Rate New Site

silurian1980

Hey guys

Please rate my new site www.dekesdiner.net. It's a basic brochure/menu site so not a lot to it but just wanted opinions/crit.

Cheers!

Axwell

More a question than a critical comment, why does the name above the cabin in the picture say DEEKS..yet the website and all other info says the places is called DEKE'S???

tricky D

I like this a lot. Nice use of sprites. Plain and simple look n feel.

The hatching pattern is a bit weird and slightly off-putting imo. Maybe desaturate a bit.

Commented the close div tags - smart, I do that, especially for larger sites.

Strange \n linefeed after id=head but so what (markup written on *nix perhaps??).

I would halve the gap at the top to 10 pix, make the bottom gap the same and chop the top of the footer similarly.

Make email a mailto.

I'd bring the prices on the menu page in under the white top bar (class=title).

Catering page: 'All The Above Served With Rice, Assorted Salads & Bread Rolls' is lost against bg. Same for 'View larger map' on homepage. You could use a css drop shadow for them or desaturate as already mentioned.

I'd add homepage links on sub pages.

Very nice indeed!

silurian1980

Axwell wrote: »

More a question than a critical comment, why does the name above the cabin in the picture say DEEKS..yet the website and all other info says the places is called DEKE'S???

Yes, a good question! Deke's is the correct spelling. However, whoever it was that painted the sign didn't know that!

tricky D wrote: »

I like this a lot. Nice use of sprites. Plain and simple look n feel.

The hatching pattern is a bit weird and slightly off-putting imo. Maybe desaturate a bit.

Commented the close div tags - smart, I do that, especially for larger sites.

Strange \n linefeed after id=head but so what (markup written on *nix perhaps??).

I would halve the gap at the top to 10 pix, make the bottom gap the same and chop the top of the footer similarly.

Make email a mailto.

I'd bring the prices on the menu page in under the white top bar (class=title).

Catering page: 'All The Above Served With Rice, Assorted Salads & Bread Rolls' is lost against bg. Same for 'View larger map' on homepage. You could use a css drop shadow for them or desaturate as already mentioned.

I'd add homepage links on sub pages.

Very nice indeed!

Tricky D thanks for your kind comments

Yes , I think you're right about the cross-hatch b/g. I will have a look at reducing the effect of this, however it is not as fuzzy on each browser.

Agree about the navigation back to homepage on menu and catering pages and also 'view larger map' could be a little clearer. Not used CSS drop shadow before so it will be interesting to investigate how to do that.

The footer maybe a little on the large size but I figured that it added a little more bulk to the page as without it the page looked rather squashed. I try to make any site I do look resonably space on a large screen and on a laptop, but fair point nonetheless.

Cheers man.

p

Overall, it's missing the mark a bit.

You've lots of things that change on roll over and seem like they're buttons but you can't actually click on them. You've got a few icons under the photo that also look like they're clickable but they don't do anything. People should naturally be able to feel their way around a site.

What's the market for this site. Who would visit the site for a café that seems that you'd just go to because it's near. Not sure why they need a site from this.

Overall, this design is trying to be 'cool' and doesn't seem very suited to it's content. The design isn't 'bad' in that it's generally good imagery, well laid out, good typography and all that but I feel it's completely ignoring the audience, it's difficult to use, and it's not undertsanding the basics needs of creating an interactive website.

The best thing about the site is that it has a map and opening hours on the first page.

I think that saying it's the "cities oddest restaurant" and then not having any more info is extremely dangerous because it leaves the person guessing. The photo also just makes the place look like ****hole, it certainly doesn't make me want to go there. If it's a cool cafe or it's kitsch in some way then you need to have a lot more info about it.

Overall though, you need to ask yourself. Who is the site aimed at, and what do they want from it.

I really don't think it's achievd that now.

silurian1980

p wrote: »

Overall, it's missing the mark a bit.

You've lots of things that change on roll over and seem like they're buttons but you can't actually click on them. You've got a few icons under the photo that also look like they're clickable but they don't do anything. People should naturally be able to feel their way around a site.

