I am currently working on a website for UGA ASiA(University of Georgia, Animal Science in Action). If anyone could give any comments, good or bad, that would be greatly appreciated!
Link:
http://dairymap.ads.uga.edu/ASIA/
Thanks for your time,
nate
Megan posted this at 16:13—20th June 2007.
She has: 10,121 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Hi Nate! I develop University websites too!
There are some good things and bad things about this site. I like the graphic at the top and the way it expands to fit the page. The cow and the sign are neat touches. The subtitle is a little hard to read in it's current font - something simpler would be better there too. I like the way you've aligned it to the right, above the line.
Typography is a problem throughout this design. Simpler fonts will create a more professional look. Definitely don't use Comic Sans for the body text. A simple sans-serif font would be better (like verdana or tahoma). Do some research on basic typography and types of fonts (sorry I can't think of any good beginner links off the top of my head). Also make the font size smaller - big text, centering, and Comic Sans all make this design look unprofessional.
The colours here are pretty good. I would use a white background in the main body instead of grey, and lose the gradient on the outer border. I like that greenish colour combined with the red though.
The tabs for navigation look a little too overdone with the effects. Try to keep it simple. The gradient on the main text header is more the sort of thing you'd want to do - subtle. It's also hard to read the black and white text with such a dramatic gradient.
"The Action" tab actually goes to a photo gallery - it would be good to call it that so people know what it is.
Overall a pretty good job! With University websites you need to be careful to present a professional appearance. With a few small changes your site will be there!
Megan
My web design blog
baldrick posted this at 16:45—20th June 2007.
He has: 388 posts
Joined: Apr 2005
I would like to add to Megans comments if I could.
You seem to be using the space on your page well, everything is spaced out and it's not to crowded. I noticed you have a three column layout and I wondered if you had considered changing it to a two column layout with the left column about two thirds larger than the right. I think you have some great action photos and you could make them larger to draw more atention to them. I dont know what Image software you are using but your graphics look kind of scruffy you need to fix them.
You could also benefit from a calmer colour scheme using perhaps white and shades of green.