gave the site a little face lift

[Jarrod1937]

If i may offer an opinion.

When i first visit the site i am greeted with too much information that seems like it was just thrown on. Because of this, me, the customer, has no focus whatsoever, and am confused where to go. The next thing that i felt would be logical, would be to click on each banner, thinking they were links to their relative sections, but alas, they seem to be a single large image that is for display. I then finally get around to using the navigation on the top bar, which feels like it is not separated enough.

From here, there are a few things to note:

1.) Your collage on the front page, because of the titles and the separation, give the customer the impression that it is for navigation. If you want it just for display, group them together more and takeout the titles. Or make them navigation.

2.) Your actual navigation bar on top does not give the impression of actually beign navigation. Navigational elements need separation for each one that exist.

http://www.factorydirectcraft.com

 

As you can see with ours, we placed |'s in between each nav item for a nice visual separation, the .'s on your site are not prominent enough to offer the same impression of separation. You should do something similar or you could use color...etc for appropriate separation.

 

The rest of your site has a great layout, it seems to only be your home page that feels disorganized. And not sure if its been mentioned already, but the main fashion nav item gives me a 404.

 

p.s. Great pictures! I've dabbled in photography myself, yours are quite a bit better!:

 

http://jarrodchristman.com/gallery/3d1.php...cat=Photography

[lindsayanng]

I am actually cutting that image to make it into links to the different categories. I am just deciding whether or not to link it tot he weddings section in the portfolio or the catalog part.

 

The catalog part is actually NOT the home page.. the REAL home page is at bscphoto.com - i just am not technically allowed to ask for feedback on that part of the site, as it doesnt use oscommerce.

 

So the customer who is looking to hire a photographer comes across our site.. they land on bscphoto.com/index.htm THAT is what they will see.. From there, they can click through and see the different portfolio parts to the site and by looking at the samples of his images, decide if they want to hire him or not.. Then they can use the contact form to contact for more information. *I am making a pricing page as we speak btw because its definitely not prominent enough

 

Basically, a customer would only arrive at the "print shop" section if they had already commissioned a photo shoot and want to purchase prints of the photos that were already taken specifically for them. The other way a customer would arrive at the print shop section was if they were invited to a wedding where the bride registered at bscphoto and they decided put money in the bride's bscphoto account as a gift (which is a neat feature we added btw)

 

p.s. Great pictures! I've dabbled in photography myself, yours are quite a bit better!:

 

Well, my husband is actually the photographer.. And while he m ight have more on you in the photography field, you video game graphics are AMAZING>

[PESI]

Home page is not always the page where visitors start their journey on a website.

 

Most visitors will find pages within the site in the search engines - that's why it is crucial to have a simple and clear navigation.

 

I visited a lot of websites - and kind of got 'frustrated' with yours. :blink:

 

This just my opinion. :blush: Don't take it personal.

 

Btw. I really like the pics - your husband is very talented.

[jhande]

Less is best and an easy to understand and follow menu\navigation is important.

 

Just as an example of a fairly easy menu\navigation and not too much on the site, take a look here - Achber Studio.

 

Maybe something will inspire.

[lindsayanng]

JHandle, i understand what you are saying, but the site that you linked to - in my opnion, has just as much, if not MORE of a confusing menu bar.. It seems like Portraiture is main catgory, it isnt clickable, but there are no other "main categories"

 

Anyways, I was thinking.. What if i removed the "portfolio" link form the top because all the links in the black bar are portfolio links.. Then make some kind of heading for the portfolio links on that black box.. So if it looked as it does now, but instead, it would clearly show that all links inside the black bar are links to portfolio pages.. Then all the links in the white are simply "non-portfolio" or "informational" links. Links that dont really SHOW you images, but give you information on contact, hiring, bio, ect.

 

Then, i can change the "galleries" header to something else.. Any suggestions? The categories in that box are simply all of the photo shoots that were commissioned by customers. Some are private, some are not..

 

The reason all of the links are like that is because we wanted the html part of the site and the php part (the oscommerce part) to always have links available for all parts of the site at all time. I cant imagine another way of showing the links to the portfolio where they can get there in one click from any part of the site!

 

If you had time, come up with the quick box layout for me so i can understand better.. I am just completely confused that people are getting lost! I'm sure its because i made it with a certain flow in mind.