I Need Your Opinion of my Website

[Mr Whiskers]

Good Day, Ladies and Gents. I need your opinion on my website. It is an update from the one that is online now. I built both the old one currently up on the www and the new one I have hidden on my server. I have limited web building skills, butI think the new site is better. Anyway, I have 2 versions of the new one. One has a solid black backround, and the other has a dark gray textured backround. Using the links below, please tell me which backround you prefer. Comments and Suggestions are always appreciated.



The Black Backround
Click Here For Black Backround



The Dark Gray textured Backround
Click Here for Gray Textured Backround



The Original now online
Click Here for the Original


Thanks,

Bill

 

[Duckster]

The gray textured background is the most pleasing to my eye.

 

[ackvil]

The black and gray look good to me - but I prefer the black. It gets my attention.

 

[Iakona]

Go with the black - the grey texture makes it look dated (to me)

 

[luvmysuper]

Gotta say none of the above.

The Original is plainly dated.

The Black is ominous and gloomy

The Grey is more pleasing, but the texture is too pronounced, making it "busy" and taking your eye away from the pictures, where you want the focus to be.

I would use a neutral gray, but with a much more subtle texture.

That's just me.

 

[calcustom]

I like the Dark Gray textured.

 

[Gerald_G]

I like the black best too, but your tag line is "creating memories by the sea" so the water theme would be nice to have I think.

If you could find a nicer, perhaps less bright, better tiled "water" pic. Also I think the thin blue border and yellow text on that one clash with the aqua water. I think the water idea has merit though.

 

[raisindot]

Of your two new designs, I think the black background version is far more compelling. the gray textured background is very much a 1998 look that rarely doesn't reinforce the "island" aspect of your theme. The black doesn't either, but at least it makes a look a little more Las Vegasy, which may be part of your overall marketing message.

To be honest, I think your original design comes closely to supporting your "by the sea" message. I would suggest using the navigation buttons and animated image of the black design (which works quite well) and insert that over the sea background (perhaps scaled back a bit and softened).

Jeff in Boston

 

[Iakona]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a lot of current designs on the web where the main content area has a has a tiled/patterned background - that is why the grey looks dated. If you really want a pattern on the background, put in a solid or subtle gradient background for the main content area.

 

[sffone]

I find the textured background to be distracting.

 

[jzono1]

All of them look very dated. It's what was acceptable 10-15 years ago.

A few problems:
-horrible navigation. If you're doing image-based navigation at least do the graphics *right*, blurred text and dated-looking gradients aren't nice.
-Color schemes. You don't want completely horrible colors that don't go along with each other. You don't want too much contrast. It's a habbit that died long ago for a reason.
-A single case of underlined big text caps lock abuse. Use underlined or bold text for making a point, it's more than enough.

But it's not all bad.

The sales pitch is good, very to the point. The scrolling gallery on the first page is nice, and shows variety.

I suggest you look into getting a professional designer to do the layout for you. For your relatively simple content it should be affordable, and cost-effective. A web-site that sells the product well and looks perfect & professional will net you more clients. It doesn't have to cost much, and an esteticly pleasing site is what you really need.

 

[crankymoose]

fwiw I like the black the scrolling pictures seemed to stand out and get my attention much more then the other two

 

[global_dev]

i kinda agree that these all look dated, but of your choices the black looks the best.

Maybe someone here can trade their web services for some things (i know it is a great setup) from Jamaica. I was thinking along the lines of pimiento wood, but that might be an issue getting through customs vs typical merch stuff.

 

[Obiwan]

voted gray here

 

[DoctorTattoo]

voted gray here

+1

Shawn

 

[kg4ghn]

I like the original but you need a better more pro looking logo at the top. I think with a better logo and by incorporating the scrolling pictures of the black and the grey it would be a good looking website.


Also, I would add that to get ideas check out other well designed tropical web pages. The first one that comes to mind is www.margaritaville.com. I'm not saying to copy anything but you could get some ideas.

 

[Mr Whiskers]

Many many thanks for the comments. I went away from the water backround because most photography websites have a dark backround, and from what I understand , the darker colors make the pictures standout. Thanks for all the suggestions. Believe me I will take them under consideration in the update of the site. You guys and B&B rock!!

 

[valmara1971]

I went with grey but I was dissapopinted when I clicked on the scrolling pictures it just stopped the scroll not expand the picture to full screen. Great pics BTW. My website is run by a purrrrsonal friens so I do not have to worry about such things. Great looking pics BTW Bill. Best of luck.

 

[Bertilak]

I voted gray because the pure black is unsettling -- floating in space. Makes me dizzy. But I agree that a more subtle texture would be better. Especially one that wasn't so repetative -- I think that is what cheapens it. A quick Google image search turned up many examples. These are among the first and are free:

http://princess-of-shadows.deviantart.com/gallery/?10669893#free-goodies
Examples:

 

[KarthVader]

Have you thought about a white background?

I'm not sure about your website programming abilities (I have none), but your design seems a bit dated, circa early 2000s'.

I like the scrolling pics, but try some different fonts (like helvetica) and links that aren't on "buttons". Look to some other photography websites for inspiration.