My new website!

A

alveraz

Veteran
Hey guys,

I revamped the site for a more modern look. Not as simple as my previous one, but I think it's still easy to navigate. Do you guys like it? I need as much input as possible, I just got it up a few minutes ago. Keep in mind, it's for an actor headshot business.

Thanks!

The site:
www.zampanophoto.com
 
That looks great man.

Complaints first, and they are few. Not sure I like the background, kinda busy and the fading light thing reminds me of something technical like the matrix. As for the site, the front page confused me that I could not control the pics moving. It doesn't look like it would be animated but that the user can control it. I don't know if there is another way to go about the animation that doesn't make it look like that or something...just throwing ideas out there.

Other than that, I thought it looked great. Colors are nice and calming. I like the functional side of it. I like how you scroll through the pics on the examples pages (which is what I thought I was doing from the home page). I still think the brown eyed blond, the 8th picture, is one of the best you have ever taken. I love the calendar. I've wanted to do something like that with my site for a while, but I'm still using HTML so it's not super easy to update. I tested all the links and they work great for me.

Congrats! I like to see fellow DVXer's succeeding!
 
Awesome! Thanks for the tips. So what part is "busy", do you mean the dark green, or the way the images blur when they scroll? Yeah, my wife said the same thing about the front page, she wanted to control it. Hmm. I really like those thin images scrolling on the front, I wonder how I can keep that without confusing the visitor.

The thing is, this is a template design, I only tweaked it to fit my needs. I can only do so much. Thanks again, Dan, your thoughts really help.
 
Well PK hasn't seen it yet but when he does you are going to get a heartfelt lecture on designing your site using Flash cos the search bots don't pay any attention to it meaning you end up invisible to the world wide web. :)
That being said...I think it's a very well designed site, simple but effective and real easy to navigate. A well done job in my opinion.
 
OK... it looks great, but I'm assuming you want the critique's, so here's mine:

Like stated, there's something off about the opening blur/not user controllable page. I like the idea, but it's a bit jarring in the movements, and I too immediately thought I could control it with the click of a mouse.

I don't mind the green background at all. I don't think it take's away anything, and... it's fine in my opinion.

The "headshots" page's look good, but there's always one picture half cut off at the end (on the page, and on the "menu" up top), and I keep wanting to click past that last picture to see what's back there. If it just goes back to the start, then I'd suggest not having the half picture to the right. Get it?? I didn't put that together very well, but hope you get my drift.

Price's seem REALLY cheap for the work you do... but I guess I don't really know going rates. I can say that I've never found a PRO photographer to even come close to those rates. Anyway, that's up to you...

I'd lose the "availability" page, and just leave it with a "please contact for availability". First, it shows people right now that you're not working very much, and they would see that as a turnoff (maybe you're not as good as the pictures show, etc). And second, when you do get more business, and someone needs something done on a tight timeframe... they go to your page, see you're booked, and move along. Maybe they were willing to pay you more then client number one, and maybe client number one doesn't mind rescheduling for later in the day, or even another day all together. It's just something I'd leave open...

Other than that, I love the sight.

-brown
 
Great thoughts! I gotta check on that half-image thing, hmm. I can't seem to lose that front page, I've got to find an altternative I like better I suppose.

The rates are competitive, less than my competitors, but I don't mind. This is suplemental income so I can afford these rates.

As for the calendar, half of next month is booked, what were you looking at? I'm wondering how you could assume I'm not getting business. But, I totally understand your point and should reconsider. Hmmmm.

Thanks guys!
 
Oh! I think I know what you meant by the calendar. It didn't upload all my bookings when I posted it, so it looked empty. The bookings are now up there :)
 
I agree with Ryan about the availability portion. I'm not saying to lose it entirely but he brings up a good point...if someone only had a set time they were able to get their photos taken and instead of calling you directly checked your calendar....of course if someone was that dumb you might not want them as a client anyway. :happy:

I've never used flash so I do not know the logistics of using it to alter or adjust something on your site. If updating your site daily becomes a chore...might be something to consider. Especially since the only ones that really need to know that your day is booked is you and your clients for that specific day. Again, just a thought. Throw it out if you disagree.

And, as otherwise stated, if the slides on the initial homepage was navigable via mouse it'd be a tad less confusing. I clicked and nothing happened.

Other than that, I truly love it. I dig the green and the layout design. Its simple but not elementary. Its a very clean, professional and a site that will do well to represent you.

Rick
 
I'm thinking twice about the calandar and will sleep on it.

I had someone else write that got confused about where to find my prices and how to contact me. I'm a little baffled by that. Does anyone think it's difficult to figure out? Ease is vital to this working, the client needs to check out samples, see my rates and contact me, as easily as possible.

I'm thinking of scratching the whole damn thing now :(
 
I think I understand what that comment was about. I too had a lot of trouble figuring out where all your page links were. The scrollbar on the right really blends in and looks as if the page doesn't scroll. Another and probably better way to fix this is to design the page to fit on a resolution of 800x600 without needing to scroll down, it just makes more sense for a home page.
 
