?? Beginning stages?

C'mon. Calling this a 'stage' is like calling my singing in the shower an operatic rehearsal.

What are you really asking for here?

I guess what you think about the layout, color scheme, concept.

I think the top right buttons (delicious etc) are too invasive. I'd drop the white background.. IMO it looks there's something missing there. I don't like the "mood" in the top left. The disorted typo is so anxious. Is there a tiny black shadow? Also I don't like the blue / gray combination. I'd either use a darker blue or a lighter gray. Sorry if this sounds harsh. It certainly isn't terrible, but I don't really like it either

what do you mean by the distorted typo? and there is an inner shadow in the mood

actually now that you ask me, I'm no longer sure why I saw that. Maybe because the m looks somewhat bigger than the d.. sort of. I don't know. Maybe you should ignore that part.. edit: OK I think I exaggerated, when I said that, but I feel that the distance between the m and the (first) o is too big.

I think you need another social networking button... you don't have enough of them!

You want a critique? Fine.

1. Move all those social network buttons to your about page. Its ballsy to think anyone is going to want to follow you as a company or an individual prior to reading about who you are. Your about page should have reasons why following you on networks will benefit them. I'm sure your images are interesting to you, but why should I care?

2. Can I use any of these things on my site? Where is the licensing information? Creative Commons? What software do I need to use to do a tutorial?

3. A mailing list? Yeah right. You're lucky if I follow you on a social network. Give me some incentive.

4. I want some RSS.

5. The type for "in blue" is almost the same size as the navigation. The logo needs to stand out as a logo and no look like its part of the nav.

6. You're going to have a lot of images and tutorials? How about a slideshow that shows the latest?

7. The disclaimer is in a very weird spot? How about moving that to the actual photo pages. If you want someone to notice it first, do a splash page.

Why is it that when i click the mood in blue logo in the top right, it moves off my screen a bit?

I dont think it like to be touched

And you will have copyright releases for all of this 'gathered' stuff, right?

some of these points are very valid.

The pictures are going to be samples that can be purchased from their respective sites if a user wants to use them.

the social buttons are going to be on every page and post.

My final goal is to have this site be like a place where designers can submit tutorials, tips, articles, images (like deviantart), photoshop and similar actions and plugins that are free, as well as pull similar items from other sites around the web. all pieces will be credited and linked to respective sites/authors.

so think of the adobe echange to some exent, articlebase, deviantart/flickr for designers, and the other tutorial websites around all rolled into one.