Please review our icon design website

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

I lunched the website http://www.customicondesign.com mainly about icon design, I want to know what you think. Any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks,

Bill

They have: 20 posts

Joined: Apr 2007

mmm, sorry can't visit http://www.customicondesign.commainly

Flesko's picture

He has: 5 posts

Joined: Apr 2007

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

The site looks pretty good. I can't find anything to complain about really. Everything is quite nice. There is a lot of text on here without a lot of calls to action. It might be better to place more emphasis on certain elements so people know what they should do next.

It is quite obvious to me that you're trying to get as many keywords in as you can. This is overdoing it a bit IMO. Some of it is very obvious and would look strange to the user (like the header underneath the main image - and what's with the :: and || anyway?).

When I actually read the text I find a lot more problems. This is really poorly written. There are many mistakes and generally poor style. This could turn away a lot of people. If you need to, hire a writer to help you improve the text.

The quality of the work itself looks good Smiling

Shaun's picture

He has: 52 posts

Joined: Nov 2005

I don't see myself as being an expert or any sort of talented web designer, but I will try my best to review your site.

I really like your logo, it's simplistic and I like the shine. Your navigation bar has actually given me some good ideas for my own sites, good job with that.
I like the fact that there is alot of information in your website, but it does not look bulky or complicated.
Your thumbnail shapes are awesome too in my opinion.
I have no bad points to make, your website gets it's point across and looks very elegant.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Megan;218216 wrote: The site looks pretty good. I can't find anything to complain about really. Everything is quite nice. There is a lot of text on here without a lot of calls to action. It might be better to place more emphasis on certain elements so people know what they should do next.

It is quite obvious to me that you're trying to get as many keywords in as you can. This is overdoing it a bit IMO. Some of it is very obvious and would look strange to the user (like the header underneath the main image - and what's with the :: and || anyway?).

When I actually read the text I find a lot more problems. This is really poorly written. There are many mistakes and generally poor style. This could turn away a lot of people. If you need to, hire a writer to help you improve the text.

The quality of the work itself looks good Smiling

very very useful, you make me to know my false in our website.

Thank you very much,

Bill

BillBSET's picture

He has: 26 posts

Joined: Apr 2005

very clean,,,
soft and simple.

I like it.
I looked for basic pricing of logos and stuff.

.,.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

BillBSET;218255 wrote: very clean,,,
soft and simple.

I like it.
I looked for basic pricing of logos and stuff.

.,.

thanks for your great review,

Bill

They have: 11 posts

Joined: May 2007

nice design. B+

personally i would make the left nav blocks a 5-10 pixels narrower, to increase the whitespace between the nav blocks and content block to not allow the two to run together.

also, i would dump the XHTML valid code button, or at least add some RSS feed buttons, so the XHTML button don't continue to be an eyesore.

other than that GJ

mmoGlobal - MMORPG Gaming Networks

mfdc's picture

They have: 160 posts

Joined: Aug 2004

lovley site, nice and fresh layout, love the oversized navigation & the portfolio in paticular is superb

nice

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

mmoglobal;218612 wrote: nice design. B+

personally i would make the left nav blocks a 5-10 pixels narrower, to increase the whitespace between the nav blocks and content block to not allow the two to run together.

also, i would dump the XHTML valid code button, or at least add some RSS feed buttons, so the XHTML button don't continue to be an eyesore.

other than that GJ

thanks for your review.
Bill

They have: 20 posts

Joined: Apr 2007

The site looks nice and clean (good overview). It helps showing what your service is about (on the homepage leftside). Good luck.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Shrug;218874 wrote: The site looks nice and clean (good overview). It helps showing what your service is about (on the homepage leftside). Good luck.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Shrug;218874 wrote: The site looks nice and clean (good overview). It helps showing what your service is about (on the homepage leftside). Good luck.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Shrug;218874 wrote: The site looks nice and clean (good overview). It helps showing what your service is about (on the homepage leftside). Good luck.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Shrug;218874 wrote: The site looks nice and clean (good overview). It helps showing what your service is about (on the homepage leftside). Good luck.

thanks for your review,

Bill

He has: 20 posts

Joined: May 2007

That's a site I have seen before Wink

Here's my critique:

All graphics in your site looks good, as they should since you are a graphics designer company. But I don't quite like the main navigation bar, the shade of red is maybe a bit hip for my taste, and when hovering over it's very difficult to read the text.