I like the resolution. I've been thinking about updating mine as well to 1080.

I'm not going to say you should, but if you are thinking about rebuilding you could easily maintain the same look ad feel on an HTML site. There are a number of very intuitive java photo viewers that you could us to display your pictures. I use ThickBox to show video content, but you can do the same thing with photos. You could also use something like SimpleViewer or one of the various templates built into Lightroom or Photoshop. Lot's of different plugins available that will give you a look very similar to what you have now.

Personally, I like the gallery. I can see though how some people might be confused with the scroll bar, or the half pics. I didn't really think anything about it, but you always have to design to the least common denominator.

And to clear up my first post, the back ground I'm referring to is the one that pops up initially while the page is loading and continues to outline the flash content once it pops up. I don't care for all the curly Qs and fading light/dark areas. I personally think it would look better as a solid color, but it's just personal taste.

Overall I still like the site. If it were mine the only reason I might consider a change is if there was something that I didn't like that the template was constraining me to. Keep up the good work man, and go with your gut.
 
Yeah, I'm with Dan...there have been some good suggestions and legit concerns but for the most part the ultimate decision is up to you and your gut.

Personally, I don't think you need to change much at all. Like I said, Love the layout and design scheme.

DivotDan said:
I still think the brown eyed blond, the 8th picture, is one of the best you have ever taken.
Click to expand...

That IS a great shot. But, I'm actually in love with number 9. The shot with the hat. There is something soulful in her eyes.
 
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DivotDan said:
I like the resolution. I've been thinking about updating mine as well to 1080.
Click to expand...

800x600 is still the average resolution people use on their desktops. So whether you like the way 1080 looks you have to design so that the site can function properly for everyone that is going to be visiting the site (ie potential clients.)

DivotDan said:
"you always have to design to the least common denominator. "
Click to expand...

I don't consider myself a denominator but I legitamitly had a problem noticing there was a scroll bar using IE. The scroll wheel didn't work for me and the scroll bar looked grayed out.

That being said aesthetics should be somewhat of a personal preference considering you are in a line of service that is based on your unique artistic abilities.
 
Which scroll bar did you mean? I'm looking for it now but not sure which one you're having problems with.

I have a big-ass screen so I need to check this out on a small 800x600 later, does it really look that bad on that size? My wife has that size laptop, I'll check it out when she gets home.

Thanks again guys, these comments are helping a lot. My only problem is i can only do so much with these templates, but I'm working on it.
 
egproductions said:
800x600 is still the average resolution people use on their desktops. So whether you like the way 1080 looks you have to design so that the site can function properly for everyone that is going to be visiting the site (ie potential clients.)
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to disagree with you about that. I don't know anyone that is still using 800x600. Other than reloading my OS I haven't seen that resolution in years. Here is an excerpt from this.

"At one time 800×600 was the most common choice for exploring the internet, but that changed in the year 2002. Currently 1024×768 Extended Graphics Array is the most common display resolution. Many web sites and multimedia products were re-designed from the previous 800×600 format to the higher 1024×768-optimized layout."

That said, I'm not saying 800x600 is a bad thing. I still use it on my site, but almost all flash templates today are built for 1024x768 since it is now the standard.
 
I did speak to quickly by saying that the average person views their desktop at 800x600 but there is still about %20 who do. And for them you have to design your site to be under 800x600 to fit in a browser window. I am viewing alverez's site at 1280x768 and it's still too big for that resolution. The site might be about 768 in hight but in my browser a scrollbar is added because the links on the bottom are too far down for the window. Alverez, if you are viewing your site on a high enough resolution there probably isn't a scroll bar at all.
 
egproductions does bring up a good point. Almost all sites that have all flash content will at least have an HTML splash page that says something like ....

:: Enter Site ::

please disable any popup blockers - high speed connection highly recommended
minimum recommended screen resolution: 1024 x 768 px.
this site requires Flash Player 8 or later.

GET FLASH PLAYER 8 (Linked)
 
My .02c... When I was in college I built a website mock up (1995) at 800 x 600 and went color (all 256 of em). The site was selling video production and graphic design. My Instructor at the time told me that I should design in Grey scale at 640x480 because not everybody had a color monitor and not everybody had graphics cards that could support 800x600. My response was this (read iwith an arrogant tone) "I'm a broke college student but I have a color monitor and a card that does 800x600 and if the people who visit this site can't afford that then they sure as hell don't have enough cash to fork over for my services!" So in his ultimate wisdom he gave me a C as a project grade for failing to design my mock up site for the poor people ( the gist of it at least). LOL...If it hadn't been for reading this thread I may have forgotten that forever
 
I think Alveraz that you could re-design your site till the cows come home...Hell, you could even have some top flight designers do it for you but at the end of the day when you throw it on line and ask what people think, you are never going to escape the critics. What seems obvious to some in terms of navigation will totally baffle others, slick design elements will meet with harsh judgment from those who
worship the bubble gum wrapper layout. You are just never going to please them all. I say this in reference to your comment back a few posts that said you were going to abandon the idea of the site and do a total re-design. Your site is way better than mine IMO.
 
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