Project #1 Roughs Preliminary Critique

[rmosley]

The soccer balls are very distracting and would need to be placed more in the background with some opacity on it. The first one gets my attention more, but would need to present itself a little better. Not so "Paint" style. The first rough is balanced well and the body type is positioned very well against your images. Good job!

[I'mNicole]

Heya Maria.

On the first one, I like the light-hearted feel to it and your use of color. The soccer balls are a great touch, but at the same time, seem to kind of overwhelm everything else. My big concern would be if you intend to have all of your copy where your "about me" section is, the black text disappears into the soccer balls on that side and could make something hard to understand. I also think all of your boxes and text could be aligned better to make it more even looking. I'd probably mess around with your font sizes too, since it seems everything is the same and my eye doesn't really know where to start. And maybe do something more with your picture, because it currently seems like it was just inserted in there and that was it. Even a small border might help.

On the second, I like how it looks like a snapshot, with the grass and butterfly. The font sizes are more varied too and I like the gray boxes on the blue background. I would probably try to bring the "resources" box to the foreground in front of the grass, so the eventual links you'll put in there aren't hidden. Also the same suggestions for the alignment and your picture as the first layout. Maybe try to put your Facebook and email in a list below your picture and see how that looks. And this is the English nerd coming out in me, but you really don't need those ellipses everywhere. Taking them out will help center your copy better.

Personally, I like the second one better! And the Webdesign Inspiration site is super cool!

[Landsknecht]

Maria,

I like the graphic style of the second layout, but the soccer balls are a little overpowering, especially with the text over the balls.
I agree with the others, maybe a ball would work in the first layout (a drawing, to match the style)?

[ekfulton]

Good morning Maria~

Well, I like both of your designs. I like the first one because I think the blue background and the green grass look really good together. I like the second one because of the background images of the soccer balls - I like how you've placed the soccer balls around the page, they are not overwhelming yet the placement of the balls gives the page pleasing visual elements. The one thing that looked a little confusing to me was the 'welcome' on design one and 'about me' on design two look like buttons to me because of the background shapes and colors. Otherwise though really pleasing and relaxing pages, nice work!

[Siri]

Maria, I'm really liking your second design and the depth created by placing the soccer balls at various points of the page and at different scales. However, you'll want to look out for your paragraph because the way the elements are placed now, you run the risk of the text getting lost against your images. Consider a semi-transparent box for your paragraph to sit on so that this doesn't happen, and you can still see the background well enough. Also, your name gets a little lost up there. This is a little unusual to say, but make it bigger! You have room to work with there.

[freem110]

I like the second concept a lot! the soccer balls do create depth but I feel that you could push it further by dropping the transparency down on the ones that are furthest away. I think it would be a cool effect. I love the composition, excellent work!

[Dylan]

I like your second design a lot better, its much more dynamic. make sure to do something with the black text so its stands off the black sots in the soccer balls, like a text box or a white outer glow.

[Justin Hubert]

I am liking the one with the soccer balls on it. I think that you could get away with adding the grass to it. I would also stay away from laying that type on top of the soccer balls unless you have a plan to make them stand out more. I also think everything needs tom come up more on that second one, but it is definitely the one I prefer.