me and my indecision

I am unhappy with my current layout and I am wondering what I can do to make it better, or whether I should drop it entirely and use THIS LAYOUT. So what do you think? Both need work, but which would be the best one to work on?

im going to assume your current layout is the one attached to the website button...

current:

1) that blue color is just to bright, and doesnt work too well against that white. (2 brights dont make a right lol...how lame and i? )

2)the background is terrible (no offense). It basically hurts my eyes (never mind that the blue pixels are on a blue bg..so it makes it even harder to focus on)

3)the gradient borders are hard to focus on too. The purpose of a border is to define a space and seperate that space from others. The gradient (versus a hard line) really blends those spaces together....so it defeats the purpose.

4) u have a lot of negative space....which usually is good...but because your layout is so simplistic (2 boxes...nav on left...content on right) it looks as if u didnt know how to design for the space provided. The negative space seems awkward...especially when the nav box stops a 1/4 down the page...where as the content keeps going.

new layout -

1)that "equals sign" looking thing (right after the name) doesnt seem to fit with the rest.

2) (and this is the same with your current layout).....the name doesnt have to "sit" on a line. Also with the text conflicting with the border...its makes it harder to read. Instead try centering your name between the top/bottom of the black rectangle.

3) the backslashes dont fit. Not only do they complicate things...but your site is made up of only vertical/horizontal lines.....so why throw diagonals into the mix?

4) the bg is odd. I would either have the sky (edit out that thing on the bottom...(i think its a bridge.....) ) or edit it so more bridge (er whatever) is showing. Right now its just something odd in the corner.....that will grabs the users attention. Instead of focusing on content....the user (like me) will be wondering what in the hell it is.

5) scroll bar would look better if it was a solid color (not a outline).

6) u need a little more space between the words on the right and the border (just a couple pixels for increased readability)

In my opinion....i thing your better off with the 2nd (new) layout. It just looks nicer, more stylish.

I like the current one, just looks nicer IMO.

i like that one...... except the text box would be better in black and whtie..... i am a great fan of black and white

Your current design is awesome, don't switch to that newer one.. :\

I think I am just going to fix up my current layout.

i wish i could do that php form thingy

I'll give it to you when i get the time.