Still in the works....

I am not getting mad about the Crits or Comments.
Its just when a person says that they hate my logo, or even my layout obviously theres something wrong.
All opinions appreciated, it must be that im not use to the Hard-Crits this place brings to make a person be on their toes and function faster. Or is it that Im feeling a vibe from others...i just dont know.
lets wait and see whats next :(

What's in a name? Doesn't matter to me.... Just because the word "urban" is part of the name doesn't mean the site has to follow that theme. Just my opinion though. My only gripe is that you don't need to have the word "Navigation" next to the buttons. Plus, I would do something to set them off from the background they're on. Color scheme seems "urban" to me....

The point we all agree on is that the feel of your site is far from professional. Despite how far you say everything has come. If I was looking for a website designer and looked at your site, it would take me maybe twenty seconds on the homepage to decide that you couldn't handle what I wanted. The first impression you want to give potential clients is that you know what you're doing, and can deal with what they need.

Just because the word "urban" is part of the name doesn't mean the site has to follow that theme.

So, can I go and decide to open up a supermarket and call it "Joe's Pizza" ? Of course not, because I'm not opening up a pizza place, I'm opening up a supermarket.

In the same manner, would you choose to buy designs from a company called "Professional Design Company" or would you buy designs from "OMGl33td3zynHax0rz" ?

Granted, "Professional Design Company" wasn't a good enough example but I think I make my point. Your site name is what the viewer either types into his browser or sees as a link from another site. it is what draws people in, it's what gets people interested. If you can't get customers to be interested enough to look at your site, then no amount of skill will save you.

Names matter, otherwise we'd all just have numbers assigned to our websites or something.

"Hard crits" = good crits.

This is not a forum where people post their sites and others say "nice job keep it up" and "I like the blue way to go" as their one-line responses. If you went through all of life and everyone told you that this design was #1, then we would be misleading you and you would be misleading yourself. We are trying to help you out, and there are a couple things that I in particular would try and ween you off of:

- the huge registered trademark sign - whats the point?
- the double plurarl in your site name - also what does the name have to do with the site?
- the logo - its a bunch of balls? whats eyecatching or meaningful about that?
- # of different fonts - I think I'm counting 6?

Some of your graphics kick ass, but to tell you the truth, I would never actually make it to them because your site doesnt work for me. Sorry.

And dont start whining or citicizing my site - as you can see, thats also not the way this forum operates.

*edit - I was just looking at http://www.urbangrafixdesigns.com/gallery/photography/powder-from-the-sky.jpg and http://www.urbangrafixdesigns.com/gallery/photography/reserved-seating.jpg and thats some awesome photography. However, you have absolutely ruined them with the cheesy, unprofessional text below and big copyright sign and logotype with three fonts. Whats 'copyrights'? Its personal work - already copyright. And nobody's going to steal it ... dont take away from presentation with that stupid stuff at the bottom. Just my $.02 - anyone else can weigh in if they want...

LOl...it all makes sense when you read along the responses.
Dont get me wrong, Again I appreciate the responses and I am currently working on alot of stuff on my site.
As for the name: Urban Grafix is more of a NYC thing I grew up around, I was always into Urban Art. growing up in the worst part of Brooklyn I got into Grafitti(sp?) and made a life out of it. This really was suppose to be a playground for me, as the time went by people (Clients) started to visit my site and admire the work. Okay yeah I know the signature on the art is something that shouldn't be there but its there for other reasons that im very protective about.
Thanx again for the crits, opinions, and advices.

@ supahsekzy: My bad bro...didnt mean to set things off as they went in the previous posts ;)

supahsekzy,
Bad comparison man. Urban has nothing to do with or alter the NATURE of his business. It's still webdesign. A point that's clear when you go there. Your example of pizza and groceries doesn't quite fit (a tad too extreme). Don't get too caught up in the "thematics" of the name. It's just a name and there are no rule books that say you have to graphically represent that. In fact, in some instances, it can be rather cheesy.

