I'm getting going with a few things I enjoy... Murals and Oil painting... Call me a sissy, but it's good money. My girlfriend and I both do this on the side. http://www.barewallsareboring.com http://www.mmcfineart.com The sites aren't finished, but any input would be helpful! Mike:wavey:
BARE WALLS... Global: my only notes would be to normalize content preesntation (some copy is L-justified, some is C-justified) i would go with L-justification throughout since the convention is already set by your left bound nav. (as a side note, centered type started dwindling out of vogue in the late 1920's, the exception being some playbills and some posters.) normalize header/subheader type. if you want it all l/c then keep all that way, and visa/versa for U/c. note: if you choose to keep header copy l/c, make it a bit larger than it is. so it appears as intentional. maintain logo location consistency top left under the nav (with pleny of whitespace around) would do fine. may want to try it a touch smaller. ID is important, but it shouldn't be dominating. no need for it to be in the footer too. title your documents (it reads "untitled" in the bar) if you want to ride your ph number on each page, do it in the footer or bind to the top right on level with the nav. although the contact page should aleviate the need for this. Home Page: thumbnails of each art type next to the copy on the home page will help had color and interest. "welcome to bare walls are boring!" should be the header to the copy right of the logo. both should ride below the logo. typically, you wouldn't wrap your identity with copy unless the story is about the identity (and it's someone else's on your site or your ID on someone elses site). all copy on the site is understood to belong to the sites overriding ID. MMC SITE... same as above for logo in footer. give a little breathing room to the head/subhead text (they're riding on the left browser chrome). copy on both sites: unless there is an aesthetic reason to use something other than verdana for body copy, you might want to stick with it. most people still thing serifs are easier to read when type is set smaller, however the opposite is true with on-screen reading. i hope this helps, and maybe even clear... i'm not yet through my first cup of coffee, and i'm pretty useless in the AM without it ps. some VERY nice work examples on both sites. love the fish.
bare walls are boring, so is all black text on a white background. putting thumbnails should help alleviate that. i'm not a fan of the current layout, you have two different link spots on the same page so it doesn't flow. leave the oil pages links in the bio, maybe on the homepage but definetly not on every page. the headline also shouldnt carry over, i've read it once and now its just taking up space. sorry if the feedback is a little harsh, ive found being honest helps get the best results. let us know when you update it again and the alien wall art is awesome