pixls
Offline
Philly, PA, USA

Ok, you're not listening to what i'm saying, but that's cool, I don't really care.

EDIT: ok, I do care. But only because I really can't stand your site. Yes, full paged websites can be great, when it's warranted that they take up that whole space. I don't know what resolution you're viewing your website at, but when it's viewed taking up the full width of a 1440x900 screen, it looks silly as hell. there's no reason that the body section should be taking up 1000px. if you trimmed the body down to about 600px, and then had the columns on either side of that it would be so much nice to look at. It would give you breathing room. Or you could keep it full page, but figure out a nicer way to break up the space. NEGATIVE SPACE IS NOT A BAD THING. For example, chipmusic.org takes up the full width of the browser, but it still give you plenty of room to breath, by having good spacing, and a minimal interface.

Another thing your top banner doesn't quite go out to the edges of the page, but isn't restricted far enough to make any sense. Fix it. and also, your ads which you love oh so much on the left side of the page are a different width from your navigation bar, it looks sloppy as hell. And the thing is, you don't need ads. Yes, it's your website, but if you want anyone to use your website you need to forget that, and just make it useable and friendly. You can't say "fuck everyone else, it's my site" if you're the one who wants visitors. Adblock add-ons aren't an excuse to throw ads everywhere. Your design should be made as it's intended to be viewed.

Last edited by pixls (Apr 10, 2011 4:31 pm)

8-Bit-Rex
Offline
Chepachet, Rhode Island

- Even your content is well written and interesting, giant blocks of text scare people.  I had to force myself to keep reading not because of what you were saying but how much of a daunting task it looked the entire time.

- You can't expect people to install a plugin (or really even spending a single calorie to block adds if the browser isn't already).  People aren't going to jump through hoops for the sole reason of viewing your site.  This being said, stop trying to suggest what other can do to view your site better and start thinking about what you can do for your potential viewers.

- The amount and subject of your ads rivals that of a scam site.  If anyone enters a site and immediately thinks:
             "Oh shit what kind of infection am I going to get just visiting this site"
   you know there's a problem.  I half expect some popup to appear from the bottom of the screen containing some 40+ "MILF" IM'ing me
   saying she's in my area...

- People are suggesting simple tips for you while you respond with a clusterfuck of code referencing.  I think you need to think more about
  what you started the thread with rather than how to code the site at this point.

- I'm pretty sure most of the flames here aren't exactly flames.  If someone says your text is ugly...there's no reason to get pissed.  How specific are people supposed to be about something that doesn't have much detail to begin with?

8-Bit-Rex
Offline
Chepachet, Rhode Island
pixls wrote:

You can't say "fuck everyone else, it's my site" if you're the one who wants visitors. Adblock add-ons aren't an excuse to throw ads everywhere. Your design should be made as it's intended to be viewed.

Oskar Hanberg
Offline
Sweden

8-bit rex, Stating that the site is ugly is of NO help. Let's say my site was moderately green, and someone says it is ugly. That can mean that they want it to be more green, less green, or not green at all. A certain level of specification is necessary.

If it sounds like I'm saying "Fuck you, It's my site, I do what I want!" I apologize. I don't mean it like that. I'm just explaining why I chose to layout things the way I did.

pixls, The top margin and side margins are by choice, but are you saying things would make more sense if I removed them? I could try that. It just made sense to have some breathing space "around" the site and it was meant to increase readability and such, but if it makes no sense it can be removed.

And again with the content. Are you saying I should use more paragraphs, or split the content into smaller pages?

I will fix my menu so that is has the same size as the adds. Thank you again everyone for your input.

Edit: Well the top margin is gone. Now the only margins I can think of is the one to the left, right, and the spacing margin between the banner and the menu. Are those good or should they be removed?

Last edited by Oskar Hanberg (Apr 10, 2011 6:48 pm)

pixls
Offline
Philly, PA, USA

honestly that's not what I meant but I kind of like it, I just meant for the banner specifically because it looked like it meant to go to the edge but just couldn't reach. And considering how wide your navigation buttons are I think you have plenty of breathing room. having the margins like you did made it seem a bit more contained, I actually find there's more breathing room like this.

