Art Sciros.Net 2.0

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

It's finally ...semi-complete! Hoooyeah! This is the new version of my website. As you can see there's barely anything on it anymore. But soon a good amount of stuff will be up on it, such as articles, random junk, and other, more random, junk. Anyway, tell me what you think of the new design. Particularly the art gallery section.

--Sciros

[URL=http://www.sciros.net]SCIROS.NET 2.0[/URL]

And feel free to sign the guestbook.

[Brasil]

Looks good so far. You're right; the reviews are useless. I'm interested in what that SSMB Article Link is.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

"The Link" will be an article about Link in SSBM, lol. It's just going to chronicle my playing experience with him and tell everyone how awesome he is, even if he's not the dominant character in the higher realms of competition. It might be a strategy guide with humor or something; I haven't yet decided.

I'm also going to have an article crushing the Matrix trilogy later on, someday. I'm sure you're looking forward to reading it, lol.

What do you think of the color scheme for the site? I initially had it as blue/white/gold trim around essentially black. It was cool, but I grew tired of the design before I was even halfway done, so I figured I'd trash it in favor of a different one.

[Brasil]

SSBM Link, now it makes sense.

Well, if you're going to try to disprove that Agent Smith is Captain Ahab, then I'm certainly going to counter it, because clearly, Ahab and Moby Dick were heavily influential in the characterization of Smith and the Smith subplot. If you can punch holes in The Matrix Trilogy without acidic nitpicking, then I'll give you props.

Regarding the colors, the gold text is fairly difficult to read, especially given the gold background. Either pump up the contrast a bit, or try a blue text. I think you should definitely keep the blue borders and gold background, but the gold text is iffy.

And actually, for the entire site itself, the tone is important. I found with your original site, it felt like a high schooler's ranting, and if you're looking to make points and such, you can't call the reader a moron, or use such sophomoric language/tone. That's just coming from a general writing standpoint.

I think it'd suit you quite well to strip that entire "**** you reader" tone out of the articles/reviews/etc. It's a general need to respect your reader. You can still be humorous, of course, but even comedy needs to be executed correctly, in order to be funny.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[quote name='Siren']Regarding the colors, the gold text is fairly difficult to read, especially given the gold background. Either pump up the contrast a bit, or try a blue text. I think you should definitely keep the blue borders and gold background, but the gold text is iffy.[/quote]
Really? It's gold text on blue background, though. Or purple on peach. That's contrasting enough for me, anyway.

[QUOTE]
And actually, for the entire site itself, the tone is important. I found with your original site, it felt like a high schooler's ranting, and if you're looking to make points and such, you can't call the reader a moron, or use such sophomoric language/tone. That's just coming from a general writing standpoint.

I think it'd suit you quite well to strip that entire "**** you reader" tone out of the articles/reviews/etc. It's a general need to respect your reader. You can still be humorous, of course, but even comedy needs to be executed correctly, in order to be funny.[/QUOTE]
Well, my early site WAS all ranting, lol. I wrote every individual bit of it within a half-hour, or an hour at most. Usually much less. And I didn't really have ANY intended audience. The entire site was really more than anything a test-run. Mostly web-design practice, looking back at it. Its new tone will be much more "modern Sciros speak." Here's a sample:

"Link is so cool that if you pull out a bomb and then some douche launches your *** when you're over 150, the bomb will explode in mid-air and you'll recover to beat his *** into the ground like he deserves. Rawr!"

[Brasil]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']Really? It's gold text on blue background, though. Or purple on peach. That's contrasting enough for me, anyway.[/quote]
No, no, not the smaller text. I'm talking about the logo text. Top left of the main page. The gold text there is incredibly hard to read against a similarly-colored gold background.