What's the market for this site. Who would visit the site for a café that seems that you'd just go to because it's near. Not sure why they need a site from this.

Overall, this design is trying to be 'cool' and doesn't seem very suited to it's content. The design isn't 'bad' in that it's generally good imagery, well laid out, good typography and all that but I feel it's completely ignoring the audience, it's difficult to use, and it's not undertsanding the basics needs of creating an interactive website.

The best thing about the site is that it has a map and opening hours on the first page.

I think that saying it's the "cities oddest restaurant" and then not having any more info is extremely dangerous because it leaves the person guessing. The photo also just makes the place look like ****hole, it certainly doesn't make me want to go there. If it's a cool cafe or it's kitsch in some way then you need to have a lot more info about it.

Overall though, you need to ask yourself. Who is the site aimed at, and what do they want from it.

I really don't think it's achievd that now.

Hi 'p'

Thanks for your thoughts.

The cafe is simply a converted shipping container. There's nothing kitsch or quirky about it, it sells basic but good quality grub to truckers. It's down by the docks by a roundabout so it isn't glamorous.

Does it need a website? Probably not. The owner had experinced a drop on trade and had broadcast a couple of radio adds to no avail so he thought a website would help him.

I wasn't given any professional photos or any creative direction and not content at all except the menus so I don't think it looks too bad considering the situaition I was asked to respond to.

The tag line 'cities oddest restaurant' is from the Dubliner review which there are links to from the homepage, not sure what more you can do with that.

The rollover images are merely there to serve as headline grabbers. he wanted those items in a prominent position so I decided to make them a feature of the hompage. It's a little experimental but I don't think I should be marked down for it

He also wanted to promote his catering sideline for parties etc so that is also included on the homepage and is part of the function of the site but I suppose a different site for that part of the business would be appropriate as it grows.

You're right about the navigation back to the hompage and that will be going in.

p

You've clearly got a good bit of talent, but I really feel you need to think about the bigger picture. It's not good enough to simply say that's what I was givien. Making sure the text is right, taking photos, all that sort of thing are all part of what a designer should do. If you just deal with the surface details it'll be hard to offer real value to many people.

I think it would look much cleaner etc if you were to leave the main background as white. The pattern kind of takes prominence away from certain items.

Dave!

I don't really like the background either, it hurts my brain a bit !

And also, there is no navigation back to the main page when you go to the 'reviews' or 'menu' pages ! :eek: Very upsetting !

Other than those, it's pretty good

Pixelcraft

Agree about the background. Visually it's not too bad at all, it is however a usability nightmare. On hover events should really be on clickable items only, I expected to be linked to something when I hovered over almost anything on this page. You also have 'Truckers Challenge >>' where '>>' suggests movement, nothing happens when I click.

The actual links on the page are the most static elements, and don't look like they'll link to something compared to the others.

Big lunch

Just thought I'd throw in my tuppence worth. Overall I really like the design but I do agree with some of the points made.

I like the hatching in the background but perhaps it could be softened as suggested above.

The little icons in front of the photo look a little bit out of place. They don't seem to sit all that well with the overall design of the page.

It is odd that the title on the photo differs from that on the site. I'm sure this could be remedied with photoshop, swap a few letters around. The comparison can be made immediately when viewing the site as the photo is next to the title but I'm sure nobody would notice a different spelling when at the premises if you were to change it in the photo.

I like the headings that change on roll over but the headings that are actually links need to do something on roll over to signify this, not sure what....

I reckon you've done a good job. It's straight to the point, no bull****. I like the colour scheme. I just might play about with the background a wee bit, especially when on the initial review page, it can be a little bit much to bare.

Also, why is the heading cut on the Independent Newspaper review? looks a bit shabby.

Best of luck

Tim M-U

silurian1980 wrote: »

Hey guys

Please rate my new site www.dekesdiner.net. It's a basic brochure/menu site so not a lot to it but just wanted opinions/crit.

Cheers!

Simple yet professional brochure website.

Well done!