comments on another design please.

I thought I posted this the other night but guess not. Tell me what you guys think about this.

This is a composite I did to show a client that had absolutely 0 (zero) idea what he wanted. When that happens I usually build 2 or 3 composites to show them. In this case I built 2...this is the one he didn't pick. Also the name on the thing is fictional.


http://home.hiwaay.net/~cbutts/site_portfolio/woodensite/woodensite.html


edit:
messed up on the link...but it is right now.

2 pics arent showing

yeah, thats because the first link was wrong...
but hey, thanks for the heads-up.

to tell you the truth though, I was kinda looking for more critical responses than...

" 2 pics arent showing "

Tell me what you like about it....
Tell me what you don't like about it....
Tell me what "you" think it needs to be better in your opinion.

That's what I'm looking for.

hey Torn...

actually it looks quite good. Maybe a few things i would tried to change:

that golden plate on the bottom of your menu, i think it needs to be more golden. And the site is a bit dark, makes you feel sad. :(
There isn't anything i can think of that would change that.
Maybe if you added more colors, but that doesn't blend in with the site.
That's the only criticism i can think of right now.

Take off the cheesy lighting effect on the right boarder of the left frame menu, its overly used and dont look natural. Thats my opinion :D

Like *NL* said, the little emblem on the bottom would look better a little more golden. And maybe inlaid into the wood instead of hovering above. The wood texture is very good. Is that a scan, or did you do it in Photoshop? The Woodworking Central header text doesn't look too good. It isn't as 3D as the rest of the page. Maybe use the same bevel you did on the other stuff, and lose the 1 pixel stroke. The navigation link text looks good.

Thanks for the responses guys,

The one the client picked didn't have the gold thing at the bottom of the wooden piece, maybe thats what he didn't like about it.

The big masthead text was just tossed on there to kinda act like a place holder, I didn't spend any time on it or even notice that I didn't bevel it. (perhaps another thing that drove him to the alternate layout.)

deker: the wood texture is mine, made entirely in photoshop using 3 layers..... 2 texture layers and a background color.

ALSO:

since we are talking about wood.
For all of you who have the Eyecandy "Fur" filter if you tinker with it a little you can make a nice wood texture.

I think this is going to flow really well with content about wood working.... I agree on the darkness and I would try to make it look a little more beat up with some scratches dents maybe.

But hey I'm no Martha Stewart

Hmmm.... I don't know... you over used the bevel on the nav bar and the news / updates part.. It really just looks unlike wood...

It looks like wood to me.

Do you live in the desert?