Another question for all you really super people.

My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.

IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has a
professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.

I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old one
a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and critiquing
it so I can convince him to tone it down? http://www.circleeranch.com/

Thanks in advance!

The site is not bad at all. It has the look and feel of what the subject
matter is, and the image content is pretty well optimized.

You don't need to convince your ex-employer of anything. It is *his* web
site, after all. If there were performance issues, or issues with browser
compatibility, or the type of content which would drive away the target
audience, he might need to change his mind. But it looks to me like it just
doesn't suit your personal taste, and that is a purely subjective standard.
When it's purely a matter of personal taste, the customer is always right.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Professional Numbskull

Show me your certification without works,
and I'll show my certification
*by* my works.

"Beckwheat" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F7FDD7CC-0A03-4C17-BDE2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Another question for all you really super people.
>
> My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
> site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.
>
> IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
> pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has
> a
> professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.
>
> I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old
> one
> a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and
> critiquing
> it so I can convince him to tone it down?
> http://www.circleeranch.com/
>
> Thanks in advance!

Beckwheat:

Personally, I like the site. The layout seems to fit the theme of the
ranch.
--
Tom [Pepper] Willett
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage
FrontPage Support: http://www.frontpagemvps.com/
----------
"Beckwheat" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F7FDD7CC-0A03-4C17-BDE2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Another question for all you really super people.
>
> My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
> site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.
>
> IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
> pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has
> a
> professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.
>
> I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old
> one
> a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and
> critiquing
> it so I can convince him to tone it down?
> http://www.circleeranch.com/
>
> Thanks in advance!

Sorry, I don't agree with Kevin and Tom... it's absolutely ghastly...
blinking text, default blue links, terrible background on the left side,
page background, beveled photos ... aargh! But you probably won't convince
the owner of the site. I wouldn't want to touch it.
Eleanor
"Beckwheat" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F7FDD7CC-0A03-4C17-BDE2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Another question for all you really super people.
>
> My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
> site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.
>
> IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
> pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has
> a
> professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.
>
> I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old
> one
> a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and
> critiquing
> it so I can convince him to tone it down?
> http://www.circleeranch.com/
>
> Thanks in advance!

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:27:05 -0800, Beckwheat
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
>site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.

I can't help wondering what became of him!

>IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
>pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has a
>professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.

No, you're not wrong...

>I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old one
>a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and critiquing
>it so I can convince him to tone it down? http://www.circleeranch.com/

It looks like a site aimed at the kind of people who like to hunt
animals. Personally I'd rather see something a little less messy,
fussy, cluttered and garish. I'd do away with the flashing text and
that out-of-place big blue link.

Most of all, though, I'd constrain the width of the content and centre
it on the screen. If you view the site on a 1280 x 1024 display, that
huge textured vertical thing appears twice; once on the left and again
on the right. Also on the right, another set of antlers appears. If
they weren't there, it might look a little less of a dog's breakfast.

fido

Opinion of a non-expert -- from a practical point-of-view. I can't read the
phone number at the top right.

"Beckwheat" wrote:

> Another question for all you really super people.
>
> My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
> site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.
>
> IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
> pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has a
> professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.
>
> I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old one
> a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and critiquing
> it so I can convince him to tone it down? http://www.circleeranch.com/
>
> Thanks in advance!

I see several problems overall with the site - the most glaring to me though
is that at 1280 x 1024 the background repeats in a very ugly fashion.

The theme itself is not that bad, but the implementation is not all that
good. Seen a lot worse, but seen a lot better also. Also I noticed that no
DOCTYPE is specified - not a big deal with straight HTML but with any CSS
that can drive some browsers into quirks mode and do funny things.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Beckwheat" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F7FDD7CC-0A03-4C17-BDE2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Another question for all you really super people.
>
> My ex-employer hired me to add a few photos to his web site. His previous
> site designer/administrator isn't around anymore.
>
> IMHO the site looked like someone ate a bunch of M&M's and threw up on the
> pages. Too many colors, too many textures, just a mess (the designer has
> a
> professional web design company). Maybe I'm wrong about this.
>
> I am re-doing the site, toning it down, etc but the owner likes the old
> one
> a lot. Would someone here mind taking a look at the old site and
> critiquing
> it so I can convince him to tone it down?
> http://www.circleeranch.com/
>
> Thanks in advance!

Pardon my manners! (anti-spyware caused crash and I couldn't use my
computer).

Thank you all so very much for your constructive input!!

Becky