Preserved Topic: How can it be improved? (Page 1 of 1)

Hello from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune!

I am a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps and my job in the Corps is Public Affairs/Combat Correspondent (just a cool-sounding title for journalist). In addition to all my other duties I also have the honor of managing the base's website: http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/. I designed a few other sites before in my free time, but this is my first attempt at something more professional-looking.

I have been a big fan of the Doc's for years now and figured y'all would be good for some constructuve comments. About a year ago I did a complete redesign of the Camp Lejeune site and over the course of time the site has evolved into what you can see today. The goal of the site is to present an informative, professional-looking site about the base. The basic question I have for y'all is: Have I accomplished that mission? The secondary question is: What advice do y'all have for basic improvements? Are there any glaring errors in the site's presentation or in the design of the graphics?

Thanks in advance!

--Don't share a foxhole with anyone braver than you.--

...you mean other than the fact that I think .MIL should be reserved for manufacturers of milk? umm..

::: I take it from the usages of big color areas that you're concerned with load time and functionality in many browser types; this being the case, you're using way too many images on that montage dealy that's going on there. might just be for the holidays, never know.
::: tan on dk. beige is low contrast; you might want to change around some of the colors on the side bar to lend itself to more of a readibility standpoint.
::: blue and brown (in rgb, brown is a derivation of orange) create an interesting contrast; blue is opposite orange, but only close to opposite of brown. i'm not sure if i like the contrast that you've set up...kinda too earthy for me. ::: note on color scheme used ::: dk brown, blue and maroon lend themselves (in combination) to a more "traditional" and "robust" image. if that's what you want for the marines, go for it. i'd say you might want to stick to greens and such, since that's what you're all know for.
::: i'd change the linkes from the blue color to something else....orange or brown...or even a dk. red to achieve more unity in the design.
::: typographically speaking, there's nothing interesting going on...you've got your hierarchy of text, which is good, but that's not really much... i guess it's personal preference, but i love having multiple levels of text...love it.
::: i hate drop shadows; especially on text...i would get rid of it on "home of expeditionary forces in readiness," but that's just me.

Yo Marine! Your site was much better looking than I expected when I clicked on the link. I've seen a couple of other military base oriented sites. So far, yours is the most pro looking.

As the designated web disigner, and employee of the State Dept. of Corrections, I empathize with the decision making process between being peer-representative and being public-friendly.

I am guessing your journalistic background is relevant to the page having a bit of the "tourist site" feel. The main page capitalizes on a "Public Information Office" vibe. Mission accomplished professionally on those targets.

If you feel like something intangible is bothering you, a couple of things occurred to me...

1. Have you tried a brown pin stripe down the left hand side and across the bottom, to give it more visual balance?

2. Have you tried making the brown title bars more consistent? I refer to your 'Camp Lejeune' title bar. I like that. Try using the same dark blue border, top and bottom, (but much thinner) for your 'New Years Eve Report' and 'The Globe' title bars. I felt personally, that the separation of those sub-title bars, from the sidebar, was negatory.

In summary, the site is very public-friendly and has that home-base feel (now that I remember my chilhood).

Good job, Marine.

...swept out through the cracks beneath the door...

Color ... the bane of my existance. I am partially colorblind. I have no formal art training. And my wife says I can't dress myself nice to save my life. Three strikes against me right there.

Thanks for the input so far. The collage of pictures on the front page is in fact a temporary thing for the holidays. There is usually a smaller photo along with some explanatory text there instead. I'll experiment with some alternate color themes when I have the time; it's just going to be a real pain to implement a new theme throughout such a large sight ... ugh!

Looks ok to me. The beige on brown is perhaps not the most fresh of colour combinations I have seen. I think it would work better to use the lighter shade that you use in "camp lejeune" in the meny to the right as well.

I was going to comment on the colours of the pictures on the main page, but since you are colour-blind you will be forgiven Besides, if they are just for the holiday they will be taken away soon anyway. Or maybe the purple-faced soldiers is a strategy use by the US military to scare off the enemy? :P

The structure of the site is good, and it seems easy to navigate to me.
I sort of agree with TwItch about the drop-shadows, though I don't really hate them as much. It seems though that your drop-shadows are not consistent but looks different on almost all text. I think it would look better to make them more uniform, and perhaps a little less obtrusive.

Yea, purple is the perfect camouflage for urban warfare these days, didn't you know? And I'm only partially colorblind, but they still won't let me play with missles or tanks (press the green button ... ok ... oh, that was red? ... so sorry, thought it was green).

Thanks for the positive comments. I only get to play with the website once or twice a week (it's just a part-time gig here, otherwise known as "collateral duty" in the Corps). So the next time I am let out my cage, I'll mess with the colors and dropshadows and such.

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15. Teamwork is essential -- it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.
(From Murphy's Fifty Laws of Combat Operations)
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