Your copy is pretty good, but I think your best stuff is under the Services page. Why not put them to the front page?

Using a picture as a heading on your first page works for me, but I'd perhaps remove the sub-heading " Custom Icon Design - custom icons | icon design team", it doesn't look good to me.

Your current first page mainly tells users what you do. I would change the focus more on why people should hire you and not someone else. I mean when someone enters a site called "CustomIconDesign.com" they should already know what you do, design icons, logos and such. And you can also see it from the left column under Our services as well. You should highlight your benefits and why people should select you, you now seem a bit shy to say that you have over 5 years of experience etc.

Your page doesn't seem to be dynamically built, at least when I'm on the main page the News box says "Latest News" but when I'm on the Services page it has a typo and says "Lastest News". Small things like this can really hurt your credibility.

I would perhaps remove the Reset button from your Contact Us page. I personally don't have any idea why web developers love those reset buttons so much, I also don't know anything more frustrating than to fill up a long form and then by accident hit the reset.

Your About Us page could also have some graphics, I mean, since you do graphics for living you should use a lot in your homepage. Not too much, but to show people what you can do.

I don't quite get the idea of the Latest News, these are perhaps the works you have finished last? You shouldn't perhaps show them as "News", but as "Client Testimonials" and have a proper testimonials page.

Also, the "CustomIconDesign.com" graphic should work as a link to your main page.

In summary: You have great stuff on your site, but you should think about how you can present the information better to the user. For example, your Services page mentions you have a money back guarantee. Why not put a large graphic to the front page that says "Satisfaction Guarantee - if you are not satisfied with our work we'll give you your money back!" or something similar. Again, your About us page says that everything sent to you via the Order Form is kept confidential. Why not put that too in the fron page? "Privacy Guarantee", or something similar.

I hope this helps, and I'm looking forward in receiving the icons I ordered Smiling

He has: 20 posts

Joined: May 2007

Oh, one more thing. I also noticed the text is not maybe written by a person whose first language is English. Now I don't have such a problem with that since my first language is not English either. But some people might not bother to browse your website at all because of this.

So you should perhaps give some kind of a hint right on your first page that you are a foreign company, that's the reason why your website doesn't have the most perfect English.

You could for example do this in the footer of the page by putting your street address under the copyright.

kirpal_06391's picture

He has: 12 posts

Joined: Jun 2006

Your website is awesom and its color scheme is eye-catching. It is well aligned and first page is very nicely repesented. Everything is easy and simple to use. If in future I need icons for my softwares I am going to contact you. Smiling

They have: 3 posts

Joined: Apr 2007

design is nice but web designs is little you shall add more.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

template;221808 wrote: design is nice but web designs is little you shall add more.

thanks for your reveiw,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

I will redesign the website, who want to help you>

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

jv16;218896 wrote: That's a site I have seen before Wink

Here's my critique:

All graphics in your site looks good, as they should since you are a graphics designer company. But I don't quite like the main navigation bar, the shade of red is maybe a bit hip for my taste, and when hovering over it's very difficult to read the text.

Your copy is pretty good, but I think your best stuff is under the Services page. Why not put them to the front page?

Using a picture as a heading on your first page works for me, but I'd perhaps remove the sub-heading " Custom Icon Design - custom icons | icon design team", it doesn't look good to me.

Your current first page mainly tells users what you do. I would change the focus more on why people should hire you and not someone else. I mean when someone enters a site called "CustomIconDesign.com" they should already know what you do, design icons, logos and such. And you can also see it from the left column under Our services as well. You should highlight your benefits and why people should select you, you now seem a bit shy to say that you have over 5 years of experience etc.