[quote]Well, my early site WAS all ranting, lol. I wrote every individual bit of it within a half-hour, or an hour at most. Usually much less. And I didn't really have ANY intended audience. The entire site was really more than anything a test-run. Mostly web-design practice, looking back at it. Its new tone will be much more "modern Sciros speak." Here's a sample:

"Link is so cool that if you pull out a bomb and then some douche launches your *** when you're over 150, the bomb will explode in mid-air and you'll recover to beat his *** into the ground like he deserves. Rawr!"[/QUOTE]
So, this is a sample of what will be seen on 2.0? I'd recommend that you still consider moderate to heavy revision.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Har. ...No I like the upper left stuff. "SCIROS" isn't hard to read, and the rest isn't meant to stand out. I don't want the logo to take too much of the attention away from the rest of the site.

As for the sample text, it was a joke. I'm hoping you realized that and just didn't keep the joke going, lol. You should've said something like "now [i]that's[/i] more like it. High-level writing for the educated visitor. Kudos, Sciros." You should've also suggested I figure out a way to add "ho" into every other sentence. I have considered writing a Perl script to do that once I'm finished with the article, actually.

[Brasil]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']Har. ...No I like the upper left stuff. "SCIROS" isn't hard to read, and the rest isn't meant to stand out. I don't want the logo to take too much of the attention away from the rest of the site.[/quote]If you darken the lettering there, or at least make it a shade of blue, I seriously do not think it will draw attention away from the rest of the site. Granted, it may catch people's eye, but it certainly won't have them staring at it and ignoring the rest of your site.

Q: What have you got to lose by changing it and seeing how it looks?

A: Nothing except your pride.

[quote]As for the sample text, it was a joke. I'm hoping you realized that and just didn't keep the joke going, lol. You should've said something like "now [i]that's[/i] more like it. High-level writing for the educated visitor. Kudos, Sciros." You should've also suggested I figure out a way to add "ho" into every other sentence. I have considered writing a Perl script to do that once I'm finished with the article, actually.[/QUOTE]I don't joke around. I'm sorry if you're hurt that your attempt at humor failed because I didn't care about it, that I was more concerned with something sounding mature and intelligent and still humorous, instead of something that sounded half-assed and written by a 5-year-old.

But hey, if you'd like me to treat you like a kid and say, "OMG Good job!!! You are so special," I can do that.

"OMG Good job!!! You are so special!!!"

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Don't turn this thread about the debut of my new site into one of the BS-fests you enjoy so much.
[QUOTE=Siren]
Q: What have you got to lose by changing it and seeing how it looks?
A: Nothing except your pride.[/QUOTE]
I HAVE tried bluish and/or darkened text there before, and I didn't like it. At this point I'm happy with that portion of the layout, and changing it would be a waste of my time, nothing more. My pride has nothing to do with it. BUT! I appreciate your suggestion. Is there anything else you would like to comment on?

[QUOTE]I don't joke around. I'm sorry if you're hurt that your attempt at humor failed because I didn't care about it, that I was more concerned with something sounding mature and intelligent and still humorous, instead of something that sounded half-assed and written by a 5-year-old.[/QUOTE]
Maybe you're trying to cover up after missing that I was joking around. I don't know. But trying to act all high and mighty about this, saying that you "don't joke around" when it comes to this, well, it's just sad. Loosen up, have a lollipop. Sciros.net is not here to act as a first line of defense against biological threats. BUT! Again, I appreciate your suggestion. I am planning, believe it or not, on having higher-quality writing on my site than what was there before.

[QUOTE]"OMG Good job!!! You are so special!!!"[/QUOTE]
See, now you're learning.

[Syk3]

*looks around* Alright, I don't want this to get into another argument between you two like we've seen in other forums. Stick to critiquing the art. I'll let this thread in general continue as far as advertising websites goes, as long as people are commenting on the art of the site.

[Brasil]

[quote name='ScirosDarkblade']Don't turn this thread about the debut of my new site into one of the BS-fests you enjoy so much.[/quote]
"BS-fest?" Would you care to elaborate? Perhaps cite specific excerpts that directly relate to your assessment of our past being "BS-fests?" Or, perhaps you're trying to get a rise out of me? Regardless of your motivations, of which I do not care at all, I say this:

"Do you really believe that there's some stored up conflict that exists between us? There is no 'us.' We don't exist."

