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combustible

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
18
0
australia
Check it out. I am chuffed with the result, considering i have never made any websites before, and thought it was just a big scarey mystery. Painful making it the way i wanted, and also dealing with the .png handling of iweb.
Criticisms and comments and all that stuff eagerly requested.

http://www.combustible.com.au
 

dejo

Moderator emeritus
Sep 2, 2004
15,982
452
The Centennial State
Do folio websites usually feature "mystery meat" navigation? I'd suggest some kind of indication where those dots are gonna take you would be in order. Looks nice and very un-iWeb-ish though...
 

belair

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2004
342
5
Luxland
how?

How did you do this with iweb?
I was dabbling about in iweb yesterday and tried to do a site with it and at the same time tried to avoid its "iwebishness". I did not succeed, but you more than did. Again how?
By the way I like your work. Nice illustrations and nice designs over all. Always nice to see a designer who does illustration and layout (just my 2 cents).

Keep up the good work.
 

20rogersc

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2005
1,144
0
Brighton, UK
Love the way you've managed to get out of the iWeb 'box'. However I am not convinced on the navigation, it looks great, however it is a bit confusing, more of a ip-dip-do selction method. Apart from that, love it.

::20ROGERSC::
 

ATD

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2005
745
0
Very nice work but a little too hidden. I went to your site last night and thought there was something wrong with my browser, so I skipped it. Your work is good, don't hide it so much. ;)
 

giganten

macrumors 6502a
Jan 23, 2006
602
0
ATD said:
Very nice work but a little too hidden. I went to your site last night and thought there was something wrong with my browser, so I skipped it. Your work is good, don't hide it so much. ;)

Did that too.

Good work.
 

combustible

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
18
0
australia
Alright. Thanks for all the comments and compliments. I've reworked the navigation to provide a bit of info. Not too much though. I like the minimalism just too much.
Thanks again, and keep up the critiques.

belair said:
How did you do this with iweb?
I was dabbling about in iweb yesterday and tried to do a site with it and at the same time tried to avoid its "iwebishness". I did not succeed, but you more than did. Again how?

belair - with iWeb it is a matter of stripping all the apple from every single page, over and over again. Remove everything from a template, resize the page, remove navigation menu, set a new browser background. From there, you can do a lot of basic stuff. As long as you have patience for a lot of copying and pasting. Just make sure you work out the site in it's entirety first, as it seems you can't have a customised universal navigation menu, so you'll have to copy and paste it all individually.

http://www.combustible.com.au
 

zim

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2002
1,332
0
combustible said:
with iWeb it is a matter of stripping all the apple from every single page, over and over again. Remove everything from a template, resize the page, remove navigation menu, set a new browser background. From there, you can do a lot of basic stuff. As long as you have patience for a lot of copying and pasting. Just make sure you work out the site in it's entirety first, as it seems you can't have a customised universal navigation menu, so you'll have to copy and paste it all individually.

is it required that you go through that process again upon updating?
 

p0intblank

macrumors 68030
Sep 20, 2005
2,548
2
New Jersey
That was made with iWeb? :eek: Excellent use of its tools! As for criticism, I have to agree with the others. Navigation can be a little confusing. You should have the name of the portfolio appear as your rollover the dots. That would make navigation much easier and quicker for the user.

Keep up the great work!
 

combustible

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
18
0
australia
zim said:
is it required that you go through that process again upon updating?

it's just that if you create a new page that you want a nav-button for, you'll have to copy and paste that button into all pages where you want it to appear.
That's why i have several unfinished areas on the site, so i don't have to change the buttons on every... single... page... yet again when i want to add a new one.

p0intblank - i only wish i could do rollovers in iweb. that would be the perfect solution. but i don't think you can. i can't find out how.

http://www.combustible.com.au
 

gammamonk

macrumors 6502a
Jun 4, 2004
666
105
Madison, WI
I had a hard time reading the menus on my powerbook. But the design is quite original. I hate cookie-cutter websites. These days everything looks the same.