Your page doesn't seem to be dynamically built, at least when I'm on the main page the News box says "Latest News" but when I'm on the Services page it has a typo and says "Lastest News". Small things like this can really hurt your credibility.

I would perhaps remove the Reset button from your Contact Us page. I personally don't have any idea why web developers love those reset buttons so much, I also don't know anything more frustrating than to fill up a long form and then by accident hit the reset.

Your About Us page could also have some graphics, I mean, since you do graphics for living you should use a lot in your homepage. Not too much, but to show people what you can do.

I don't quite get the idea of the Latest News, these are perhaps the works you have finished last? You shouldn't perhaps show them as "News", but as "Client Testimonials" and have a proper testimonials page.

Also, the "CustomIconDesign.com" graphic should work as a link to your main page.

In summary: You have great stuff on your site, but you should think about how you can present the information better to the user. For example, your Services page mentions you have a money back guarantee. Why not put a large graphic to the front page that says "Satisfaction Guarantee - if you are not satisfied with our work we'll give you your money back!" or something similar. Again, your About us page says that everything sent to you via the Order Form is kept confidential. Why not put that too in the fron page? "Privacy Guarantee", or something similar.

I hope this helps, and I'm looking forward in receiving the icons I ordered Smiling

very helpful for us,

many thanks,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

I couldn't need more, you give me amazing info, if you need icons, I can help you for free charge Smiling

Anyway thanks for your kindly feedback.

Bill

They have: 4 posts

Joined: Oct 2005

nice site and nice designs you make.i will surely be hiring you if i got some work related to it

They have: 5 posts

Joined: May 2007

nice qualitysite--seeing the site i feel i did not have that much knowledge to a professional looking splendid site

regards

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

flying thoughts;219305 wrote: nice qualitysite--seeing the site i feel i did not have that much knowledge to a professional looking splendid site

regards

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 173 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

I feel like the red in the menu is a bit out a place.. another color may be better suited. When I hover, it goes red with like a orange-ish text which is impossible to read (firefox)
I think it's very clean and I might just have to check it out for my work! Smiling

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They have: 1 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

I like it too, it just feels clean and crisp If i needed to have a logo done I would def look into your company

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

tonkboogie;220030 wrote: I like it too, it just feels clean and crisp If i needed to have a logo done I would def look into your company

thanks for your review,

Bill

shenku's picture

They have: 10 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

hi there, nice site - love the icons etc. just one thing the left nav a bit confusing/clutered? then again im a humble developer what do i know ;P all the best

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

shenku;220086 wrote: hi there, nice site - love the icons etc. just one thing the left nav a bit confusing/clutered? then again im a humble developer what do i know ;P all the best

thanks for your review,
We are changing the site now.
bill

He has: 2 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

Added to favourites!

Ok...very appealing to look at - and i love a tableless design. Nice work! Although, I notice a lot of '      ' in your code. Perhaps you could try to find a cleaner way to tidy that up.

Also, consider meaningful ALT tags, to improve accessibility, particularly since you are promoting your knowledge of web standards and practices.

Smiling

superboysahil's picture

He has: 5 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

Nice and glossy, gr8 concept for a design site. Just a suggestion to include some free downloadble contents inorder to attract people.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

superboysahil;220348 wrote: Nice and glossy, gr8 concept for a design site. Just a suggestion to include some free downloadble contents inorder to attract people.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 426 posts

Joined: Feb 2005

Its a nice site, but far to much text on the front page....i only read it to try and review it, which in my opinion rabbits on a bit...why not let your work speak for itself, becuase it most certainly can!!

When faced with your home page for the first time i am very confused as to what to do next.....it needs to tell me where i can go more clearly. Change the pink nav to a more red like in the logo.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

benf;220369 wrote: Its a nice site, but far to much text on the front page....i only read it to try and review it, which in my opinion rabbits on a bit...why not let your work speak for itself, becuase it most certainly can!!

