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RavenBlack · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 2:14 am

I just finished my rendition of my website. I would very much so like critiques. Thanks

derekwarner.net

Thanks again.

B0b · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 8:36 am

whats with all the spec stuff @ the begging? you could run that on a 486! and get some colour on it.. looks bland

RavenBlack · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 4:02 pm

its the specs for the real time 3d stuff... under the 3d section....

<crickets>

Matt Ryan · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 4:28 pm

i dont really like it... the design is really boring and bland... the specs are pointless... why are they on the main page. the artwork is ok, but that lector animation is horrible. 1st of all, half of the movie is credits... it would have been easier to leave out the
texturing by me
animation by me
lighting by me
music by me
modeling by me
created by me
and just have created by. i know u didnt list all that stuff, but u get the point, who wants to sit through 30 seconds of credits if its all the same person. also, why did you try to rip off pixar. its really sad.... the animation they did 10 years ago on crappy machines looks way better. the animation, of the light is really jumpy. there is no point to the animation. one thing i liked was the lightmap u used. looked real.

RavenBlack · Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2002 9:26 pm

ok...

first the specs are useful... I just got a person who looked at the site and said the 3d realtime stuff runs slow... and I said, yes.. probably because your computer doesn't meet THE SPECS at the begining of the page... he agreed... I am going to make the spec's and acutal button the the site so you can see them if you want to.

I'm glad you don't like the lector animation... it was an assignment for school which was to make a lector animation, which is a good start for animating because its easy to animate, mostly... Introduction to track view was a bitch! but hey! it was my first 3d studio animation

lol... my first time putting together an animation with 3d studio and premire... with sound.. and it was january of 2001

I thought it was a good try at a first time deal.. It wont' be on the site forever, I have MUCH better animations in progress that are better, I just wanted to see if I could get the media to stream.. you know.. like planning ahead.

I disagree on the site being blan and boring... its all grey because I wanted to showcase the art.. not as much the site... thats why just the art in in color

anyway.. thanks for your crits.

[ August 13, 2002: Message edited by: RavenBlack ]

cyb3rllama · Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2002 6:09 am

Hi Derek,

I like the direction your site is going as well as the fact that you're not ashamed to get your work out there. I like to see where people are coming from and many times all we see is their most polished stuff... I like to see the creative progression too.

A few critiques: Overall I think the site is too busy. What I mean is, you have about 15 or 20 really nice design concepts going on... pick the top 2 or 3 and really refine them into the most efficient design you can. Remember that on the web, attention span is measured in fractions of a second... if your stuff is cluttered and non-intuitive, viewers will not put out the effort to wade through bad design and your traffic will suffer. Designing for the web is very different than print or even television... less is most definitely more.

I agree in part with some of the statements by the people above... I think your specs should be a totally separate page accessed via a small but easy to find link in very close proximity to the stuff that the specs are referencing. Also, 99% of your users don't care about the fact that your site was built in PHP. There is really no reason to harp on this any other place than your resume or some totally separate page listing the tech specs of your site. Like I said above... pick the top 2 or 3 things and focus on that. I am left thinking... is this site about Flash design or showcasing this guys art or the fact that he can use PHP in flash or, blah, blah, blah... You get the point.

Here are a few links to some sites that I think exemplify good web design. Don't worry about getting all the flashy special effects in some of these, just study how 2 or 3 simple design ideas are presented in a concise and focused way.

http://www.meta4ik.com/

http://www.artbyfeng.com/

http://www.yulia-nau.de/eng.htm

http://www.webjones.net/

Hope this helps!
cyb3rllama

[ August 14, 2002: Message edited by: cyb3rllama ]

[ August 14, 2002: Message edited by: cyb3rllama ]

[ August 14, 2002: Message edited by: cyb3rllama ]

RavenBlack · Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2002 7:29 pm

very good critique... much better and more focused that the last ones... thank you. I'll impliment some of the stuff you suggested.. I'll post again when i get it finished...

thanks again..

RavenBlack · Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2002 8:15 am

updated site... much better cleaner site i believe. thanks for the crits

cyb3rllama · Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2002 6:21 am

Excellent!

A very nice synthesis of your previous ideas! Everything is much clearer and makes sense from a design standpoint. Bravo!

Sharper-Image · Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:45 am

Raven, I like what you've done.

However, I feel there is a pretty strong conflicting of styles. It seems like you want a "dirty" look and a "clean" look all at the same time. You've contained the grungy type design within very straight, clean, boxes. It ends up making it look just a bit messy. What I think you might want to consider doing is fading the borders in some areas, and allowing the messy textures to spill outside just a bit. It'll add visual interest. Also, a splash of colour here and there for impact wouldn't be misplaced. I did a quick rework of your title graphic to show you what I'm talking about:

I hope I've helped at least a little, and not offended.