Fish kids

[jeffonfire]

I have got the sketch of fish kids. A site i am designing.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/new%20with%20colors.png

Give me Critiques and comments.:beam:
And yes this is just a new name and face for Jfish.

[Esoltas]

Color choice is horrible. Try kuler or colourlovers.

[Pasquale]

Not readable, because there is not enough contrast. The colours do not complement each other, and the layout seems flat, because there is nothing structural about it.

[jeffonfire]

Esoltas it is colorlovers!:to: :to: :to:

I will work on the colors.

[mikken]

I think you could put some more effort in the waves at the top.

It's a little scary that you didn't see that the colors didn't harmonize, because it's really almost THE worst combination possible. But now that you're working on it, you'll learn. Read some basics on the subject as well.

I think the bottom nav is a waste, find something else to hold up that space - just because other sites has those menu-items doesn't mean it's a good idea for your site.

but the most important thing is that you finish this project, put in some content! You can tweak things you're not satisfied with later.

[haam]

http://colorblender.com/ - is my favorite color blending tool.

[jeffonfire]

nice color tool.☺

I think that my screen is showing colors weird.:blush: I am not sure.

I am not feeling to well so this will take a wile.

[Pasquale]

No screen could offset the colours by that much. Even IF your screen sucked, you'd still know a terrible combination if you saw it.

You seriously need to learn some art theory..

[dr_vroeg]

owww!! red and blue!!

[jeffonfire]

I want to hear what you say about this color scheme for it.
http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/colors.png

[dr_vroeg]

start with the name of the site. Fish Kids, what is the site for? do fish have anything to do with it? start with the content and build the site around that.

[zellers]

I honestly don't like the first color scheme at all, but the second one isn't that bad, and yeah, what's up with the name?

[jeffonfire]

This is a site were Cristian teens/tween can hang out.
You know "fish→Jesus→Cristian".☺

[Pasquale]

That colour scheme (new one) looks interesting, but it'd take some skill to pull it off.

I'd recommend you start off with something more harmonious, rather than analogous, because I can see it going pretty yicky if it's not given thought.

[jeffonfire]

Ok i will try to make a new one after school today.

I am in the (USA) for time zone issues.

[Pneumonic]

Firstly, I agree with everyone else about the colors and the design, but I have some other concerns as well.

How are you designing the site? What is it's purpose - aside from it being a place for teens to hang out? Is it going to be more forum oriented? Or are you going more blog oriented? Or are you trying to do a social networking (myspace/facebook) type site?

All of these questions could alter your design significantly and it could possibly make your work easier. If you're going for a blog, then find a good blogging software - my preference is wordpress (http://wordpress.org), but you take your pick - and find a theme you like, and just tweak out the header and a few colors. If you're going for a forum, do the same thing. If you're going for a social networking site, good luck. Actually, there's an open source software called elgg (http://elgg.org/) that could be of some use to you. I've never used it so I can't attest to it's useful/uselessness. Again, they may have themes.

It's cool that you're getting into this at such a young age, but you need to be aware of things like this before you jump into a site. Also, I may not get any backup on this one, but if you're making a site accessible to a lot of people, make it standards compliant. The site you have right now is simple enough, but doesn't validate right now. A few tweaks would have you there. Just my 2 cents.

[jeffonfire]

Well its not a forum and its not a blog and its not like myspace.

Its kinda like http://www.answersingenesis.org/

I am still working on the colors.☺

[jeffonfire]

I now have the new color scheme!
http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/newcolors.png

[Pneumonic]

So it's an informative site? Will you be doing regular updates to it?

Find yourself a CMS. Joomla and Drupal are both good I'm told. I use Wordpress because it can be customized to be a CMS. I think that's going to be your best bet, but I could be wrong. Those colors go well together, but be careful of where you use them and good luck! Let us know when we can see more!

[jeffonfire]

Do Joomla or Drupal allow you at add your own scripts in PHP or JS?

Thanks i will most likely use these colors.

[Pasquale]

Dude, it takes an epic team of skilled individuals to run a site like that. Maybe you should start small and then bump it up as your skills get better.

[jeffonfire]

No no it will not be at that scale! It will be smaller.