When faced with your home page for the first time i am very confused as to what to do next.....it needs to tell me where i can go more clearly. Change the pink nav to a more red like in the logo.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 4 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

Not Bad,
but white background color is looking bad, so need changes on background color. There are lot of white space on your site. If need help on this types of sites please visit the site: Logo Design Guru. I think it will help you.

They have: 2 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

The site looks pretty good.

He has: 6 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

From a designer/developer's persepective

• color scheme

I am not sure that there is a color scheme. This isn’t a bad thing being that I like the way your site feels, it is bright and friendly and definitely attracted my attention. I would suggest trying to add a more standard scheme to the pages in order to create a uniform feeling though.

• common design principles

The design itself seems to be alright. The page is centered, the margins are uniformly set, there is a decent amount of whitespace.

• common design mistakes

Tried to hard to make it seo friendly, all the text distracts me from why I am there. To see icons.

• usability

Navigates easily and effectively. I was able to find what I was looking for. But there seems to be many pages of stuff that I don’t need, such as resources which contains a link to a competing company logoworks. Try to remove some unnecessary stuff, you don’t want your users to get lost.

• appropriateness of design & content

Content needs to be focused more on the product. The page is dedicated to icon design, and yet I only see two icons on the entire front page. If I came to your site to see icons and don’t see any I am going to leave.

• branding & marketing

Good, name is easy to remember as well as is domain.

• graphics quality

Very good, I like your icon work.

• browser compatibility

The site worked in ie7, firefox, and safari for windows.

• resolution

768px is my standard. It seems like you were around it.

• function of widgets/dhtml/forms, et cetera

You need to incorporate a contact form so that users that don’t have email set up on their pc can still get a hold of you. The html mailto: function is just out of date.

• coding/validation

The site validates.

My sites
Creadiv - logos, icons, web design
What's My IP Address

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Creadiv;220632 wrote: From a designer/developer's persepective

• color scheme

I am not sure that there is a color scheme. This isn’t a bad thing being that I like the way your site feels, it is bright and friendly and definitely attracted my attention. I would suggest trying to add a more standard scheme to the pages in order to create a uniform feeling though.

• common design principles

The design itself seems to be alright. The page is centered, the margins are uniformly set, there is a decent amount of whitespace.

• common design mistakes

Tried to hard to make it seo friendly, all the text distracts me from why I am there. To see icons.

• usability

Navigates easily and effectively. I was able to find what I was looking for. But there seems to be many pages of stuff that I don’t need, such as resources which contains a link to a competing company logoworks. Try to remove some unnecessary stuff, you don’t want your users to get lost.

• appropriateness of design & content

Content needs to be focused more on the product. The page is dedicated to icon design, and yet I only see two icons on the entire front page. If I came to your site to see icons and don’t see any I am going to leave.

• branding & marketing

Good, name is easy to remember as well as is domain.

• graphics quality

Very good, I like your icon work.

• browser compatibility

The site worked in ie7, firefox, and safari for windows.

• resolution

768px is my standard. It seems like you were around it.

• function of widgets/dhtml/forms, et cetera

You need to incorporate a contact form so that users that don’t have email set up on their pc can still get a hold of you. The html mailto: function is just out of date.

• coding/validation

The site validates.

I must say you are very helpful to us. great man.

Thanks very much,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

cemcansever;220608 wrote: The site looks pretty good.

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

cemcansever;220608 wrote: The site looks pretty good.

thanks for your review,

Bill

He has: 20 posts

Joined: Jun 2007

Hi,

I think you need some further text on the resources page, Looks like it was setup in haste and never fully developed, I get the impression the logos/icons tend to outshine the page design?. While your logos/icons look very professional they seem to overshadow the rest of the page?. May need to spend some time evening out the feel.

Cheers

HM

Content Director
honc.biz
Honc if you love music!

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Honcman;220781 wrote: Hi,

I think you need some further text on the resources page, Looks like it was setup in haste and never fully developed, I get the impression the logos/icons tend to outshine the page design?. While your logos/icons look very professional they seem to overshadow the rest of the page?. May need to spend some time evening out the feel.

