Topic: font

yet another version- incorporated page fades- cleaned up my timelines- work in progress . . . will make more dynamic.
http://www.hotfrogdesign.com/Main.html

Client doesnt like Arial for main text. She likes the blue page headers and wants to know if I can find a similar ?old, traditional? serif similar to garamound- I have yet to explain that readability is important and having the same font as headers is not enough diversity for the page. I want the headers to stand out from the main text.

Will a serif font work for main text on these pages?

I would probably advice against a serif font. They might look nicer, but on screen sans-serif is a lot easier to read.

Really impressive that you managed to get pink working on a webpage as such a prominent color. Didn't think it was be possible

Did you want comments and critiques of the rest of the page as well? Hope so, if not please ignore the following...

Do you really need the intro part? Don't see any reason to have it. If you decide to keep it you should at least add a 'skip intro' link. If I enter a page that has a flash intro without a skip intro button, I leave the site imediatly. I'm not there to see some fancy flash work, but I'm there for the content so I should be taken to it as soon as possible.

You might also think about adding some more information about the site on the main page. Right now it doesn't contain much information. Only thing there that hints that this is a Joga site is that says 'Jivamukti Joga', and for me who doesn't know anything about Joga that word is meaningless. You don't have to add much, just a couple of words so the user knows he is at the homepage of a Joga instructor.

I would also have the pages load in the background, it is a real pain to wait for each page to load. You should aslo remove the fade effect. I press a link to see the content it provides, so I want to get to the content as fast as possible.

The hover effect over the sub menus should also be made clearer. At first I thought it was a bug of sort, but then I realised it was intentional. Maybe have blur effect black, instead of the white you're using now.

In the contact section you've got her mail adress, but there is no easy way to use it. You should at the very least make the mail a mailto: link, or make the text selectable so that the user easily can paste it into their email program. An even better idea would be to add a conact form alongside the email, that would make it even easier for the user to contact her.

_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -

[This message has been edited by Veneficuz (edited 01-25-2004).]

I agree about the sans serif. Thanks for the critique- much appreciated. Its still a work in progress- adding email form, uplading some more pictutes/content.

Thanks!

Although I agree that sans-serif fonts are generally easier to read, since you're using Flash (which automatically anti-aliases fonts), I don't think you can go wrong either way, as long as you keep the text at a reasonable size.

Increase the movie frame rate to about 30, it appears to be currently set to the default of 15, which is causing your animations and transitions to look choppy.

Another thing, seeing as the backgorund doesn't ever really change, why bother fading it out to white then back in again, just fade the content in/out, or some other kind of transition.

Thanks guys- I'll repost my progress.

<edit>cameron- I appreciate your advice- you definiely know a lot more about flash than I do- thank you</edit>

[This message has been edited by CRO8 (edited 01-25-2004).]

While I'm normally pro-sans-serif on screen this is actually one style of a website where I do agree with your client.

The whole sites concept is about yoga, flowing shapes, movements, feelings and attention to personal detail. In this case I actually believe that a nice readable serif font is a better choice.

Sans-serif fonts tend to come across more stark, stripped and businesslike which is very good for readability but not as good for conveying feelings and emotions.

Step up slightly in font-size, use a nice serif-font and work more with whitespace to avoid big blocks of text. that way you will retain readability, please the client and imho achieve more harmony in the visual design.
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

ok dms thanks- I'll consider serif.