your website. Try making them a grungy feel and they won't stick out so much.

First glance - the pictures took about 10 seconds to load. the colours and style are ok, nothing too arty or groundbreaking but that does make it clean and easy to read.
I don't like the icons (camera, myspace people etc). I'd have made my own in photoshop or found some that were more in keeping with the industral vibe of the band and site.
the band bio pics would look better if they had frames around - another job for photoshop!
the pink on the media player is also a little out of place, maybe go for bright green or yellow?
the forum seems a little strange, it takes you straight into 'secondary category' and if you click to go to the main category there isn't any content!

I would also be wary of breaking down the content too much. If you click on 'the band' you get 4 options. If you then click on 'photos' you get another 2 options... it may be possible to amalgamate some of those. EG the band bio pages - you could have all band members on one page rather than having to click back and forth to read them all (especially at the moment when there isn't much content yet).

Other than that, I liked the speed of the site, the clear fonts and colours, and the accessible music. I prefer that there is no media player on the home page, that tends to irritate people who are looking while at work!

I liked the music too

Missy

It's a great start, but I agree with the others.

-Needs customized icons
-site loads a little slow (optimize your images)
-White text on navigation bar (perhaps try an inset embossed look?)
-Add a cms system for injecting news and updates on the homepage (this will also help with SEO)

Other than that I think it's looking good. One person mentioned that it's a nice "feature" to have the static background, IMO it doesn't really add to the look or feel of the site. Not sure what the purpose of the static background is. I'd think it'd look better if it scrolled. Just an opinion though.

WTF?? I never knew people were replying to this! Sorry guys, i'm not sure why i never got any notifications. Thank you all for your input. When i get time to redesign the site i will keep all this in mind.

Oh, for those of you who are in the U.S. and Canada and who like this band, you may be pleased to know that i got them in with the TouchTunes company, that has a jukebox/music player in almost every bar and restaurant . You'll have to do a "search by artist name" to find them.

Thanx guys!

it looks like an old game ...and it is pretty suitable to your topic i guess...in all...good work..but lot more can be done

Yeah, i'm actually about to redesign this to look more like the new Ionisis.com layout.

First off, the thing that bothered me right away is the diamond metal bar that runs all the way across. It really catches the eye but keeps it there... I would suggest thinning it out a little bit.

However, the moving foreground on the static background is really nice and professional. Overall the site is very well designed, the colors and textures are consistent, etc. The band is very lucky to have you as their designer!