Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5] 6   Go Down

Author Topic: The NEW LuLa Look  (Read 20381 times)

cmi

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 492
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #80 on: October 10, 2013, 04:27:47 pm »

To add to my last post, as I said I have a few remarks about what could be done different, but nevertheless I greatly esteem the knowledge and the work wich went into this site, and I want to thank Mr. Guertin, Mr. Reichmann and all the others for their continued efforts.

Christian Miersch
Logged

HSway

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 79
    • Sunwaysite
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #81 on: October 10, 2013, 04:59:38 pm »

Too early to say for me, getting used to the new look, improvements are nice. Much better for reading. Big plus.
Very nice shot from Kevin on Home Page.. I would welcome and think it good if the homepage images remained clickable with a large version for viewing.
Take care everyone,
Logged

David Sutton

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1345
    • David Sutton Photography
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #82 on: October 10, 2013, 06:02:11 pm »

Secondly, we really wish that you all would agree whether or not you like the new design. About half of you do, and half of you don't. Seems like the American political system with a 50/50 split between the left and the right.
Michael

Oh for heaven's sake Michael Reichmann, do you like it?
"You" plural.
You should all be proud of your work. If I were coming to the new site for the first time, and hadn't spent years with the old one and was just stuck in my ways, I'd say it was cool.
Well, it is.
David
Logged

Sheldon N

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 828
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #83 on: October 10, 2013, 06:14:56 pm »

My gut reaction is that it's better than the prior version, although still not the most aesthetically pleasing design.

The ads on the left layout bothers me, not because there are ads but because it forces the main body text column too far right on my screen, moving the text away from the normal/comfortable reading position. I'd cast my vote for ads on the right.

Overall I come here for content, not layout, so it's not the end of the world.
Logged
Sheldon Nalos
[url=http://www.flickr.com

Eric Myrvaagnes

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 22814
  • http://myrvaagnes.com
    • http://myrvaagnes.com
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #84 on: October 10, 2013, 07:22:01 pm »

I am delighted with the gray background instead of black, and the static versus horribly distracting animated Capture One ad.

It does seem a bit easier to find things with the new menu system.

Some of the quirks others have complained about are slightly annoying, but no big deal. I'll get used to them.

Thanks for updating it, and thanks for the great site in general.
Logged
-Eric Myrvaagnes (visit my website: http://myrvaagnes.com)

eleanorbrown

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 637
    • Eleanor Brown Photography
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #85 on: October 10, 2013, 07:42:14 pm »

I agree with Eric about the distraction of the Phase One ad and am glad it's stopped blinking!!  I also like the gray background...very nice.  Now there are a few ads remaining that are still jumping around.  This is an elegant web site with creative content and any time one has ads that blink, flip flop, get animated or whatever...it cheapens and degrades the site in my personal opinion.  I would hope that ALL  the jumpy/hyper adds would stay still so we can enjoy the content on the site! Eleanor
Logged
Eleanor Brown
[url=http://www.eleanorbro

Manoli

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2296
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #86 on: October 10, 2013, 07:52:47 pm »

Secondly, we really wish that you all would agree whether or not you like the new design. About half of you do, and half of you don't.

Well Michael, a simple yeah or nay is probably bound to be indecisive. I think you'll get more consensus over specific details. Personally, the two items I find most displeasing are (1) the excessively long line length and (2) the ads on the left.

We read left to right, ads on the left disrupt the natural flow. I've now installed AdBblock (safari extension) so I'm not overly bothered but I'm fairly sure that the left placement will not result in an increase of 'hits' for advertisers nor, increased advertising revenue for the site. Ads that irritate or bother their target audience in some way usually fall short of their hoped-for objective.

The rest will evolve over time, I'm sure, but for now - congratulations on all those details that are indeed an improvement.

M

ps If in doubt, how about a poll on the more contentious issues ?

« Last Edit: October 10, 2013, 07:57:38 pm by Manoli »
Logged

Kevin Raber

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1339
  • Kevin Raber
    • Kevin Raber
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #87 on: October 10, 2013, 08:12:03 pm »

In regards to ads on the left or right.  We opted for ads on the left because that was where they were on the old site.  The old look we had a left column with menu selections and ads.  So, we thought rather than shake things up too much we would use the left side as we had done for a very long time.  Advertising is important to LuLa as we have bills and such that need to be paid.  We will only be working with vendors that have something that is of interest to our readers as far as products or services.  We will not use Google ad sense or other means of advertising revenues.  In doing research we looked at some photography sites that jammed ads between articles and such.  We also saw ads that were pop ups.  None of that is something we do.  Also, we looked at ads on the right of the screen and reading left to right you always ran into the ads when reading left to right.  No easy answer.  We were sure that either way we were going to hear about it.  And, for those that commented early on about the flashy ads, we have now gone all static.  We appreciate all the constructive comments and assure you we are listening.

Thanks,
Kevin Raber
Logged
Kevin Raber
kwr@rabereyes.com
kevin@photopxl.com
rockhopperworkshops.com
photopxl.com

Slobodan Blagojevic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 18090
  • When everyone thinks the same, nobody thinks
    • My website
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #88 on: October 10, 2013, 08:42:38 pm »

I find the new design quite festive. After all, both Halloween and Christmas are just around the corner. Horror in, elegance out. Kitsch is the new subtlety. Christmas tree: abundance of colors, fonts, sizes, backgrounds, ads, ads for ads. Redundancy.

Do we really need five ads for ads? I mean, anyone interested in advertising understands from the moment they lay their eyes on the site that advertising is possible and highly desirable. And even if they live under a rock and do not get it, there is a subtle (finally!) reminder at the bottom of the home page: "Advertise with us." Instead we have it repeated five times. It reeks of fire-sale desperation, even if not true.