What do you think of the new colors?

[haven]

it burns. ok. i dont like the waves. and this is for teens? ok. well first thing is first. figure out what will make them want to go there vs. myspace, etc. and do you even know any coding? how is this site going to work? feel free to tell me;)

[suvenier]

I would sugest a soft color scheme if you insist so much on the colors.

[jeffonfire]

Yes i do know codeing (css, html, php, and visual basic)

And this is for the younger teens/tweens.

[Pneumonic]

Yes they both do and they both have great documentation. Drupal has so many plugins that you may not have to do any scripting yourself at all. Also, while your color scheme is decent, I really think you should re-think it. I looked at it a few more times and it'd be really hard to pull that off. IMHO, you should stick to one color and adjust the shades of it - but not for text, use black for text. I really think you're jumping in head first on this one. You should take some time to research other organizations and the software package you will be using and then attempt this in a few months. Again, just my opinion. Both Drupal and Joomla have a learning curve. I borked my Drupal installation 10 times when I first got it and Joomla... Well Joomla's learning curve is quite steep. They have a million options and it's awesome, but very intimidating for a first time user. If you want a less steep learning curve, again I'd say go Wordpress and use pages, not posts for your content. Good luck.

[jeffonfire]

The new sketch with the new colors.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/new%20with%20colors.png

[haven]

better. still, the waves dont look appealing. make them all the same.

The new sketch with the new colors.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/new%20with%20colors.png

[Theros]

What about Textpattern? That's a real full fledged CMS from the getgo.. although, it does take some learning to get used to it. BTW, Get a softer, brighter color scheme!

[Pasquale]

No no it will not be at that scale! It will be smaller.

What do you think of the new colors?

U'll want to make sure you are targeting the demographic appropriately. Right now, the design looks like it's from a 3 year old's crayon sketchbook.

Plan the WHOLE thing out before you design it.

[jeffonfire]

Ok since you don't like the waves I have redrawn them.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wavestogether.png

[wes_design]

This is a site were Cristian teens/tween can hang out.
You know "fish?Jesus?Cristian".?
wait didn't you post this site earlier?

[Pasquale]

Ok since you don't like the waves I have redrawn them.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wavestogether.png
The waves are faceted. Smooth them out, and add rhythm so they flow into each other.

[ajcates]

yea dark is right, planing is everything, also layout is very important, sketch it out on paper and once you have a nice layout going, figure out a color scheme that will work with it. The fine tune it, and send it to kirupa and get beat up, redo it all and repeat till you have a nice looking site.

[haam]

http://www.quantonics.com/Quantonics%20Site%20GIFs/Making_Waves.gif

seriously man! get with it! you're ignoring the WIND QUANTONS!

[haven]

you can do several things with the waves.. you can make them different
http://thumb5.shutterstock.com/photos/display_pic_with_logo/437/437,1176873464,2.jpg
....You can make it just a wavy line with some depth so it doesnt take to much attention away from content.
http://thumb4.shutterstock.com/photos/display_pic_with_logo/65409/65409,1165545706,12.jpg
....OR. You could do something else. lol.

[jeffonfire]

Yes i see, looks like i am restarting again!:geek:

Yes you are right wes_deisgn. This is just a redesign of it.

Here the new shapes are.
http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/shapes.png

[haven]

i like the first of the two, but you could make both work.

[Pasquale]

Yes i see, looks like i am restarting again!:geek:

Yes you are right wes_deisgn. This is just a redesign of it.

Here the new shapes are.
http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/shapes.png
It's an improvement, but it still lacks flow

[jeffonfire]

yea ok

[zellers]

Well, I can see your going to spend all the time in the world, planning (that's a good thing). I wish I could do that, I always get bored, and make one plan, and stick with that, as I am biased over other people ideas most of the time.

[jeffonfire]

here we go with the redo on the waves.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/new%20with%20colors.png

[Pneumonic]

Granted this is a very stylized way of drawing, but you should check out Hokusai's The Great Wave (http://www.andreas.com/hokusai.html).