Oskar Hanberg
Offline
Sweden

Regarding the content area... Would it help if I narrowed it down a bit? Say for example that I now have a width of 70% for the content area. If I change it to 65, where would you want the extra space to go? Right or left, or should I just center the content area?

nickmaynard
Offline
rochester, ny

i just saw an ad for "SEXY RUSSIAN GIRLS" with multiple pics. LOL.

Rainbowdragoneyes
Offline
The Mountains

www.soundcloud.com/Rainbowdragoneyes

Trash80
Offline
Los Angeles
Oskar Hanberg wrote:

Pages NOT taking up the entire browser space is poor coding though, according to W3C, who currently maintains modern web standards. The reason people code pages to not fill the page is because they learned to do layout with fixed tables and a fixed 640x480 resolution, THAT is very 1993. And in 1993 people used Frontpage express and such, again with fixed tables, style attributes directly on the page and suich.


1. 99% of people in the world didn't know what the internet was in 1993. I should know, I asked everyone.
2. only n00bs have used frontpage, ever.

I think the only major reason you are getting slack is because the question you asked somewhat offensive and/or troll bait. To answer the original question in this thread you might want to try one of these directions:

1. Add more mario vector box cover art to your site.
2. Look and study the various styles of artwork and websites from artists you enjoy in the category and make your own decision and style. If you don't know of many good artists, that would be a good question to ask on the forums.

nickmaynard
Offline
rochester, ny

why not pay someone to design you an 8-bit styled header graphic?

or an 8-bit styled background image?

or 8-bit styled image links for your nav bar?

that would make it more "8-bit".

pixls
Offline
Philly, PA, USA

or why not fuck the whole "8-bit style" thing, shit's stupid. Just make it pretty. emulation is never the answer.

akira^8GB
Offline
New York City

In this thread: someone asks for criticism without any intention of acknowledging it. Ever.

Bit Shifter
Offline
Brooklyn NY US
trash80 wrote:

2. Look and study the various styles of artwork and websites from artists you enjoy in the category and make your own decision and style. If you don't know of many good artists, that would be a good question to ask on the forums.

^^ yes, please, thank you, amen

George
Offline
Cambridge UK

On an 8bit computer, everything looks 8bit, even new-ish websites.
Force the users to run it on one of those and call it a day.
If it's not 8bit, it's the user's fault.
Stupid user.

Oskar Hanberg
Offline
Sweden
pixls wrote:

or why not fuck the whole "8-bit style" thing, shit's stupid. Just make it pretty. emulation is never the answer.

That might work better. I've already changed some things around, but if there is more that can be done, let me know. It is difficult because "Pretty" and "Ugly" is a matter of taste. And there is no "one" answer.

Also, to whoever claims that I do not acknowledge the criticism... Um.... The fact that I'm here taking input answers everything, dude. If I was not planning on being criticized, I wouldn't even have started this thread. That doesn't mean I am obligated to listen to every single suggestion. That was an utterly oblivious statement.

µB
Offline
A gray world of dread

I have a soft spot for the geocities aesthetic, so I think it's quite charming, actually.

I'll however give a bit of general advice.

1. Confidence is a good thing. There's nothing wrong with taking pride in your work, and doing so makes it easier to try unconventional things. The downside is a risk of stagnation- dismissing criticism based on over-confidence will trap you in a cycle of repetition. My advice is to find yourself a hero; someone inside your chosen profession whose work baffles you, makes you go 'whoa' and secretly green with envy.

2. There are many, many areas outside ones own forte. It's good to have a wide spread interest, but you will never be able to master each and every possible art, knowledge or skill. My point here is: If you can't do something subjectively adequate, get an expert. I suck at making graphics and choosing colors, my interface designs tend to be usable but boring, so I ask an artist who knows what he's doing to do that for me. Believe me, having a quality result is much more satisfying.