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Seventh
Posts: 1235
Joined: 8/4/2002
From: The Motor City
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It is time... - 8/25/2006 15:08:33
For a preview, that is. The all-new Seventh Hill design.
But, before you critique this creation, here are a couple of things you should know.
1. Footer doesn't work...yet. Still working on the pages it links to (other than the home page).
2. On the contact page the email address has a different ending (@shgllc.org). We will be switching over to that domain. People kept forgetting the second 'H' in www.7thhill.com and we found this easier to remember...for 'them'. And I got tired of spelling it over and over and over.
3. There are no actual pictures in the portfolios, just filler. I'm resizing/cropping stuff to make it fit.
That's all I can think of as I've been up for 24hrs. So, whaddaya waitin' for? Get to critiquing! 
_____________________________
"go forth and create."
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Tailslide
Posts: 6046
Joined: 5/10/2005
From: Out here on the raggedy edge
Status: online
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RE: It is time... - 8/25/2006 15:37:12
I really love the design - it's beautiful! I did a mockup last week with similar colours (not as pretty though) but it was turned down unfortunately. I absolutely love the colour scheme.
The only things I can point out are fairly picky - but I'll point them out anyway 'cos you've asked and 'cos I'm picky!
I'd definitely add in an a:focus effect to all your navigation and links etc along with your hover and active rules so that you get the same effect from keyboard navigation as from hovering.
I'd give your main navigation list items a background colour (that lovely blue maybe) so that with images off they show up nicely.
I'd make the links in your footer a list too - that way you don't need all the non-breaking spaces etc.
I think that the central top and bottom scroll on the homepage doesn't show up too well against the #f7f5ed colour - I guess it's hard with it being so thin a line - not sure if you can make it look less jaggy against the darker background?
Finally - you get a page shift in FF because of the scrollbar/no scrollbar thing when the page content is short. I tend to add in
html { min-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 1px; }
Which forces a vertical scrollbar on all FF pages and does away with the page shift - but that might just be me being a total control freak.
Beautiful site - I hope you're really proud.
edit: thought of something else - possibly better to have a blank alt attribute on the decorative scroll divider thingy - it's just for pretty really and it would prevent it being read out on a screen reader (and i'm specifying a blank attribute rather than leaving it off - if you see what I mean).alt=""
< Message edited by Tailslide -- 8/25/2006 15:48:32 >
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"My strategy is so simple an idiot could have devised it"
Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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Seventh
Posts: 1235
Joined: 8/4/2002
From: The Motor City
Status: offline
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RE: It is time... - 8/26/2006 5:03:44
quote:
I think that the bits that extend up or down into the main background colour just look slighly jaggedy.
Got it. Now I see what you're talking about. Did I mention that I was exhausted?
Anyway, it looks that way because it is a Transparent GIF on a white background. Hence the jaggedy top and bottom. Will correct that now that I'm refreshed.
Thanks for being particular. That's why I love this forum.
_____________________________
"go forth and create."
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Seventh
Posts: 1235
Joined: 8/4/2002
From: The Motor City
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RE: It is time... - 8/26/2006 5:25:48
quote:
ORIGINAL: womble
I'm not sure what it is - whether it's that shade of blue or the fact that it's such a contrast with the browns. I'm wondering if adding a little of the brown shades into the page top would tie it in to the rest of the design more - the other things is that from an accessibility viewpoint, there isn't a lot of contrast between the white text and blue background. I had a little play in PSP on a screenshot (result attached below), but then after I'd done that it seemed a little too brown. Hmmmmm...I don't know. It just feels a little 'detached' from the rest of the site right now. Please feel free to slap me if I'm not making any sense.
Womble. First off, I'm not gonna slap you. I may pinch you, but I'll never slap you.
Second, believe it or not I tried putting more brown into and, to be honest, it was just too much as your screenshot proves it (at least to me).
Third, I agree to a certain point about the contrast on the navigation text (white on blue), yet the only solution I visually have now is to make it bold to stand out more. But it looks a little weird to me that way.
Fourth, 'detached'? Great! That's exactly what I was going for. I think of it more as a design separation. And, as you said before, you get used to it. I did. I guess you can say it grew on me when I first created it.
Fifth, thanks for your responses. They've helped me to look at the site through new eyes.
_____________________________
"go forth and create."
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anderskorte
Posts: 545
Joined: 2/20/2005
From: Finland
Status: offline
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RE: It is time... - 8/26/2006 5:55:58
I'm a little dumbfounded. That's a lot better than I had thought.
The frontpage hits hardly. The common “usability” layouts are very boring, so this one immediately catches attention as something unique. The colors aren't bad either, it's not sky blue but it's not Slashdot either. You go straight to the business rather than showing catchy slogans or images of businessmen shaking hands (or some other similar clichés).
The only problem is the logo, which (although a well contrasting color) doesn't stand out well enough. It just somehow doesn't. You should put forth the company name and the logo just a bit more, don't you think?
Anyway, it's a design that is memorable, a positive experience for someone who is searching for a trustworthy design service.
Based on the website, I think your business is going to be a success, there's no doubt about that.
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Information needs design. Typeface is the voice of a message.
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Printable Version 
And the top page thingy...hmmmmm... is it the brown section at the top that makes you think that? Because I never thought of it that way. Thanks though. I'm going to have to think hard about that one.
