David Doran Media .com Design

[daviddoran]

I just put up a new design for my website with new content.
For way too long I just had a holding page with a link to my blog but I want to get more of my work and photography etc. online.

Anyway, take a look if you will. I mainly designed it quickly and simply to put emphasis on the content.

David Doran Media

 

[mneylon]

What's the box at the top right meant to be?

 

[daviddoran]

It's a search box. I should probably label it somehow, in the design I wanted it to remain as simple as possible.
It probably doesn't help that the search doesn't work at the moment.

 

[mneylon]

Don't ever presume that people will know

You need to make things obvious unless you are so well known that people are queuing up to buy your services

 

[daviddoran]

Yes, that;s definitely true and I'll have to label it somewhere.

At least the search is operational now, not much to search though,

 

[louie]

nice and simple. I like it.

 

[fieldcorbett]

Its a fine personal site - might look a little nicer if there was more content on the homepage, it just seems a bit compact to me.

Nice and fast response too.

des

 

[daviddoran]

Thanks, I do need to beef up the front and generally increase the amount of content.
I've integrated wordpress into the main site now which I like alot more than my old orphaned blog.

Also, out of interest does anyone have any suggestions for articles on the site, such as Apache/PHP or HTML/CSS related articles aimed at webmasters / web developers.

 

[enzo]

A little too plain and too blue for my own personal tastes. Content could probably do with a rewrite e.g. on a variety of projects and jobs

The blog page, I think, needs more space between the navigation and the content.

IMO.

 

[TheMenace]

I'd be inclined to jazz up the design a little bit - it's very bland. Although, being a developer myself and not a designer, I know this can be tough. Do what I usually do - get a designer to do the design and concentrate on the code

 

[daviddoran]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am not a designer at all, and I think it at least lucks respectable. Not so long ago everything would have clashed, my aim this time was simply to design something that could deliver content.

Getting a designer on board would be great, there's nothing like the great consistent work a good designer can create, and then to get your developer hands on it!

@menace: Did you get a designer to do your homepage? The top graphic is really great.

@enzo: Do you think I should do more detailed write-ups of projects and jobs?

 

[TheMenace]

@menace: Did you get a designer to do your homepage? The top graphic is really great.

Yes, t'was a designer friend of mine. Wouldn't attempt to design anything myself. Ever.

 

[writie]

Yes, it is a bit, um, bare.

Personal peeve: I hate sites that start with the word "welcome". It's a sure sign that nothing else of interest is on that page. And true enough, your blog seems to show someone with an opinion that I wouldn't know about if I just accepted your welcome. Maybe you should scrap the welcome and use the blog as the homepage. This is basically what I suggested to a client of mine, Serge Pegoff at opposites-meet.com

M