With so many webdesigners (good and bad) out there. I think word of mouth, proof of skills with prior clients, and other factors (other than the name) is what's really important. The name means diddly, only the reputation behind it. With that being the obvious truth, we could ALL have just "numbers" for names. The only numbers that would be remembered are the ones that have the good work, not a snappy name that hangs on the tongue. lol....

Also, saying something good about a site doesn't necessarily mean it's being sugar coated and the reviewer is "taking it easy" on the design in question. It IS possible to say something good AND have a meaningful crit that's useful.

You've got to let go of that "Simon Cowell" attitude! heh heh This isn't the American Webdesigner show...

The name is actually important. You can't dismiss the name as not important. The name is part of the personality of your site. It lives and breathes with your site. It should complement your site. It should reflect you or your site in some way.

And it's gotta be catchy. You're not getting this. Go back and look at the example I gave after the grocery analogy. It is a direct example of how the name can matter.

Think about it. A name can't be so short that it can't be used; nor can it be so long that it can't be remembered. you see how even just the site's name's length can have an effect.

Think about it. let's say you have a site with a great name but the site sucks. A LOT of people will think to themselves, "You know, that site sucked, but man that was a cool name." I know personally I have thought to myself, "That site sucked. It was a waste of a domain name." Meaning, the domain itself owned, and I regret not having registered it sooner.

The only numbers that would be remembered are the ones that have the good work, not a snappy name that hangs on the tongue. lol....

Wrong. Why is it that people write down phone numbers when we get them? Cause it's just difficult to remember it as a series of numbers. Numbers aren't use to describe anything, except for quantities. Words are used to describe things, concepts, ideas, sites, etc. Would you name your kid a number? According to your theory, you would rather have your child called 25363 than Billy, or something.

And by the way, you should treat your website like you would treat your own kid, to some extent. You should care about it, you should try to make it the best you can, you should try to have it reflect you, you should also try to put your best effort into it.

And a snappy name that hangs on the tongue IS the one that is remembered!!! By saying that it is "snappy" or that it "hangs on the tongue" you can't help but INFER that it is easily remembered! You WANT a name that sticks in people's heads! You want something memorable.

The name means diddly, only the reputation behind it.

What if you don't know any reputations? What if you just got the internet yesterday and you want a site designed today? so you google the words "web design" and get a list of web design companies. What do you see? The NAMES of them. chances are you'll jump at the names that sound nice first, and then if you dont find anything then you'll come back to the others. Either way you get the advantage if you've got a catchy name.

It's all in the business of running a design company. if you were just running a personal site and you didn't care about business, then of course you can call it whatever you want. But in the case of urban grafix, the company is created on the sole purpose of making money.

It IS possible to say something good AND have a meaningful crit that's useful.

Of course it is. And of course I will say something is good... IF I find something that's good.
If you want to lie about things by saying they're good when they aren't, then you can do that. As for me, I'll tell the truth and have people actually benefit from my criticism.

And I don't really watch American Idol because I'm straight, so I don't know much about simon cowell. however, I know he's a hardass. However, if he's a hardass when necessary and truly speaks his mind completely truthfully (and not just to sell a show), then I am glad to be associated with him.



Urbangrafix: No problem dude. Just don't take criticism so hard in the future.. remember I'm criticising your site, not you. And welcome to the forums :D

What he's saying is that 2advanced could be called poomash and still get business because they are good at what they do. Likewise, I could have a site called 2Advanced to show off pictures of my dog and goldfish, and it wouldn't generate any more hits.

Yeah, but if you saw 2 sites, one called poomash and one called 2advanced, which would you click first?

chances are you'd click 2advanced first. in this case the site lured the customer in with the name. and if 2advanced is good, good enough for you, and the right price, etc etc, then the customer won't even bother looking at poomash.

You want the advantage of having people look at your site first so at least they give it a lookover before making a decision.

If you cant get someone to look at your site, how do you expect them to purchase your services?