a site I am working on for a friend and me

Hey whats up everybody. I am new here. Nice to see a simple forum with real people in it. Hey I am new to web design. Really started only about a year ago and I guess I have made okay progress for teaching my self most of this crazy stuff heh. Just wanted to know what you all thought of this site I am working on. I know that it is kind of weak with the DW layout view but I have not gotten fully out of that yet heh. Tell me what you guys think. I am still working on it so there are some parts that are missing.

Here it is: netboy networks site

I like it. Sleak, cool colors. Not a big fan of the grids for the background. Maybe if they were faded a bit (opacity turned down a bit or apply a "subtle" layer style).

Nice work!

Yeah I really like it too!
As Drum said the grids in the background is a big No No imo.
Everything else looks so nice.
imo you should make a bg that is grey that maybe could fade to a bit darker grey or something.
And I think that the layout should have something on the sides.
now they are a bit cut off...
You just started out playing with web design and graphics one year ago and now you have your own company...that's pretty fast working man...

- Remove the grids, or if you really want them, fade them very out...
- very nice indeed! I like tht sorta designs!
- I think the graphics is a bit big in size though

Nice! I like it (xcept for the grid lol)

For crits:

- Get rid of the date & time. If somebody is on your website.....it means they're using a computer which in most cases will have a date & time already on screen :D . Basically it serves no purpose and takes up precious space (yes...even those 10 pixels it takes up is important lol )

- New Account & Sign in should be moved to the top. Maybe on that dark gray bar under the navigation or up along the top gray border, or something simliar to the FAQ or Contact

- The store search should be at the bottom. It's less important and not the first item you want a visitor to see. If they want to search, they'll look for it.

- Now the reason i say move those elements, is it frees up a couple hundred pixels to move your content up (so visitors dont have to scroll to see the updates & such)

- Also, about © 2004-2006 netboynetworks.com, I think 2004 would be just fine. Also im not sure (correct me if im wrong) but i dont think you can hold a copyright for a year that doesnt exist. The copyright is for when it was created-present.....not when you would like to copyright it in the future.

I like it a lot too... very nice. Take everything the people above said and it will look AWESOME.

I think the header looks really good, but everything from there down just kindof falls apart... The content area I think needs some more color, or something.... its just kindof bland compared to the rest of the page. I agree with Decline about the grid in the bg, it really is kindof an eyesore. Other then that though I really think its great. Dont get me wrong.. I really love the design, just the content area, the bg, and the bottom of the page just need a little more developing IMO.

Thanks guys,

I will take a look at all the ideas and make some alterations. Thanks for the detailed look rodder I will for sure take all in to consideration.

Ya I agree. I started with the header design and was pretty happy with the way it was looking. It did start to go a little down hill under it though. I am going to look into a way to liven that up a little and make it go better with the header.

Thanks for the idea with the search and member links. I was kind of still wondering if that was were I should put it. I am thinking kind of doing away with it all together to be honest because I think I am going to make it so when you click on the shop link it opens a _blank window and displays the store and it will be taxing to keep the search there if I set it up that way.

Ya I was thinking the same thing about the bg just not sure what to do but I knew I had to make a change.

Ya I started around fall of 2002 got myself a copy of DW and started playing with it everyday. I have been playing with PS though since PS3 so that was something I already knew. I still have along way to go. I want to be able to design a whole site with out ever using layout view. I am a very visual person so code doesn't come really that nature for me but luckily I am a fast learner so it should be no problem.

I am thinking about starting a portfolio site soon. I will post it up when I get something down. Also when I get this site with some alterations I will repost it for you guys to see again. Thanks guys. Nice to have found a forum where everyone doesn't just tell you how bad you suck hehe.

Hey guys.

Made some changes. I noted that one of the biggest comments was about the BG so I changed it to something a little lighter. It is kind of boring still to me but it is not such an "eyesore" now.

I also made a major change to the way the store is displayed. I gave it it's own design (which I almost like now more then the rest of the site) and it is a fixed size that pops up in a window that has no resizer. Now I did this today and I am not sure if I like it. You guys tell me what you think.

Now I was going to add borders or something on both sides of the design but I have yet to get to that, but I will probably do that.

Also I agree x_fusiun_x about the body being bland. I am still thinking about what to do with it. Needs something to make it go with everything else. Really does not carry the same theme as the header and footer of the site.

I also took out the search field for the store and the store links that were on the front page. I wanted to make them linked together but almost like seperate site.
I am not a big fan of splash pages unless it is an all flash site, but I was thinking about making a cool splash page that gave you a choice to go to the business site or the store. Still contemplating :rolleyes:

Netboy Networks

pixelsoul, that's a nice design you have there, I think it looks great!
My only suggestion would be to use pixel fonts on your navigational bar, or set that anti aliasing to "none" in your character palette.

Other than that, it looks really nice and clean!

Two thumbs up and a high five!