Preserved Topic: Critique this plz.

http://www.zikes.com/designbeta1

I'm not satisfied with the way the big Z looks, so please offer suggestions on that or any other thing you see.

Please note that the layout isn't done, but I want to finish the graphical part up first.

Okay...where to start? I do not have any malicious intent with these comments...so just take them with a grain of salt.

1) get rid of the Z altogether -- it doesn't do anything for you.

2) the "windswept" thing isn't really working either....at least not in that color. Blur it some, make it more like soft wrinkles or something maybe?

3) make the border of the circle a bit thicker and do something with it -- make it beveled, make it shiny, something....

4) I'd reverse the zikes and design -- make design italics and zikes normal....then make them both more prominent and add *something* to them....whether it's a different font, or some bevels or color or whatever.

5) I do like the overall layout -- it is highly functional and relatively versatile. However (you knew there'd be a however..) the colors are wretched. The grey is too weak (not necesarily too light, just too weak) for my tastes, the blue far to strong and primary, the yellow too disease like.

and that's my little bit of opinion, take it or leave it <img border=0 align=absmiddle src="http://www.ozones.com/forum/biggrin.gif">

Thanks for the response. I've changed quite a bit of stuff.

A few things though I still need to refine. I don't know if the green bg for the circle is too prominent or not... Also, what should I change the yellowish color to? I'm drawing a blank...

looks okay i guess..

maybe try changing that yellow to a burnt-orange or something more earthy.

all the other colors are somewhat subdued, so that yellow almost acts like a kick to the head, hehe.

cheers.mikey.milker

Kycan:
Im not a big fan of the big Z or the motion blur either. I suggest trying to make it as plain as possible. I dont think the border of the circle should be any bigger but I do however think you should do something more with the text. It just doesnt look right to me there. I think you should move the navigation bar up to the very top of the site, extending from the top of the circle and get rid of the black entirely. I just dont see the need for that to be there. Also you should spread out the links from the circle a little bit more and when your finished with the graphics portion, I would set up dHTML drop down menus similar to Microsoft's. Taking a closer look at it, Im not too thrilled with the white line in-between the yellow and the green, get rid of that.

For added ease in navigation, you should add text links to various stuff on your site in the yellow area, but Im sure you thought of that already.

Just my 2 cents, let me know how the site turns out ...

Jestah
Jestah91@aol.com
ICQ - 77252449

I disagree, personally. I really like the logo, Z, and blurred-windswept look. I say leave that part alone. I would recommend that you darken the green background color in the main part of the page, and that yellow color *does* need some sort of change, although I'm not sure what would do the trick...

I agree with what everybody else has been saying about this design -- it's a great layout and will give you great functionality once you add some content. There are a few things that I would change though:

1. Make the anti-aliasing on the white circle border match the anti-aliasing on the other borders. The circle border just seems more faded than the other borders.

2. If you do want to use the Z in the background of the logo, make it bigger and make it stand out more. If you change the "Zikes Design" font/style, you could make it all stand out more.

I don't know if that helps you, but it's definitely my 2 cents -- plus a little more.

drCyc