A little tweaking of the color, and it will be very nice. I wonder if there is a way to improve loading time? Watching all those link graphics appear is a little distracting.
 

chaosbunny

macrumors 68020
Nice site, plus very nice content! I just had to download some of your desktops! :)

I don't know if there is a way in iweb to make the logo and navigation sticky, so these elements do not have to reload every time you switch content. Would improve look and speed.

But that is the only point I can come up with, I was really impressed, and I'm someone who is not easily impressed.
 

the_ki

macrumors newbie
Mar 19, 2003
20
0
Chicago, IL
Very sharp work

Your work looks great fantastic. Very fresh and contemporary.

I, too, agree with the criticisms of the navigation. I would prefer some text or rollovers. But you're a designer, and I sympathize.

However, here's where the navigation REALLY breaks down from a usability standpoint: If you want me to remember that the bright blue dot is the illustration section, fine, but it should be the ONLY bright blue dot on the page. When I'm in the design section, I see TWO bright blue dots on the screen, and there is very little visual differentiation between the primary navigation and the secondary navigation.

You already have a solution, though: In Other Stuff, the secondary navigation is all done in gray dots, shades of the main navigation, thus color-coding a section. Perhaps this same treatment is utilized in the other sections -- shades of blue for illustration, shades of green for design, etc. This would help reinforce for the user what section s/he is in.

Furthermore...

I would also like to see some details of your work. The annual report in the design section, for example, is beautiful, but perhaps a close up of a page so I can see what you did with the type would help me really get an idea of what you did with the piece, not to mention demonstrate your attention to detail to potential clients/employers.

Finally, the captions (client, project) are often below the scroll on my 1280 x 1024 screen. I would bring them up so that they aren't off the screen.

Really, this is beautiful work. Just some tweaks and attention to usability and on-screen delivery, and you've got yourself a website that's even more kick-ass than it already is.
 

p0intblank

macrumors 68030
Sep 20, 2005
2,548
2
New Jersey
combustible said:
it's just that if you create a new page that you want a nav-button for, you'll have to copy and paste that button into all pages where you want it to appear.
That's why i have several unfinished areas on the site, so i don't have to change the buttons on every... single... page... yet again when i want to add a new one.

p0intblank - i only wish i could do rollovers in iweb. that would be the perfect solution. but i don't think you can. i can't find out how.

http://www.combustible.com.au

No rollover option? :eek: Hmm... there has to be a workaround for this. Technically it's just working with two graphics on top of each other. Perhaps you can add the HTML yourself? Or does it not let you do that? I don't have iLife '06 yet, so I can't check. Definitely get back to us with an answer, though. I'm interested. :)
 

combustible

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
18
0
australia
the_ki said:
You already have a solution, though: In Other Stuff, the secondary navigation is all done in gray dots, shades of the main navigation, thus color-coding a section. Perhaps this same treatment is utilized in the other sections -- shades of blue for illustration, shades of green for design, etc. This would help reinforce for the user what section s/he is in.

Thanks for all the input. You are pretty good at it.

I think i'll give this a go. I was focussed on the folio pieces themselves (that's what the colours relate to), and ignoring the structure as a whole, and how the viewer would navigate themselves. i think.

And. A button to show a detailed version of each job is coming. Just after all the kinks in this initial design are worked out. I might put the client details with the magnified image. I don't want a casual peruser to get cluttered with details while flicking around the images.
And. Fixing that hard to read green type on Design as we speak.

Thanks everyone. This will be a much better site thanks to your help.
 

combustible

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 15, 2004
18
0
australia
i have discovered that png files placed into iWeb move themselves to a central Images folder, unlike those made within iWeb, which create a duplicate for each instance of the image.
So i have taken every recurring graphic through photoshop and Save for Web-ed them as png-8 and inserted into the iWeb, and copied and pasted them around.
I think it has made a big difference. Folder went from 10.7mb down to 6.6mb.
And i think i've finished with the design now. Thanks for all the input. Very much appreciated.
And anyone who discovers a way of implementing rollovers, let me know.

http://www.combustible.com.au
 
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