site layout

[jcarey]

Now I am not an expert by any means, I have been using photoshop for around 7 years now completely self taught. Now what I used to do was create the site in photoshop and then slice it in image ready. which now with CS3 is impossible, so I have instead started using dreamweaver to help with my slicing/tables. Basically just let me know what you think, this is a site I have made for the company I am currently employed with, Arts Hamilton, they are the Arts Council for the city of Hamilton, Ontario.

www.artshamilton.ca (http://www.artshamilton.ca/)

Thanks guys.

[Fredonia2k]

The left side is very jagged.

[MikeHun]

The resolution on the galleries is dodgy and the text also.

[Kesh]

You can still slice like ImageReady with Ps CS3. Slice it up, Save for web, Optimize slices, Save, look down on the bottom it asks how to save slices, click other to get all the options.

[createdirector]

I would agree with trying to make the left rail look more uniform. I like the overall coloring and simplicity. Keep plugging away.. you will get it.

[boykickscar]

My personal opinion is that the fonts you have used for the main image at the top and in the top menu don't fit each other or the images.

Apart from that I like the images used.

[tZ]

Your mark-up is outdated, invalid and the gradients throughout the entire site are decoration. The gradients hold no value to what the business represents. On a positive note though the masthead graphic is quit nice. Its everything else that needs to be rethought. (markup and design.) In the end, this design does not put forth a positive and professional message, but amateur one. Thats probably the largest problem.

[shalom_m]

Not bad in layout terms.
It will need a bit of "polishing"
A good idea would be to replace all those tables.

[jcarey]

The left side is very jagged.
I realize in FireFox the left side does not lineup the way it is supposed to, I also know I must make a new CSS for firefox, but am not too sure how to go about it. any ideas?

[DesignVHL]

I have to agree with tZ here. Its really kind of frowned upon in the web world to slice up ps files and use tables for layout if your trying to be compliant with current standards (and if your not, or do not know about them, as someone creating FOR THE WEB, you should). With that being said, you need to rethink how you use HTML and incorporate CSS for positioning. We are not using tables for layout anymore - and its really not good practice to create and slice n dice in PS. I'm a VERY visual person, and I think if I can learn/figure out how to use CSS with HTML with out slicing, you can too - just takes a little extra time and practice - I'm still learning myself - but it is SO worth it, and very rewarding in the end.

That said, your design IS a little outdated - but sometimes the client wants what the client wants. I try to stay away from gradients myself - but when your client says they want em...its what you do.

Anyways, best of luck to you, I understand sometimes when in the heat of a project, you can't just go learning a new skill, however if you plan on doing a lot of web design, or even just a little, its important to try and keep up with the web standards being put in place. Otherwise, we would just be going backwards! :)

[tZ]

Its not that slicing it wrong. Slicing is fine. Its what you do with the slices after. Your shouldn't rely on a software packages to program the layout of those slices in the browser. Thats basically what it comes down to. Slicing by itself is fine though. It gives you a folder of images to do what you will with – perfectly acceptable.

[DesignVHL]

I guess your right tZ. I personally just don't find it very useful, or perhaps necessary. When I'm designing a site, I don't plan on for instance, a side bar to be fully graphical - I think about how i can use css and html to make it work and when I design the interface, I try to keep those types of things in mind. So, slicing a sites page wouldn't make sense to me. To me, its just easier to code it. I don't think that the slicing features gives designers an opportunity to really dive into the html and css and understand how it all works. It ends up more as a puzzle full of graphics that need to be put together - which you of course need to understand css and html to do it right. Esp. today - slicing automatically creates a table in an html file, which is useless for today's standards - tho not totally, I suppose it COULD be a decent starting point to visually see how you can put it together - maybe as a guide.

I really HATED coding sites with tables - so I avoided web design as much as I could in the past. Now that CSS is more widely supported, I actually love and enjoy the coding aspect and seeing it put together. I never was like that in the past - I had that mentality of I'm a designer, not a coder darn it! I cannot think like a coder! But I've kind of let myself go with that, and when I did, it opened my mind up to understanding some of these concepts more. Thats not to say that I don't struggle, sometimes I do, but I learn to work through those struggles. It can be very confusing for many visual designers - many of my design friends do not like web design to this day - they stick w/ print due to fears of not being able to understand coding, or they just don't want to go there - they rather just create - which again, totally understandable if your not planning on doing web design, which they don't - they call me, lol. I know many designers do not WANT to learn the coding, and that is fine, but its good to at least UNDERSTAND concepts if your going to make an attempt at web design, and ESPECIALLY if your selling web design services. I just feel that designers in this media rich world should understand certain compliances and standards if they are going to take a stab at web design, and selling those services. I think as a designer today, its good to know print, web, and digital medias.

According to this book I have been reading called "Jump Point", if businesses are not at least on or in the web or doing web related marketing by 2011, there's a darn good chance they will get left behind - that is NOT to say print is dead, I LOVE print, and I am sure it won't be going anywhere for a long time - but it WILL change. It really is a very very interesting book about the future of the web, technology, and the media industry. Its a great book for anyone interested in web stuff and the future. :) lol sorry this ended up much longer than I expected it to be - done now!

[dots]

I think if you tried to put a popup menu on the left it would look more orgadised.

[chetan]

The resolution of galleries su dull.


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