Experiment in personal growth + functionality

[Vectortrance]

Hi everyone.
I've been asked to build a website for a local band called "Bathing In Sanity". They are just starting out but they are really good and I wanted to give them a fun and immersive website that would allow for functionality and easy navigation as well.

Let me give you a bit of info here:

This is the first flash website I've built to be full screen. It's scalable (to some extent. Anyone with a resolution smaller than 1024x768 is going to have trouble, as this is the minimum requirements that will be set.)
It's also got some browser functionality, wherein the back and forward buttons work when navigating to different sections. (I'm having issues making it work in FF but in IE it seems okay)

I'd really appreciate some feedback on functionality and general layout.
(Please keep in mind that this site is in the very early stages of development. I wanted to convey a sense of fun and playfulness, so please let me know if I've achieved this so far)

www.vectortrance.com/bathinginsanity/ (http://www.vectortrance.com/bathinginsanity/)

Thanks in advance!

[travis]

It was pretty nice, nice logo I will probably have more to say once you add some content.

[Vectortrance]

I'm having difficulty making the site work with firefox, while disabling the need to click and activate the active content in IE, all the while maintianing browser functionality... GRRR

[chrisclick]

That is pretty cool... I like the buttons entrance.

[evildrummer]

I like it all, but there is no content so I cant say anything about transitions, typography or not alot about layout, Other than that I think its a very nice site, works fine in ff

[ya3]

Heh, you have fractals like me :thumb:

[Anogar]

Why to the content buttons drop down if there is nothing there? Rather useless. I look forward to seeing it with content, but right now I think the biggest issue is a rather lackluster and slow navigation system. Good start. :thumb:

[Ikaroff]

I like the design, the loading is great and so are the dropdown menus. It looks very nice 'n' smooth..

One question: How do you change the options that appear when you right-click on the page? So it says something else than "zoom in, zoom out, quality, etc."?

[Vectortrance]

I like it all, but there is no content so I cant say anything about transitions, typography or not alot about layout, Other than that I think its a very nice site, works fine in ff
Thanks a bunch :goatee:

[Vectortrance]

I like the design, the loading is great and so are the dropdown menus. It looks very nice 'n' smooth..

One question: How do you change the options that appear when you right-click on the page? So it says something else than "zoom in, zoom out, quality, etc."?

Hehe yeah, that was tricky to find. I looked up tutorials. I'm pretty sure that is not a Kirupa tut. I'd recommend you do a search for it on google, something to the effect of "Customzing right click in flash mx2004" or something like that. Its basically just actionscript.

[Vectortrance]

Why to the content buttons drop down if there is nothing there? Rather useless. I look forward to seeing it with content, but right now I think the biggest issue is a rather lackluster and slow navigation system. Good start. :thumb:

I like to build from the outside and work in, so I started with the architecture before delving into the content. ( It sucks when you spend all your time on something only to find out that it doesnt work)

All the individual pages are loaded externally, which means I've got a lot of pages to build.
I left the rest of the dropdowns there so the client could see and then formulate how many links they wanted per dropdown.

..besides, they are fun to play with :b:

[Sinister Rouge]

I like the design, the loading is great and so are the dropdown menus. It looks very nice 'n' smooth..

One question: How do you change the options that appear when you right-click on the page? So it says something else than "zoom in, zoom out, quality, etc."?

Check here... http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorial/Customize-the-Flash-Context-Menu-a.k.a.-Right-Click-Menu/13601

[Lounge]

Cool menus, and generally really nice design. The background colour is pretty daring, very girly, but it looks good. The orange mainwindow background looks cool. The logo stands out, pink and red together I think is a little akward

[Vectortrance]

Cool menus, and generally really nice design. The background colour is pretty daring, very girly, but it looks good. The orange mainwindow background looks cool. The logo stands out, pink and red together I think is a little akward

Thank you for mentioning that, Lounge. I tried it on a few different computers and was shocked to find what a difference there was in display. Turns out, the computer I use to design is a piece of junk, and the colors all show up quite desaturated. Its a wonder it looks as nice as it does, because it looks very different at home.

Any suggestions for a new background color?

[hetlicht]

Hi Vectortrance,

Nice work mate! I do have a couple suggestions though.

Colors:

I had to do a search and then try to find MP3's on who "Bathing in Sanity" was and what genre/sound they were. I came up with metal and on that will then suggest maybe a much darker red - blood red - or maroon background. I personally would have went with blacks in the range of 78%-100%, maroon - 100% and experimented with various shades and different reds to see what color palette made the most sense.

I really like the darker reds and pallette you have chosen for their logo and menu/navigation and inside graphic.



Navigation:

The drop down menu needs to have a larger button "HIT" state or maybe sub-menu content? I think users would get annoyed that the menu's current HIT state drops so far away from the mouse, that you then have to navigate down to get to it, but I'm sure with sub's this won't be a problem.

I really dig the menus bump in animation and "rocker" or side motion animation when they first come in and then "rock" down. Thats super nice.

Final Thoughts:

Also have you tried experimenting, with roses, skulls, cosse's etc in the design? It might add a nice touch as supportive "metal" elements.

Overall good feel so far and I'll book this thread and keep coming back to see what you've done with it.


Cheers - Steve

[Vectortrance]

Hi Vectortrance,

Nice work mate! I do have a couple suggestions though.

Colors:

I had to do a search and then try to find MP3's on who "Bathing in Sanity" was and what genre/sound they were. I came up with metal and on that will then suggest maybe a much darker red - blood red - or maroon background. I personally would have went with blacks in the range of 78%-100%, maroon - 100% and experimented with various shades and different reds to see what color palette made the most sense.

I really like the darker reds and pallette you have chosen for their logo and menu/navigation and inside graphic.



Navigation:

The drop down menu needs to have a larger button "HIT" state or maybe sub-menu content? I think users would get annoyed that the menu's current HIT state drops so far away from the mouse, that you then have to navigate down to get to it, but I'm sure with sub's this won't be a problem.

I really dig the menus bump in animation and "rocker" or side motion animation when they first come in and then "rock" down. Thats super nice.

Final Thoughts:

Also have you tried experimenting, with roses, skulls, cosse's etc in the design? It might add a nice touch as supportive "metal" elements.

Overall good feel so far and I'll book this thread and keep coming back to see what you've done with it.


Cheers - Steve



Wow, thanks Steve, those were great suggestions! I'll take them into account!