Preliminary Critique_Project1_KO

[dzynecin88]

I can see what you were going for in your first design, but I'm drawn to the second design. It's got a clean, professional feel and the layout is nicely balanced. I think it could use a little more contrast and maybe an accent color used sparingly. I would also make your info at the bottom a little smaller and one line so you can move your body copy down from the image. I really like the image of the tree - it gives a nice texture and rhythm to your design.

[dbranby]

Hi, Kami! I like both of your designs, but I think #2 is a little more unified tonally. There's a nice atmosphere to it. My only feedback for improvement would be to organize your footer typography to align with the "Home" "Project 2" "Project 3" typography above, and stack it so that it's not offset, but all flush left in that alignment. That's it. I look forward to your next iteration! DB

[gr8ful1]

These are both nice designs. upon first comparison my eye leaned toward the second, I think because the tree was a recognizable photo, and the photo on your first design was harder to see. I like trying to stagger the navigation bar on the first one, but I think you should stagger all four buttons, it looks a little off with the resources tab being aligned on the left by itself. Your body copy is also hard to read, a darker color would help.
The only thing that stands out to me on the second design is your footer, with the tabs/spaces you have in between your words it looks like it's not aligned in any way. Maybe just centering it and making the spacing more uniform could help.

[ariaaearnest]

Hello Kami

Your first layout your about is really hard to read. When using text on backgrounds try to avoid putting light text on light backgrounds. The color for your text was so light I actually didn't see your about at first! Your buttons on the side seems kinda spread about too and don't really match up.

Your second design is much better. The layout is much stronger. I would still make your text color a bit darker for the bottom text. I also feel like your about me is too close to you picture and could use a little spacing down. I think you photograph is good.

I would definitely go with you second design.

[ravens.way]

I like the simple layout in your first design. It has a classic feel when you look at it. The paragraph is difficult to see without a background color for the text.

I like the style of your second site. The font could be darkened up a bit to make it easier to read.

[dbranby]

Hi, Kami! Though you said you were struggling a bit, both of these designs can quickly become successful with just a few tweaks. For me, I'm drawn to the cohesiveness of the second version. It's very easy to navigate; there's a real atmosphere to it; and it accomplishes everything on the checklist.

I'd make the "About Me" header just a bit smaller, as the real story is your name -- Basque, I would imagine -- so I'd probably encourage you to have fun with the subhead and let it tell a bit of a story, so even if people don't get around to reading your body copy, you will still have made an impression.

You're off to a really strong start. I look forward to seeing what's next!