[QUOTE]I HAVE tried bluish and/or darkened text there before, and I didn't like it. At this point I'm happy with that portion of the layout, and changing it would be a waste of my time, nothing more. My pride has nothing to do with it. BUT! I appreciate your suggestion. Is there anything else you would like to comment on?[/QUOTE]
I recall a friend commenting on website design, and how a webmaster designs for two people: himself and his audience. At this point, I think you are only possessing half of that balance. When you fully launch, some people may like the gold-on-gold, but some may suggest a darker color. You do have a guestbook; they very well may sign it with that comment. When that time comes, are you then going to at least try to achieve a balance between the positive (that you accept) and the negative (that you disregard)?

[QUOTE]Maybe you're trying to cover up after missing that I was joking around. I don't know. But trying to act all high and mighty about this, saying that you "don't joke around" when it comes to this, well, it's just sad. Loosen up, have a lollipop. Sciros.net is not here to act as a first line of defense against biological threats. BUT! Again, I appreciate your suggestion. I am planning, believe it or not, on having higher-quality writing on my site than what was there before.[/QUOTE]
What am I covering up? How am I being all "high and mighty?" I'm not sure what's giving you that impression here, but I'm not playing the straight man at all. I honestly just didn't find you funny at all, even though I did see you were trying so hard to be funny. I don't see what the big deal is about it, quite honestly, if there is a deal at all, of any size. Consider the following:

1) You asked for feedback concerning your website.
2) There is writing and/or there will be writing on your website.
3) I am studying to be an English teacher.
4) I critique writing.
5) Because I am studying to be an English teacher, I take it rather seriously, and certainly do not treat giving criticism as a joke, regardless of the tone of the writing being reviewed.

I'm simply being very direct here. Consider it cold, uptight, prudish, even, if you will, but you should realize that writing is not all fun and games, regardless of the medium.

[quote]See, now you're learning.[/QUOTE]
I was simply telling you what you wanted to hear. Don't read into it more than that.

[James]

[color=#707875]Siren, please don't ignore Moderator requests.

Anyway, in regard to the design...I don't mind it. The colours are very Oprah though. But nevertheless, I think the actual design achieves its goal pretty well.

I like the fact that the site is using Flash but that it isn't [i]too[/i] Flash-heavy. The only thing I'd suggest is to increase the celpadding a bit. Your text is too close to the edges of the text areas that it sits within.

But yeah, it looks like it's coming along quite well.[/color]

[Semjaza]

[quote name='Siren']I recall a friend commenting on website design, and how a webmaster designs for two people: himself and his audience. At this point, I think you are only possessing half of that balance. When you fully launch, some people may like the gold-on-gold, but some may suggest a darker color. You do have a guestbook; they very well may sign it with that comment. When that time comes, are you then going to at least try to achieve a balance between the positive (that you accept) and the negative (that you disregard)?[/quote]

I think the most obvious answer to this is "You can't please everybody."

Regardless of what you or I think of the web design, there's no one view of it that will be absolutely correct. Do the colors work okay together? Yes, they do. Do you personally like them? I'd say no. Does that make them wrong? Not really.

If it's what he wants to do and it's not outright blinding, I figure that's plenty. If I listened to every little thing people told me to do to my sites, I'd quite honestly hate every single one of them. It's happened before.

[James]

[QUOTE=Semjaza Azazel]

If it's what he wants to do and it's not outright blinding, I figure that's plenty. If I listened to every little thing people told me to do to my sites, I'd quite honestly hate every single one of them. It's happened before.[/QUOTE]

[color=#707875]That's very true. It also depends what kind of site you're making.

If you are making a site that is personal, then really, you should do whatever you want. But if you're making something designed to provide a service to people, it's probably a good idea to be more sensitive to general design principles.

