Play.ShiftState.com

I gather the header image will change according to page? I like a lot the tree thing - very nice.

Dunno about the crosshatch thing though...I mean it's nice right now - but have you tried to look at it when it will be fullscreen? Or is it going to open in a popup? (please don't! )

What mihai said... the crosshatch may be distracting in full page.

I think it looks really good, both of them are great. I personally like the bg, but seeing it on the actual site with more space around it might change my mind. I love the tree thing, looks really good. I would do what Mihai said and change it on each page. I think it would make for a really nice "feel" of the site.

Nice work though man :D

I like the tree one a whole lot better. The blue orb looks very out of place and amateurish to me. (no offense)

The background pattern looks good to me, it is subtle enough to not be distracting.

Turning the dots into bullets is kind of confusing. Is your domain play.shiftstate.com or is it the name of your site just play | shiftstate | com. The bullet between play and shiftstate makes sense, but there needs to be a period between shiftstate and com in my opinion.

Your kerning is really screwed up in the body text. Of course that will change when you do the HTML... but it's still really small. And remember to add some linespacing in the CSS.

The navigation looks a little "lost" to me. It doesn't stand out from anything at all, and pretty much blends in with that header. Maybe a different color, or make them look like buttons, or icons like you said.

As for the bottom box... if you don't really have any content to put there maybe it shouldn't be there... The design should be based on your content, not the other way around.

header image will change according to page?

Havnt thought about it really. Possibly. And a absolutely not to the popup!

- About the bg....i havent looked at it fullscreen either. I'll be doing that shortly.

-The orb is gone. It was just a filler anyway until i can decided what to do with the damn header (the tree seems to be step in the right direction). I kinda like it myself and it compliments the whole "open / freeflowing" idea.

- The domain is "play.shiftstate.com". It crossed my mind that changing the periods might cause confusion......but from a design angle, the periods (as a design element rather than an informative one) seem to break up the flow of the title. I like the bullets cause it follows the centerline of the text which creates nice even horiz. lines (invisible that is). With the periods, its not even anymore (vertically) and causes a little bit of tension with the line below.

-text = all done in html.

- Yeah...i get the lost feeling too.....though the blending effect is somewhat desired. I want to keep the nice rectangular box formed by the title/nav. I want icons, but im a little unsure how it will affect the rectangle. You may be on to something with using a different color. I need color somewhere....i dont want it too boring.

- and the bottom box.....well i just did that. Everything is still experimental....so im not sure what content to use, what to put where etc.

Basically its a major WIP! Thanks for all the advice. Its a big help!!

Um... Could use some better text placement in my opinion...
The layout looks like it took about 4 min to make.
Perhaps if you made the grey BG a little lighter it might add to the minimalistic appearance...
The Header links and text doesnt really align with the rest of the page...

Maybe try a nicer font, one more suited to the "blockyness" of your layout.

Other then that, its a great start, i know when i looked at other white minimalistic blocky type sites they made it look really easy, but it took alot of work to learn how to design it and make it look nice, but good job and good luck

hi.
Much said allready.
Haven't read everything but here comes my thoughts :P
I like the ball more than the tree...The ball gives color and life to the site...
I'm not that fond of b/w sites or gray and white sites.
I like it without the bg more than with it.
Somehow I think most bgs looks more as "look at this I can do something cool"
instead of just leaving it clean and nice.
What I wouldn't mind is that the header would change on the different sites...maybe that was your idea? That would give a nice change to the site.
I don't really like the black 1 px stroke under the about and news...I would go with a dark gray or something.
Then I some how I think that it would look better if the news and the about sections would be together because now it all looks a bit squared...And doesn't make that good "flow" to the whole site.

Don't get me wrong.
I really like the site, has a really proffesional look to it which I really like.
So nice job there rod!

Thanks guys.

This is quite a interesting journey im on lol. There's some massive changes ahead

http://www.shiftstate.com/Projects/play.html


The thing with this layout (and minimalism) is it can either look fantastic.....or like 4 mins of work (which isnt bad, im not trying to prove anything skill wise, but isnt great at the same time). Now the only way (in my mind) i can pull it off...is if i break a few rules and get creative about it.

Which brings me to the new version. The header has now become an Identity of sorts. I moved it to the middle of the page because

1) i think visually its more interesting (not so cut & dry)
2) It frames the content well (about section, info)
3) It puts content first (whatever im going to upload)

The about section is fairly small, and as content goes.....probably the least important. So i figured bottom of the page is a good idea. That way ppl can read if it they want more info, otherwise it doesnt get in the way.

Now the problem lies in that it severly limits how i can display the actual content (menu) (which will go in the upper box). But i think if I design the content properly, that the sacrifice of space for appeal is somewhat worth it.

"text placement" - I agree, also with the new version. Its bland.....im not sure how to make it more than what it is though. Maybe thing will change when i deal with the font etc.

As to what you said 3jorn, i actually prefer color here. Ive added a blue sky which i think helps alot. Im also trying to tint the bg...so its not so gray.

As to changing images on each page, i want to do that also. Im thinking i'll use the tree scene, then use a vector city scene, a few others and animate them as well (leaves, birds, city lights that sort of thing). I also thought about writing a timed script to adjust the images colors based on the time of day. Might be overkill....im not sure.

- The new version is 1000px wide (full bg)

- the icons are fillers (until i sit down and draw good ones)

- The section headers im trying to emulate the logo

- the content boxes are boring as bread. Im lost as to how to make a white box look better lol




and if anyone is still reading this ( i should reward them lol), I type WAY too much (or think to much. either way).

Much better!
i was like nooo when I saw the icons, but then I read that they are just temporary :P
Only thing I would still change is the borders around the whole thing.
I have never liked black.
It seems amaturish somehow if it's not really well done or it's the whole layout.
Dark gray for the borders please :P hihihi

I agree. im not of fan of 100% black either.

Which has actually raised a good question. With the black....its the borders that define the layout....which makes it some what bland (unless its like beveled/pixel borders ). So what if it was the layout that defined the borders?? I think adding shades to define the shapes looks better. Its not so monotonous....though im not sold on the shades i chose, or the extreme light blue BG.

http://www.shiftstate.com/Projects/play.html (4 images ~160 k?)

I'll have to pick this up tomorrow. Sleep is needed.