Website! Yaaay?

[gwendolyngrey]

I just finished my "For Reals" website for my portfolio class.

It would have been a lot easier if the instructor had actually known Dreamweaver.

I'll have a lot more to add to it once my senior show is finished in the spring, but for now it'll do.  And I still have to buy a domain and get a host; it's temporarily uploaded to some space I have on GVSU's server.

Critique?  Advice?  Any niggly bits I might want to change before Wed. (when it'll be critiqued in class)?

Comments

[jubilima.livejournal.com]

Dear girl, you have talent seeping out of your pores. Your work is so lovely!

[lyschan.livejournal.com]

Lovely site! I enjoyed exploring it and seeing your work again.

As for critiques, most of my thoughts are kind of nit-picky. The first thing that bothered me was the pixelated-stuff surrounding the illustration/costume/etc links on the very first page (though it wasn't as noticeable on the other pages, for some reason). It might be something about the .jpg compression; if you saved the images with less compression it might get rid of that. Or maybe as .gif instead of .jpg? The other thing that I noticed was on the costume page, you've got thumbnails for a few different outfits in the fairytale section, but only the one dress has pictures up. Maybe you're still working on that though. The thumbnails on the costume page also aren't quite aligned with each other, which (depending on how you made the page) could be fixed if you drag in some guide-lines in Dreamweaver and line them up against that. I think. My Dreamweaver memory is a bit foggy... If it's on purpose that they're not aligned (like the way-spaced-out thumbnails on the fairytale line), maybe make that a bit more obvious/exaggerated.

I was a little confused at first with the costume page (like, how the 3 different 19th c. thumbs all go to the same gallery page and not to a specific gallery of just that dress/etc). I don't know if that's a problem or not though. It's just that since I see all those thumbnails, as a website viewer I feel like I have to click each one to get to something new. I also wished I could go between the different sections without having to go back to the main costume page (I'm a lazy browser!) What if... you moved the text-menu that's currently on the main costume page to the right-side (?) of the page, so it pops up outside of the box when the costume-link is clicked like how you did the thumbnails for the drawing/illustration pages along the bottom? This may not be something to do before your critique Wednesday, but just a thought...

Er... I hope I'm not discouraging. I really like your site a lot. The navigation for the illustration and drawing pages is perfect! I loved seeing your sketches/paintings of the costumes along with the costumes themselves. And I understand all the madness and confusion of trying to get Dreamweaver to cooperate while the professor looks on just as confused as I am... so I admire your patience and ability to put together such a nice and stylish website :D Great job!

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU! Not discouraging at all!

This stuff is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I don't know if I can get to all that before Wed, but it's all useful input that I'll certainly apply. The pixelated-crap on the index page bothers me too, so that'll get top priority, and I'll play around with organizing the costume page more.

This was very helpful. :-)

[drunkprincessz.livejournal.com]

Feedback:
-You may want to give your web site a title so it doesn't show up as "untitled document" in browser windows.
-For costume photos you may want to (maybe just in the future) consider what the backdrop is for your model/mannequin so it either fits or is more neutral/less chaotic.

Other than that It's very organized and easy to navigate! Hooray!

If you need advice about where to buy a domain name etc. just let me know and I'd be more than willing to help you set it all up etc.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how to give my website a title that shows up in browser windows... help?

And proper photoshoots are DEFINITELY on the agenda for my costumes!

(I might just hit you up for domain advice... I'm a bit at sea here...)

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

Did you just make an icon of Gwendolyn's sheep-in-people-clothing?

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

To quote, "I don't judge, I just observe."

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I've been really longing to start drawing again recently, and male figures in that same series were actually next on the agenda. And I hear you have birthday coming up in the not-too-distant future, so getting one might not be so difficult as all that. Or, of course, you could always bribe me with books or fabric instead.

And as an aside, I can't see that icon you made of the sheep-drawing without imagining your head inside the bonnet...

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

I'm still calling his mommy about that birthday thing.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Thanks, some very helpful suggestions here! I particularly like the idea of default images in the center box, and easier costume navigation seems to be an important factor for most people.

[saraquill.livejournal.com]

I like the touch of how you can take a bigger look at a thumbnail just by waving the mouse over it.

As for critiques, you might want to think about specifying how much of a piece in your "costume" section is hand done and how much is machine done. Some people might be curious, and/or impressed.

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I was going to be a killjoy and be like, "It doesn't work for me and I can't see anything but the borders--the art doesn't load for me," but then I visited again and it worked.

That's really my only complaint, though, that it's kind of spotty as to whether or not those thumbs for your costumes actually show up as links, or just as tiny unclickable pictures, and whether or not the thumbs at the bottom of each page load a larger picture when I mouse over them. The actual design is lovely! :)

P.S. Julie said she doesn't care what the site for March looks like as long as it's pretty and that she'll have more content-related stuff later.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

SmartAleck is right, the thumbs at the bottom all work once you give the page enough time to pre-load them. Give it a second...

And I should do something about the tiny thumbs on the costume page. They aren't meant to be links, but it seems that people intuitively see them as such. I'll have to re-think that bit.

The website for the March event should be built as soon as possible (i.e. begining of break), so I'll need ALL the information very soon... I ought to email Julie.

[ktlovely.livejournal.com]

Yes, you ought. But she did say that she hasn't really written anything down yet so you're probably still good.

I figured out the interface after a few minutes. But the first time I loaded the page, for whatever reason, it didn't load all the way, even though I let it sit--that's why the thumbs didn't work.

Has anybody named this event yet?

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

wow!!! What beautiful work! This is the sort of art I always wanted to make, but illustration was practically a dirty word at my art school so I let them push me into more "serious" areas (which I never really liked). So yeah, I'm officially jealous... but I'm also a HUGE fan and wish you tons of success! :)

BTW, were there supposed to be more costumes in the fairytale category other than the pink dress? I saw thumbnails for more on the main costume page, but I didn't see them on the fairytale page.

[idlewild-grey.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's a real shame that you were steered away from more illustrative ways of working in school. I get a good deal of flak from some of the fine art profs about the type of work I do and about illustration in general. Fortunately, the illustration program at my school is quite good, and the support I get from that quarter is invaluable. I've tried to create "serious" art, and it just leaves me drained and frustrated.

The fairytale category will have more costumes after I wrap some pieces up and have a photoshoot in Jan. The thumbnails on the main page seem to be confusing a lot of people, since I obviously don't have the rest of the content up yet. That page needs a bit more thought and re-design.