But having said that, it's very true that you can't please everyone. When OB7 launched, quite a few people said that they outright hated it (though most of those ended up getting used to it, as I figured they would). But some were simply content to rudely say "I hate it and I'm never coming back".

So yeah, as you do more and more design on the web, you do come to realize that you can only ever hope to please the majority -- but not everybody.

I think my main concern with these sites is just to ensure that visitors can locate things and find their way around. But Sciros's site has definitely satisfied that aspect, I would say.[/color]

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial]I don't like how in the 'ScirosArt' popup bit its impossible to know what I'm looking at until I've click one of the little blue buttons, and even then I have to click again to bring up the image proper. Maybe if you had the picture info appear on hover of the buttons, instead of on click, it would be better. You might want to put a title on the window it appears in too. :-p

I'm also having trouble firguring out why there is a seemingly randomly placed line in the... 'header image', if you will. Is the blank area it is portioning off eventually going to become something, or is it just for aesthetics? Also, a way to navigate around when in sections (like, from Gallery to CoolStuff, for example) would be good, because at present you have it so people have to press back just to get to the menu...

Otherwise, apart from the very... pastel? (I can't find a word for it) colouring, I like it.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

I haven't fixed much (added cell padding, etc.), but an article is finished and the Links section is finally up. I haven't done much to improve Gallery navigation, but I've added some instructions. The way ScirosArt is done, having text appear on hover rather than press is difficult because I didn't make a movieClip load stuff into it; I just kept changing frames (killer design, lol).

Anyway, I'll see what I can do about navigation, although jumping from Gallery to Cool Stuff won't work because Cool Stuff will just be button links to a whole bunch of random sub-pages I put together (and I haven't decided what they'll all be yet, even).

[S9per]

Sheesh. You people are crazy.

Although looking at it for a bit does make me realize that the gold is a bit hard on the eyes. Like...it's not really hard to read or anything as long as you're going around reading the links and stuff and the text boxes, but when you try to look at it as a whole it seems kinda weird. Like...it's not too bright hard on the eyes...I think it's just a crappy color hard on the eyes...but it's not really a big deal that much. I like the color scheme honestly, but it's just...well, a little odd.

Oh, and also, the only thing that really bugs me...and I think this may be more irritating on the eyes than anything else, is that it's not centered on the page, which makes it seem really annoying, and I always feel like I just want to take the corners and drag it out to make it big, but I can't... It feels kind of annoying looking at it that way.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[QUOTE=AnujSuper9]Sheesh. You people are crazy.

Although looking at it for a bit does make me realize that the gold is a bit hard on the eyes. Like...it's not really hard to read or anything as long as you're going around reading the links and stuff and the text boxes, but when you try to look at it as a whole it seems kinda weird. Like...it's not too bright hard on the eyes...I think it's just a crappy color hard on the eyes...but it's not really a big deal that much. I like the color scheme honestly, but it's just...well, a little odd.

Oh, and also, the only thing that really bugs me...and I think this may be more irritating on the eyes than anything else, is that it's not centered on the page, which makes it seem really annoying, and I always feel like I just want to take the corners and drag it out to make it big, but I can't... It feels kind of annoying looking at it that way.[/QUOTE]

I like the gold "SCIROS" text, heh. I'm keeping it that way. I tried a bazillion color combinations before I ended up with this one, which was/is my favorite of them. Changing the gold to blue/purple didn't work, and neither did a whole slew of other color tweaks. I mostly wanted to go for something that I wouldn't be tired of too quickly.

Oh, and yeah, the page isn't centered. It's aligned to the top. But that's how I want it, heh. It doesn't annoy me in the least. If you like you can always make your browser window smaller so the flash is in the exact middle...

[S9per]

[QUOTE=ScirosDarkblade]I like the gold "SCIROS" text, heh. I'm keeping it that way. I tried a bazillion color combinations before I ended up with this one, which was/is my favorite of them. Changing the gold to blue/purple didn't work, and neither did a whole slew of other color tweaks. I mostly wanted to go for something that I wouldn't be tired of too quickly.