You're waves lack flow. There's no motion to it. Putting a row of half c's on the page doesn't make a wave. Sit down and draw a wave. Use that site I posted to study those waves. Look at the flow of them. Notice that there are multiple waves in front of each other. Add some foam. But do something. I hate to rip it apart, but if you're on your 4th or 5th attempt at these waves, you may need to sit down for a while and either re-think the design or really throw some effort at them, because these look the same as some of the others you posted. Sorry dude.

[mikken]

argh. You just make these teeny tiny steps each time you post. The waves still lack flow, and you haven't put your new colors to the test yet, it's basically still the same page you started with.

Leave the waves and colors for a while, work with the content, then return to the waves and colors. Looking at something too long will make you blind, you need to refocus to see if what you've done is good enough.
Make som decisions on your own, you don't need approval for every change you make.

try harder.

[wes_design]

argh. You just make these teeny tiny steps each time you post. The waves still lack flow, and you haven't put your new colors to the test yet, it's basically still the same page you started with.

Leave the waves and colors for a while, work with the content, then return to the waves and colors. Looking at something too long will make you blind, you need to refocus to see if what you've done is good enough.
Make som decisions on your own, you don't need approval for every change you make.

try harder.

Yes... listen to him my little fire cracker... one who looses their flame walks in the dark but one who tries to gathers sticks for the future will have great fire real long long long time:asian:

[Pasquale]

Also, don't just grab any random pallete and think= oh wow, sweet a pallete. I'm going to use it, even though I don't have the slightest clue how to use one!!

Pallets are for inspiration. You don't juts slot solid random colours from the pallete into a design. You use them as a guide to pick similar colours. If you find one which seems to flow niceley, take advantage of it, and figure out what makes it work. When you know this, then start using it to decorate.

[wes_design]

When you know this, then start using it to decorate.
^Decorate??
uhmmmm I think he is designing a web page not his house

he is not working for discovery channel nor is he Ryan Seacrest...:mountie:

[zellers]

I still must say, your waves are getting better and better though, each time that you put them up. ^ as the others say though, they do still lack "flow" and "motion."

[jeffonfire]

O um about adding content should i do it on the sketch up or on a html page?

also i need some help with the color stuff, some tutorials hint, hint.

<i have been busy with other things for a wile>

[Pneumonic]

Try http://www.colourlovers.com/. Pick out a scheme and it'll help you out greatly.

[jeffonfire]

ok never mind. :sigh: that was not what I meant.

School has me going very slow on this, but it is coming along. I should have this fixed up with the content soon. Also I have been looking at those waves you showed me.

[Pasquale]

^Decorate??
uhmmmm I think he is designing a web page not his house

he is not working for discovery channel nor is he Ryan Seacrest...:mountie:
Yes. Decorating= adding in the pretty elements to dress it up.

[jeffonfire]

AAA i made the best waves yet!

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg

[ajcates]

getting there, the dark blue lines on the left need some work tho

[Pasquale]

AAA i made the best waves yet!

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg
The contour on the left seems nice, but the curve on the right doesnt work, and the foam is too sharp!

[hybrid101]

not bad, but the lighter lines are way too jagged. i like the flow of the water though;)

[jeffonfire]

ok i worked on that.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg

If this is not changed I think that my site is not uploading the pic.

[ajcates]

Make the dark blue lines on the right a little smother and you got your self some good waves, next step is to incorporate them into your web site design.

[Pasquale]

ok i worked on that.

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg

If this is not changed I think that my site is not uploading the pic.
Dude, their still wayyyy to faceted, and don't run along the flowline of the wave.

It's all about rhythm.

[jeffonfire]

This must sound stupid but what does faceted mean?:blush:

I edit the wave a very little bit: http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg

[Theros]

This must sound stupid but what does faceted mean?:blush:

Dictionary.com is your friend and mentor.

[jeffonfire]

I looked it up and it talked about beads and diamonds.:ponder:

[CriTiCeRz]

Dude how old are you?

[Pasquale]

I looked it up and it talked about beads and diamonds.:ponder:
Angular and jagged.

If you run your eye over the flow through the wave, through to the tips of the foam, it's really rigid and doesn't hold a smooth trasnsition. Just imagine every point sitting along a general 'flow line', and then run everything relative to that.|
C:-)

[jeffonfire]

OK(-:

[Theros]

OK(-:

Stop, do something new.

