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critique of TopRoofer

 
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d a v e

 

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critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 3:13:13   
this is a redesign of an existing site
http://www.toproofer.co.nz/

and my version is
http://pp.kpnet.fi/prescott/stuff/tr/

no links working and not much real content yet...

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David Prescott
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Mike54

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 5:24:34   
Without much real content it's hard to say really. Since I don't like splash pages in general I guess you have a head start. On the other hand your version doesn't have some hot babe laying in the sand... :):)


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(in reply to d a v e)
d a v e

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 5:30:04   
er, thanks. well can't you evaluate the design bar the content? or are you only interested in hot babes :)

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Mike54

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 7:08:37   
I think your design is more business like. They (TopRoofer) have a logo and you matched it with your design colors whereas on the other version it seems distinctly out of place. I do think I'd like to see an actual photo type image in your header background as opposed to cartoon style clouds. Also, the header seems to eat up a lot of space even at 1024x764, I'd reduce it in height a little bit maybe to say 120 px high max. I'd also like to see some sort of image(s) on the page as well (realizing this isn't a done deal) but that's just me.
As for hot babes, well, I don't think there's anything wrong with them. :) :)

Mike

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Who was the first guy that looked at a cow and said, "I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them"?

New photogalleries, stop by sometime.

(in reply to d a v e)
d a v e

 

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From: England (but live in Finland now)
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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 7:12:43   
i made the header quite large because there isn't going to be a huge amount of content and then the logo can be quite large too.

there will be some photos to follow but i think it may be distracting to have roof photos (not the most inspiring pics anyway) in the header and on the page... maybe a hot babe on a hot roof :)

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Mike54

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 7:19:31   
quote:

i think it may be distracting to have roof photos (not the most inspiring pics anyway) in the header

You can include a roof in the header without making it dull. How about a rooftop silhouette with a gorgeous sunset/rise in the background? Better yet a silhouette of a roofer at work with the sun rising/setting behind? It might give the impression of dedication to the job. ;)

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Who was the first guy that looked at a cow and said, "I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them"?

New photogalleries, stop by sometime.

(in reply to d a v e)
d a v e

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/13/2009 7:22:56   
good idea - i'll have to see what pictures get taken...

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womble

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/14/2009 11:00:18   
Well definitely a lot more professional looking than the original and v. Web 2.0. What were they thinking of with the woman in the sand? What's that got to do with roofing? :) I'm not entirely sure about the striped background (colour, not the striped background itself). With the white/red/whatever colour it is stripes there's almost a pinkish cast to that background which just seems to me to clash just a teeny bit with the blue and red scheme of the page itself. Personally I'd go either with a grey or blue tone background stripe that's more neutral to make the page itself stand out more, or possibly a dark background (kind of off-black, not quite black/very dark grey). I know you've not got a lot of content on there yet, but it just feels very white and bright somehow to me (though I do have photophobia, so large expanses of white/light colours aren't my favourite look).

As Mike said, possibly the header could be shrunk up a teeny bit and the logo made slightly smaller so you've got more actual content above the fold, but I'd stick with the logo/sky illustration rather than a photo in the header, for the simple reason that it's very difficult to make a roof look interesting, so I don't think a photo there would really add much to the site's look (we have the same problem at work on the repairs section of our site), and I'd personally stick to the more modern look with the illustration. With the logo you've got the roof in there anyway, so you've already got a visual cue as to what the site's about.

Nothing wrong with hot babes in the right place, but I don't think on the roof is the right place - for a start, health and safety would have a fit! :)

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(in reply to d a v e)
d a v e

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/14/2009 11:05:14   
i see what you mean about the colour of the striped background - i wanted something slightly warm - maybe it's too strong ;) i was thinking about a grey-blue (not very saturated) but then it might look to cold. i was aiming for a warm feeling to promote trust and an idea of sunny warmth to go with the blue skies and white clouds (ok it's not always like that in NZ :)
i shall have a play...

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(in reply to womble)
d a v e

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/14/2009 13:17:23   
less saturated brown
http://pp.kpnet.fi/prescott/stuff/tr/tr_brown.png

grey blue
http://pp.kpnet.fi/prescott/stuff/tr/trblue.png

and of course the original pinky brown at the url in the original post

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womble

 

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RE: critique of TopRoofer - 6/14/2009 15:54:18   
Personally I prefer the grey blue - the brown still has a sort of reddy-pinky tinge somehow that seems to clash a bit (though it is better than the original). I think the grey blue one gives a fresher look that's more in keeping with the modern look.

I like the idea of the trust/sunny warmth, and I think it's a lot easier to achieve that with that sort of look and with the illustration - with photos it's so difficult to get the right balance and find the right photo, and if you're not careful you end up having to use the standard posed stock sites and often the result looks like it's posed stock photos with a grinning builder standing with a trowel or whatever. Same problems with client provided photos, and it's usually more difficult to get exactly the right shot for something like a header. At work for our leaflets and stuff as well as the website, anything to do with repairs etc. usually requires photos of workmen and tools etc., but it's incredibly difficult to do it well without it looking staged and false.

On one of my recent sites the majority of the photos have been provided by the client, and the result does look a lot more natural than using the canned stock photos, but it's been damned hard work because the quality isn't always great and it usually takes a lot of editing to get the photos ready. The shot I used for the header on the site had a number of people in it the client didn't want in the shot, so they got replaced with bushes and it took much faffing around adding bushes, replacing sky, adding clouds, and on one particular shot swapping two of the people's heads in the photo! :) It's a site for a BMX club and one of the riders in a group shot of club members didn't have a helmet on (which obviously with kids they have to be careful), so I had to replace a kid's head with another one's who was wearing a helmet! :)

...much easier using illustration-type images! :)


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~~ "A cruel god ain't no god at all" ~~
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