Oh, and yeah, the page isn't centered. It's aligned to the top. But that's how I want it, heh. It doesn't annoy me in the least. If you like you can always make your browser window smaller so the flash is in the exact middle...[/QUOTE]

I do like the gold "SCIROS" also. It looks really cool.

But the whole browser thing....come on, who the hell is gonna do that. And that would be equally irritating. It's like confining your eyes more, and you know it. Like, when you look at a window, your eyes confine to the size of the window to look at it...which is why small windows, are extremely annoying to read.
This is like having a small window that you have room to extend, and want to extend, but can't. It's just irking...it's not a design flaw or anything, it's just...irking.

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

[QUOTE=AnujSuper9]I do like the gold "SCIROS" also. It looks really cool.

But the whole browser thing....come on, who the hell is gonna do that. And that would be equally irritating. It's like confining your eyes more, and you know it. Like, when you look at a window, your eyes confine to the size of the window to look at it...which is why small windows, are extremely annoying to read.
This is like having a small window that you have room to extend, and want to extend, but can't. It's just irking...it's not a design flaw or anything, it's just...irking.[/QUOTE]

I don't mind small browser windows. You know, I almost NEVER maximize my browser. As for the placement, I based it off other sites I like. I prefer when the content is closer to the top of the browser page (like Homestar Runner). But I couldn't make it big and take up a full size window because some people run their comps in lower resolutions (and I suppose I could've made it detect resolutions and adjust to them, but that's bothersome).
And "dead center" in the browser window... I tried that initially, actually. It bothered [i]me[/i] aesthetically, heh.

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]I like this. it is...smooth. In regard to the colours, I like them. Theyb are unique and give your site a...creamier feel if you will. It comes off as something a bit more refined than normal- which is good. One thing though: You only use that metallic gold sheened colour on your Hub. I love it, and suggest that you spread it around a bit more...it'll also help tie in each individual section.

Also, in regards to your art centre, I'd suggest something a bit...cooler. When you click on the bubble that is. For example, the thumbnail growing out to a full sized image [blotting out the rest of the page] would be much cooler. IMO, anyway. I don't like how the completely new [and un-tied in] page pops up with the picture on it. Not so cool there.

Same thing with the links to articles. Rather than a new one, I'd like some kind of expanding thing over the main page.

But these are just my suggestions.[/size]

[Guest ScirosDarkblade]

Those are good suggestions about the pop-up pages. Yes, it'd be better if I didn't have them popup as separate html documents but rather just open up in the main window somehow. The difficulty with this is that it makes customizing/redesigning/expanding the site extremely bothersome. It's not a problem if you have lots of time to dedicate to that sort of thing, but otherwise it's seriously a total b*tch. Also, the way I have the "hub" set up right now, it would take some serious trial-and-error to figure out just how to get the "hub" itself to react to buttons pressed way down in the flash files' hierarchy properly.
Basically what you said is doable, but it would require a very substantial overhaul again. So I'm going to leave it as-is until I can come up with a "quick fix" solution of some sort.
As for the full-size image popping up the way it does, honestly I [i]prefer[/i] it this way. There's a million different ways I could've done it, but looking at sites like Gateway to the Goddesses and their art section, I realized I like it when full-size pics pop up in a separate browser window. Especially being as large as they are. I mean, some of my pics don't even fit on the screen. I don't see what point there would be to try to squeeze them into the small window my "ScirosArt" is in.

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Fair enough. I mean, the extra effort is unnecessary for what is already a good site.

With the art though, if you were going to do the pop-up thing, then it would be worth your while to do that. I mean, if it is too big for a screen, then just have the scroll bars appearing too. Sorry for my lack of technical know how, but that's just what I think. I don't know the limitations, though I imagine something like that could be done, it'd just be difficult.[/size]