Give me some positive criticism please..

this is the lay out for a on-line portfolio my friend and i are working on, just give me some critiques...we dont have a domain or host, thats why it isnt uplaoded.



http://www.ucfolsom.8m.com/final.jpg



Thanks in advance

Going to bed so I'll make this short.

It's clean, which I like. And I'm partial to orange, so I like the colors.

But about the drop-down menu: I would make that more descriptive than just "Art 1, Art 2,". So that 1st time visitors to your site would know what they are treading onto.

While I'm not sure it is possible to give "positive criticism". (Isn't that like a double negative or something?...LOL!) I will make a few comments and try to make them constructive.

Simplicity:
Love it!....
is that dropdown menu going to be the only navigation?

Texture: the texture of the darkest orange swooshy thing on the left repeatedly draws my eye....It seems to clash with the other element on that side. That might change with some content on the page... but for now I would say...tone down that texture...

Paintbrush... lose the paintbrush....it doesn't do anything for me.

I would leave the paintbrush there. Not to tread on Torn's shoes, but I think you need to keep it there to keep it from being "TOO" simplistic. Althought I do like simplicity, I think removing the brush would make it "TOO" simple. It kind of gives the site a feel of 'moderness' (is that a word).

If nothing else, exchange the paintbrush with some other image of the same feel/style. I just don't think you should sacrifice it. It would just take away from the site, literally and designally (not a word, but I can't think of the one I'm thinking of (dang....I'm too tired for this)).

I thought you said you were going to bed Mattboy!

I agree with Matt that the brush adds something, but I would suggest switching to more of a typical "artist's brush".

I also agree that there's something about the orange swooshy that grabs me 'wrong'. I think it's because the shape feels 3D but the texture is flat. If you like the texture I would suggest airbrushing and blending it by hand to give it some depth.

Other wise, I like. "Don't let the site get in the way of your work you want to highlight!" You've got a nice vehicle in place to profile your stuff.
:p

Mattboy never sleeps...

As for tha site I like it. I agree with Malibu that tha textue thingie is too 'flat' compared to the rest. Even adding a small drop shadow might help with that. :-)

looks nice - but add some better navigation

the site isnt going to be focused on the lay-out, we are gonna shoot for having the artwork, that is the content of the site, attract viewers. the news is definitely going to be changed somehow, but im not usre how i can do that yet.

if you would like to see the HTML version, i got a friend to host for a while to test out images and my lay-outs...the URL is:

http:/www.xipnet.com/Focus

thanks for all the feedback, it will help me a lot with the finished product of this site.