Redundancy: "Click here to read the article" repeated five times. Square previews on the left of article announcements contain no useful information, yet often repeat the very same ads on their own left, contributing to the overall sense of clutter and everything-but-a-kitchen-sink esthetics.

One of the latest articles (by Peter Cox), however, had a very good advice of its own:

Manoli

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2296
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #89 on: October 10, 2013, 09:20:17 pm »

Advertising is important to LuLa as we have bills and such that need to be paid.
.. and reading left to right you always ran into the ads when reading left to right.

Kevin, I understand that - no-one (I think) is suggesting that ads be abolished. But there comes a moment when they are too intrusive and that results in a negative for all parties. The ads are too big, they interfere with a pleasant reading experience - ads on the right, leave the viewer with a natural option to continue 'along the line' or continue reading the next line down, just as one would a book.

Another alternative, apart from RHS,  is a mixture down both sides, similar to TOP - but TOP has a much shorter line length and one's eyes are focussed on the centre column - consequently, reading TOP you get a feel for a [Top-Down] eye movement as opposed to a [Left-Right] one, particularly one with an irregular left hand (ad) column. It's far less irksome to 'automatically' find the beginning of the next line down ...

But again, not withstanding the above, congratulations on all the good points.
Logged

dreed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1715
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #90 on: October 10, 2013, 09:29:21 pm »

...
Do we really need five ads for ads? I mean, anyone interested in advertising understands from the moment they lay their eyes on the site that advertising is possible and highly desirable. And even if they live under a rock and do not get it, there is a subtle (finally!) reminder at the bottom of the home page: "Advertise with us." Instead we have it repeated five times. It reeks of fire-sale desperation, even if not true.

Redundancy: "Click here to read the article" repeated five times. Square previews on the left of article announcements contain no useful information, yet often repeat the very same ads on their own left, contributing to the overall sense of clutter and everything-but-a-kitchen-sink esthetics.

One of the latest articles (by Peter Cox), however, had a very good advice of its own:

This is common in advertising. Each of the four square is an empty "ad slot" and presumably each one of those smaller "ad slots" is cheaper than the larger ones. Similarly because they may not all be filled at the same time, each is advertised separately with its own picture...
Logged

Slobodan Blagojevic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 18090
  • When everyone thinks the same, nobody thinks
    • My website
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #91 on: October 10, 2013, 11:08:09 pm »

This is common in advertising...

Care to show us an example?

Michael West

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1438
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #92 on: October 10, 2013, 11:44:29 pm »

Im really appreciative of the somewhat softer gray backgrounds having replaced the somewhat more severe black pages.

Thank you.
Logged

dreed

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1715
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #93 on: October 10, 2013, 11:54:22 pm »

Care to show us an example?

Billboards by the side of road saying "Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX to advertise" or empty "plates" in trains, trams and buses saying "This space available to rent", etc.

The only difference is that they're alone but each one is one of those squares albeit a different size and location.
Logged

Slobodan Blagojevic

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 18090
  • When everyone thinks the same, nobody thinks
    • My website
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #94 on: October 11, 2013, 01:12:11 am »

Billboards by the side of road saying "Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX to advertise" or empty "plates" in trains, trams and buses saying "This space available to rent", etc...

Thanks for making my point. That style of advertising is indeed suitable for "trains, trams and buses," not for one of the top 100 Internet sites, nor for, arguably, the best photographic site on the planet. If the goal was to compete with Grayhound buses for advertising space then... mission accomplished.

Bryan Conner

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 539
    • My Flickr page
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #95 on: October 11, 2013, 01:40:37 am »

I do not see any problems with the new look.  The site is just as enjoyable as it was before.

I use Firefox and have it configured where I do not see any ads.  That was my choice so I would not be bothered by the ads.  No problem.  The blank space on the left that I have in place of the ads does not bother me....I made that choice.  I think the text is as easy to read as anything else.  I understand the words and do not have to squint or strain to read them.  I don't need anything else.

So, good job to the LULA team.

It is ok to offer constructive criticism, but some of what has been written so far is not constructive.  To those that are not capable of offering constructive criticism:  the door to the www and other photography websites is wide open. Don't let it hit you in the butt on the way out.
Logged

dieter268

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 49
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #96 on: October 11, 2013, 04:58:43 am »

Site works fine here under Windows 7 and Chrome.
And I do like the new appearence.

Logged

mvsoske

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 181
    • Mark V'Soske Photography
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #97 on: October 11, 2013, 05:38:44 am »

The new face of the website is fine with me as is the layout of the of the various areas.  I particularly appreciate the elimination of the black background when reading articles and essays.  It's not about the gift wrapping, but about the product and information inside.

Mark

michael

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5084
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #98 on: October 11, 2013, 09:29:03 am »

Billboards by the side of road saying "Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX to advertise" or empty "plates" in trains, trams and buses saying "This space available to rent", etc.

The only difference is that they're alone but each one is one of those squares albeit a different size and location.

Doesn't anyone have a sense of fun any more?

Except for those of us who shoot for a living, photography should be fun, and even then it should as well.

Reading about, studying and thinking about our art and our craft should all be fun as well.

That's the attitude that Kevin and I bring to LuLa. Little jokes, amusing ad space promos and so forth. Yes, this is a business, but it's also what we do because it gives us pleasure to do so.

Debbie Downer is not welcome here.

Michael
Logged

Colorado David

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1178
Re: The NEW LuLa Look
« Reply #99 on: October 11, 2013, 10:42:08 am »

Just sayin'.
Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5] 6   Go Up