Looking for feedback

[RookerDesigns]

Hello all...

I am looking for feedback on my Online Portfolio.. This is a Work in Progress... I have tons of text to add...

The only buttons that do not work are Hire Me, Digital Art, and Website Design....

Please take a look, and let me know if you think of anything you might think improve it.. Or see any errors..

Or if you like the way it is.. Just let me know... Thanks..

http://www.skin-n-inktattoo.com/rookerdesigns2.html





And this is my current site that I am replacing...
www.rookerdesigns.com


I hope my new one is better in everyway.. Let me know.. Thanks

[rein2007]

Nice website rooker :-)

[Kernie]

Nice site update, rooker!! It's a clean, simple design that really shows off your great portfolio!

I love the videos of you making your covers. It provides an awesome insight into your process and really makes me appreciate your great artwork even more!

Here are my comments, though...

1) There's an awful lot of buttons along the top. Could you maybe combine some of them and have sub-buttons to break it down further? For example, why not make a "Movie Artwork" button that, when clicked, pops up a sublist underneath for "Pro Movie Covers," "Pro Movie Posters," and "Personal Movie Covers?" Maybe even "My Artwork" and "My Videos" could be filed under a "My Stuff" or something type of button? Just to cut down on the clutter at the top of the screen...

2) I don't care for how the thumbnails are on the left and right of the screen. Why not move them all to the left (maybe a third column) or have some sort of "scroll down" capability when there are too many covers to fit on the screen? I almost missed some of the covers on the right because they were separated from the rest of the pack, and I'd certainly hate to see visitors miss out on some of the great stuff over there!

3) Will "Home" always go back to a blank screen? Could you use the home page as a "Featured Artwork" type of page, showing some of your best examples of covers, artwork, posters, etc? You might still be working on the Home page, though. I realize the site's still a WIP...

4) Is there anyway to compress the file sizes to reduce load times? I know next to nothing about Flash (it's the one program I never bothered or cared to learn), so I'm not sure about this. I just know that the longer your site takes to load in our increasingly ADHD world, the more likely visitors are to get bored and leave. The new site's definitely faster than your old one (the old took about a minute to load), and I stuck with it because I really wanted to see your site, but casual viewers might not be so forgiving.

I actually didn't mind your old site, there are some improvements with the new one, but I think they are both a great showcase for your incredible, and varied, types of artwork. Can't wait to see the finished product! I hope it gets you some new work!!

[RookerDesigns]

Thanks Kernie.. Great advice.. I thought there were too many buttons too... I will do as you suggest...

You were also correct.. The home page isnt done yet.. Havent decided what to do with it.. What you suggest it a good idea too...

About the loading time.. The first site I made was a 26mb file.. Just 1 file.. Took forever to load...
And my second website was 10 mb file.. Well you said took you 1 minute to load...
This new one is 4 files.. The main file is 2mb. And my largest file is my personal dvd collection.. It's 4mb file..

I am new to Flash, and I know a lot about it. But For now, this is all I could do for load time....

[Bunny Dojo]

QUOTE (kernie82 @ Nov 25 2010, 09:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

4) Is there anyway to compress the file sizes to reduce load times? I know next to nothing about Flash (it's the one program I never bothered or cared to learn), so I'm not sure about this. I just know that the longer your site takes to load in our increasingly ADHD world, the more likely visitors are to get bored and leave. The new site's definitely faster than your old one (the old took about a minute to load), and I stuck with it because I really wanted to see your site, but casual viewers might not be so forgiving.

I actually didn't mind your old site, there are some improvements with the new one, but I think they are both a great showcase for your incredible, and varied, types of artwork. Can't wait to see the finished product! I hope it gets you some new work!!

I'm in agreement with this part of Kernie's post in particular.

Assuming the preview files themselves are .jpg files you've embedded in the Flash, I'd suggest re-saving them at a quality of 9 or 10 instead of 12, if you haven't done so already. That could potentially cut your load time in half without losing too much quality. Or, if it's loading the full-size image twice for both the thumbnail and the large version, you might want to go for creating some separate thumbnails specifically for the small size.

Congratulations again on the projects so far, and good luck with finding more new clients thanks to the spiffy new site!