Cheers

HM

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Honcman;220781 wrote: Hi,

I think you need some further text on the resources page, Looks like it was setup in haste and never fully developed, I get the impression the logos/icons tend to outshine the page design?. While your logos/icons look very professional they seem to overshadow the rest of the page?. May need to spend some time evening out the feel.

Cheers

HM

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 6 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

when i think of an icon website i just picture icons. this site seems like it has a lot of text, so when someone visits the site and expects to get icons, the mass text will put them off.

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

Lori45;221528 wrote: when i think of an icon website i just picture icons. this site seems like it has a lot of text, so when someone visits the site and expects to get icons, the mass text will put them off.

oh, great review, thanks for your review, we will redesign the website.

Bill

They have: 5 posts

Joined: Sep 2007

Nice and clean design. I really like it

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

hileo;223929 wrote: Nice and clean design. I really like it

thanks for your review,

Bill

They have: 13 posts

Joined: Sep 2007

-nice site with good design
-easy to understand the purpose of ur site
-possibility to make a choice

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Nov 2007

nicely done...

i would suggest cutting down on the visual clutter on the homepage...you want it to be sleek and simple and have your customers use the navigation tools

at the bottom of your page, I would put a bottom menu that has "contact us" "privacy policy," etc.

you also probably don't need all those means of contact...be direct and simple

They have: 33 posts

Joined: Mar 2007

ServeItUp;225973 wrote: nicely done...

i would suggest cutting down on the visual clutter on the homepage...you want it to be sleek and simple and have your customers use the navigation tools

at the bottom of your page, I would put a bottom menu that has "contact us" "privacy policy," etc.

you also probably don't need all those means of contact...be direct and simple

Because the busy business, I havent seen the thread for a long time, I am very appreciated for so many great review.

Bill

He has: 48 posts

Joined: Oct 2003

I like the site. It looks clean, is straightforward and easy to navigate.

There are one or two gaffes with the English, but from other comments I suspect that there were more and they have been rectified.

The only thing I don't like is the abbreviated form of dates, e.g. 03/06/2007, which I think is lazy. It can and does lead to misinterpretation. Much better to write it properly, viz. 3rd June, 2007.

Equal rights for equal responsibilities.
Equal opportunities for equal abilities.

sin0cide's picture

He has: 17 posts

Joined: Oct 2007

sense your a icon/graphics design studio I was expecting lots of icons Smiling under your profile section the logo link goes to the icon section :-/ and it looks like you have alot of work to show so why do you have such small icons and only screen shots of your websites. If you don't want to link up the real sites I would atleast post up larger images of the layout for detail and content layout purposes. good job for the most part Sticking out tongue

Brian(Webdesigner/SEO)

They have: 12 posts

Joined: Mar 2009

Clean and professional looking site, Its generating faith on us that you are capable of developing good icons. And this is must for every site.
I didn't resist myself to view all icons, All of them are great.
Good Work..

Bakerlayouts's picture

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Dec 2008

Great looking site. I went through the site and found nothing wrong that i could see. keep up the good work. The next time i need some icons i will drop by and check you out.
Thank you
Chris

Please visit Bakerlayouts.com for your website needs.
Templates | Hosting | Project Board

They have: 121 posts

Joined: Aug 2008

I really like the look and feel of your website. It has a strong web 2.0 feel to it which really suits the designs of your icons. It has a strong professional feel to it and it has good continuity.

I see no need to make any changes. In fact Ive already downloaded your free flag icon set. Looks excellent. great work!!

serpico

They have: 121 posts

Joined: Aug 2008

One thing to note... one of your tabs says 'Recourse' I think you mean 'Resources'...

They have: 4 posts

Joined: Mar 2009

I'm not too clear on what the recourse tab refers to. Overall I think the site is very well put together. The one thing I would suggest is making the purchase process a bit more simplistic. Perhaps tweaking the contact form a bit to help navigate people through the information process.

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

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