New Website... Need Critques

[chrisstraley]

Hey guys,  

Just finished up my new website and I need some feedback. Can you please check out my site and blog and let me know what you'll think!  Thanks so much for the help!

http://www.chrisstraley.com

Thanks
Chris

[PeterAit]

Hey guys,  

Just finished up my new website and I need some feedback. Can you please check out my site and blog and let me know what you'll think!  Thanks so much for the help!

http://www.chrisstraley.com

Thanks
Chris

I looked at your site with extra attention because I am putting the final touches on my own site, so am very aware of various web-issues. Here's my opinion, which is just that - one person's opinion. When I ask people to look at my site, you'll see I have very different tastes.

The initial S* splash screen was a real turn-off for me - it shouted "gimmick"

The main page is too cluttered for my taste. You can't really see any of the individual photos. Maybe that was your intent, but ...

In the individual portfolios, it took me a good 45 seconds to figure out how to more to the next photo. Why hide the thumbnails? Also, even after I had found the thumbnails I could not find a way to move to the next or previous photos - my only option it seemed was to click a thumbnail image. And then, if you move your mouse pointer off the thumbnails while moving it to a particular image, the thumbnails vanish!

There's something weird with the site as regard data transfer. My browser seems to continuously be transferring data from your site, as indicated by the status bar message. THis is true even after I have been viewing your site for several minutes.

Sorry to be so negative but you did ask!

Peter

A lot of the text is too small.

[button]

I like the shots,  but I also find the navigation cumbersome.  A "forward/back" set of arrows or buttons would help.

[SCQ]

I generally don't like Flash sites - and a lot of people would agree. While you don't seem to have abused Flash too much, there are a lot of unneccessary 'gimmicks' like the S*. The drop down menu is fine, but the effect is a little inelegant. It just seems disproportionate and out of place - not to mention, the lack of padding makes it look too cramped and cut off. The choice of typography seems to reflect your style, but the lightness of it (in terms of line weight) and color makes it difficult to read. Lastly, I can't stand the preloader. For someone who is any less patient than I, upon seeing that circle thing pop up would likely quit.

That aside, you do have some lovely photographs.

Your site could probably be done a lot cleaner and leaner without Flash - which would help it run faster and be easier to update in the future.

But don't let me get you down - for a photographer's site, it's better than a lot that I've seen.

[LoisWakeman]

I find the "mystery meat navigation" rather tedious too - but I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to these things and may not be the intended audience.

However, what is more important is the actual content - the photos are interesting, but why should anyone use you rather than 100s of other photogs in your area - I think we should be told!  

Seriously, every web site needs some kind of USP, in words as well as pictures. There are just so many great photos out there on the web, you need to give this serious thought. Especially if you want to be found on Google by people who don't know your name already.

[RSL]

Chris, I have to agree with everything Peter said, plus most of the other criticisms. In sum, the site's just too cute. I have a feeling your site was designed by a techie rather than by a marketer. The trouble is that there are just too many put-offs on there. Someone coming to your site probably wants to know about your photographs, not your artistic ability in building a web site. You're doing something different with your site than I'm doing with mine. You're trying to attract clients. I'm trying to sell existing photographs. But a lot of the principles are the same. Lois's criticism is right on the money. You have to convince visitors that there's a reason to hire you rather than one of the hundreds of other people out there who can make good photographs. I don't think the site is doing it. If I were looking for a local pro, the first thing I'd want to see is some of his photographs, and I wouldn't want to have to work my way through a less than obvious gateway to get to the shots. If I were faced with the S*, and then a not too obvious set of drop-down menus, I'd probably just move on. You need a way to grab 'em. This isn't it.

[chrisstraley]

Wow.  Pretty harsh criticism.  After looking at everyone's website that commented on my site and basically wrote it off I realized I posted this on the wrong site.  The comments about sight navigation are well taken and I understand that it is a bit hard to navigate and I will work on that.
"the photos are interesting, but why should anyone use you rather than 100s of other photogs in your area - I think we should be told!"

I would like to see someone find images comparible to the images I have shot by 100's of other photographers in my area.  Think again.

Thanks for the critiques!

[RSL]

Chris, You can call the criticisms you got "harsh" if you want to, but I'd call them "honest." After all, that's what I think you asked for -- a criticism of your site, not a criticism of your pictures. I don't think anyone "wrote off" your web. Your pictures are technically competent, though too oversaturated for my tastes. That's not the point. If you have navigation problems on your web, a lot of people won't bother hunting around for the pictures. There are just too many other pro's webs out there to waste time trying to get to pictures that are hard to find. Good luck. But don't give up. If you keep trying you may yet be able to find a forum that will pat you on the back for your site.

[Jeremy Roussak]

"the photos are interesting, but why should anyone use you rather than 100s of other photogs in your area - I think we should be told!"

I would like to see someone find images comparible to the images I have shot by 100's of other photographers in my area.  Think again.

If people don't look at your web site because it's hard to use, they'll never realise how wonderful you are.

Jeremy

[cmi]

Hi Chris,

Some random observations and thoughts:

First of all, these images are really good! I had a quick glance. The variety is refreshing and a big argument for you, and it never gets boring quickly clicking through the images. Maybe, just maybe I would narrow down the selection a tiny bit. (But then, maybe not.)

I like the design (main page) very much. The fonts are nice and fitting, and these saturated colors make it work. It already shows you cover a really wide array of subjects so that fits! My first impulse was to click on such a small image. The splash screen has been mentioned. Even if you rework it, such intros get boring after a while. However: Sometimes you can see very good effects wich last very short and almost never get boring. So maybe you only need to take that splash to the next quality level. After all, this is flash  Regarding the navigation, it is very practical (for those who did not discover it: click on left part of image: forward, click on right part: backward) but I really would indicate it somehow, like with transparent arrows, or a transparent overlay wich appears as soon as you move the mouse or are in a specific screen region, something like that. Since you want to go minimalist I would design this indication minimalist, too. Also if you encounter a slow connection, I would put some kind of loading indication. Even with my 6mbit, as I switched between tabs back to your site and clicked on, there was a small delay wich caused me to click two or three times more, before the next image loaded. (Im impatient sometimes!)  Also as was said I would simplify the thumbs menu.

Regarding the design, it is overall fitting but comes across a bit "sloppy", like a v1 - you are probably working on it. E.g. in "contact" the big "S" has chopped of pixellines, the pull down menu feels a little narrow and decentered (too less space around), and on a white page it visually doesn't really work for me. More,, I dont find a possibility to come back to this nice mainpage (even if there is no real need for that), and a final one, I dont see why you write (photography), I would take away the brackets. At least I would probably try [squared ones]. Probably are more things. Oh and write the clients on the clients page a bit bigger.

So ok thats a big list but I don't want to sound too negative! The basic site feels good and fresh and serious. It just needs a bit more refinement, and then it will really shine.

By the way I totally liked http://www.chrisstraley.com/#a=0&at=0&...mp;s=10&p=1 (for the saturated colors and the overall feel, and his expression) and http://www.chrisstraley.com/#a=0&at=0&...mp;s=10&p=3 (for how you tell this short story).


Cheers,

Christian