Gladstone Websites

After spending what seems years on building my first tableless xhtml1 strict site I've finally got there (almost anyway) so here it is.

I know there is a slight problem with the h4 titles when viewed in Firefox. I think I need to put another css rule in place to move the h4 titles further to the right and it would need to be ignored by Internet Explorer.

But besides that, please let me know what you think of it.

Thanks in advance,

Gary

__________________
Gary
Gladstone Websites

Disclaimer: You are promoting yourself as a professional web designer and therefore will be held to a higher standard.

The good:

- You header is very nice with the name of your company in that rounded corner thingy.
- You're not using tables ... I'll give you that.

The bad:

I am not a bid fan of this design at all. It looks very amateurish.

- Those menu button are just too glassy lookin'. They look like they were done back in the 90s

- Why is there 2 menus!?

- Where are you portfolio examples on that first page! I was to see right away how good you are at what you do

- What the heck is VAT!??! And what does it have to do with web design?

- Loose the W3C buttons ... your clients won't care of know what that is.

The code

- No indentations at all.

- div's for each menu item? No ... you should be using a unordered list

Stands for Value Added Tax

Similar to Canada's GST and PST except it is added before the checkout .
However what he is saying is No ADDED VAT... that has to mean that he is either paying the customer's VAT out of his own pocket or he is INCLUDING IT in the stated price. The latter being the wisest option.

OK, the site:

Well done for getting it all nice and Valid. That counts for quite a lot. Design wise however, I think it's seriously lacking. It looks way out-dated and the 2 menus thing.... why? I'm not keen on the colour either but that's personal opinion.

I pretty much agree with karinne.... the day shal live in infamy.

Thanks for that Dan. Is this a big deal in the uk? I mean ... I have NEVER seen this on web design company sites before.

So ... I'll add to my previous post

- Loose the VAT image ...

Yeah, it's a big deal... it's 17.5% so if he's paying it for the customer it'll be a nice little amount.

I agree. Make it clear to the customer what you actually mean but for the love of god remove that nasty "glass" VAT image.

Ah well ... if it's important then yes ... it should be on there just ... maybe not as big and glossy!

I also agree with the others, the design is a little amateurish for a Web designer. Another thing is why do you call the second menu 'Sub Menu' when it has the same links as the Main menu? In my eyes, a Sub Menu is for pages related to the page that the person clicked to get onto via the Main Menu.. (hope the latter makes sense to you!!)

__________________
Marc
Staff Manager - Webforumz.com

Want to be a moderator? PM me.

Ouch!!!
Ok, thanks for all your replies, I will be losing the left menu and enlarging the navigation so it fills the width of the banner. The colours I may change to a pastel look.

Thanks again for your comments,

__________________
Gary
Gladstone Websites

I've made a few changes to my site if anyone would like to comment on them.
More changes still to come!!!

Gary

__________________
Gary
Gladstone Websites

I don't see anything different.

I see that the navigation colour has changed and it looks better...

__________________
Marc
Staff Manager - Webforumz.com

Want to be a moderator? PM me.

Sorry I should have mentioned the changes I made.

I've expanded the top nav to the full width of the banner and also changed the colour of the buttons.
I have also removed the header backgrounds.
Most of the content text is now justified rather than left aligned, plus I've enlarged the left and right margins of the centre content.

__________________
Gary
Gladstone Websites

Still ... I don't notice anything different ... but ... since you "say" you made some change then .. here's my review


Disclaimer: You are promoting yourself as a professional web designer and therefore will be held to a higher standard.

The good:

- You header is very nice with the name of your company in that rounded corner thingy.
- You're not using tables ... I'll give you that.

The bad:

I am not a bid fan of this design at all. It looks very amateurish.

- Those menu button are just too glassy lookin'. They look like they were done back in the 90s

- Why is there 2 menus!?

- Where are you portfolio examples on that first page! I was to see right away how good you are at what you do

- What the heck is VAT!??! And what does it have to do with web design? I know now what it is thanks to Dan (minute44).

- The VAT image could look better ... it sticks out like a sore thumb out there.

- Loose the W3C buttons ... your clients won't care of know what that is.

The code

- No indentations at all.

- div's for each menu item? No ... you should be using a unordered list

Yes ... it's the same except for one item ...

I've now changed the top nav to an unordered list, got rid of the vat image, sorted out the left links and slightly changed the menu buttons.

I realise that I still need to sort out the indentations.

As for being an "amateurish" design, the amount of enquiries that i receive has grown since changing my site!

Thanks again for all coments.

Gary

__________________
Gary
Gladstone Websites