Flash Site Design - Site Check

Author

Site Check

kathycmiller

2005-05-17, 7:24 pm

I would like some feedback on this site (link below). I have tested with
Netscape and IE but that is all I have available. My client assumes that most
of her clients (wholesalers) will not have a dialup line and the site was
designed with that in mind. Thanks in advance for your 2 cents. I am
currently working on the Pebbles page, so you can ignore that area if you want.

Site Link:
http://www.kathycmiller.com/stix/

droopy.ro

2005-05-18, 7:30 pm

ok, well, it work just fine for the costumers.. i think.. as a designer.. i may
sugest to chnge the menu.. because is not very nice.. and also add something on
the background on the green part(left).. because it looks empty.. so i don't
know.. you can add some graphics.. and decrease the alpha so it will not be
seen very well.

kathycmiller

2005-05-18, 7:30 pm

Any chance there are other commenters out there (especially regarding loading/ browsers...)

Thanks

Boerboel649

2005-05-18, 11:21 pm

From what i saw it looks like you put the swf. in an html file. I'd reccomend that you make th page color of the HTML part black also. I just think it'd look better.

Michelle B

2005-05-20, 4:18 am

I agree with the last response, a black background might look better, or you
could adjust the layout so that the movie sits in the middle of the HTML page
vertically as well as horizontally. Nice photos!

merlinvicki

2005-05-20, 4:18 am

the swf seems to have a slow framerate. the movements are a bit jagged. The
site needs more brightness even in the dark colours u r basing ur theme on.
The menu also needs some development.
I checked on Mozilla. No bugs.
keep it up.
:)

IcklePickle

2005-05-20, 8:09 am

Hi i think i disagree with most of the response given so far. I have a
broadband connection. The site only took a coupld of seconds to load in ie. I
really like it. Love the way it hangs from the top of the page i think it
relates well to the theme of the site. i dont think you should have a dark
background to your html page since i think this will smother the swf. if youre
going to have a background i think it should be light grey maybe.

I think the menu works really well because its simple and clear, i dont think
you need anything in the background because i think it will make it look to
busy and draw your attention away from the products you clients are selling.
maybe just make the menu a little smaller (thinner) push it to the left a
little so the image of the products takes more of the space.

The only other thing i would say is, i really like the music at the beginning,
but when you click away to another page the music stops. Maybe you could have
the intro a bit longer or the music a bit shorter to fade at when the menu
appears, or try and get it to carry on even if the user clicks away to a
different page.

apart from that i really liked it.
I am just giving my opinion, i am not a web designer, but a web developer. but
i know what works well and what doesnt through experience.
x

kathycmiller

2005-05-20, 7:26 pm

Thanks for all your info. I see many people have different design preferences, that is good. I have a few changes I will make initiated by this forum. Thanks again.

StargrrlGrafx

2005-05-20, 7:26 pm

I like think the site is just beautiful, the music was a great choice too. I'd
like to see the backgound color of the page black and have the number menu be
smaller, the actual numbers I mean. I was wondering how you are loading your
slide show photos? Dynamically or are the part of the .swf? The load instantly
for me on a dial up and I don't recall seeing any preload sequence when I
first arrived.

Amelia

kathycmiller

2005-05-20, 7:26 pm

Thanks for the compliment. I have one .swf file for pebbles and one for stix.
Each loads the first image, alpha fade in for 10 frames. I stop action at that
point. The viewer is looking at the first image and the remaider is loading in
the background. The images are relatively small in size and usually, by the
time the viewer is ready to click next or the next number the next 10 frames
have loaded. There will be a slowdown if someone opens up the page and clicks
immediately to image #10, however, ususally the ones that will do that are
people who have already seen the site and want to look at a particular piece.

Initially I tried to break things down into individual .swf files, but it
wasn't giving me the effect I needed.

Let me know if I didn't answer your question

Kathy