[DanontheMoon]

@Darkmotion - It's really cool of you to take the time to help that kid out.
Genuine decency ftw.

[jeffonfire]

This is the design without the new waves:

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/newest.png

[Theros]

This is the design without the new waves:

http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/newest.png


No offense, your spelling is quite awesome there (basically if you can't understand sarcasm, your spelling really sucks)... In other words, You still need to learn some layout... Have you studied some inspirational sites yet?

[DanontheMoon]

I before E except after C. :beam:

[jeffonfire]

Funny:sure: yea i am a bad spaller <see

I have not looked at inspirational sites for this one yet. Will do.:+)

Do you mean the foam or the water is faceted?

[jeffonfire]

darkmotion? answer please.

[ajcates]

still the colors are bad, also maybe you should try these kinda waves instead, as I think they would be easier to put into a site.

http://www.marine.maine.edu/~eboss/classes/SMS_491_2003/waves/wave_a.jpg


spell check is your best friend

[Pasquale]

darkmotion? answer please.
If I remember- When I'm back from university tommorow, I'll try and draw you a quick diagram of flowlines, so it becomes a bit easier to understand how it all fits together :)

[jeffonfire]

Ok thanks. You are being very helpful!:)

[indiasfinest]

The link is hard to see, where your email is, just a thought, majority of the sites I see today that I actually like, have some glossy or at least three dimensional look to it, you might want to work on some gradients, the layout is really flat, it doesn't "blend" if you know what I mean.

[Pasquale]

I've drawn up a real quick thing, but I can't scan it until my scanning machine is finished rendering a 3d project.

SHOULD be rendered by tommorow.

[jeffonfire]

OK
=)

[ajcates]

I've drawn up a real quick thing, but I can't scan it until my scanning machine is finished rendering a 3d project.

SHOULD be rendered by tommorow.
Your scanner can render 3d images?? no way what kind of a scanner do you have??

[indiasfinest]

haha, i cant tell which one of the two will look like a bigger dumb ***

[t0mm0]

Your scanner can render 3d images?? no way what kind of a scanner do you have??

The Machine which he has his scanner attached to is rendering a 3d image.

[Pasquale]

The Machine which he has his scanner attached to is rendering a 3d image.
Correctorino:b:

Sorry Jeff, I might have to do this tommorow. I have to comp together some animation for university tonight (last day of uni for 4 months tommorow!!!!).

I'll get around to it - I've stuck it up on my monitor so i remember. :)

[ajcates]

t0mm0 you my friend are a buzzkill, I knew that a scanner can't render a 3d image, I was only trying to have some fun.

[Pasquale]

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/1698/84752146wy1.jpg
Currently your waves lack rhythm and flow and seem to scatter all over the joint. You need to establish a line of action in order to maintain this.
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9933/96171912pb4.jpg

Try to develop a decent length in the flow lines and let the wave sit along it. It also pretty much applies to anything. There is no exact science to working out the flow of a form- you can find countless lines through it. Just make sure to keep the flow smooth and sweeping and as simplified as possible.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/12/60592252pi4.jpg
:)

[SethBerg]

I like where jeff was going with this wave
http://petersweb.strokemymouse.com/wave.jpg

it kinda looks like traditional japanese waves
http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/wavejapan2.jpg

[ajcates]

I like where is going to with it, its just that darkmotion adds so much to it and where he can go with it..

[Pasquale]

Those Japanese waves are a good example. They still follow the basic principles of rhythm and flow though.

The little fancy bits at the tips all work to support the generality of it :)

[jeffonfire]

Ok, I think I see what you mean. So should make the wave tip thingeys all flow in one general direction?

In this thing:http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9933/96171912pb4.jpg
In the top thing I the first one goes in 2 directions and the others don't. Does that mean the first one in an example of not good?

[Pasquale]

That image just shows how broad the flow lines should be. You can have multiple flow lines running through a form, but they should all be broad. They can travel in different directions as well ;)

[plashbydo]

I cannot really comment until there is more to comment
on - what is this site all about anyway?
what you have produced so far is OK but very lacking
and need alot more work putting into it
perhaps you should have worked on this one more before
throwing it to the lions?

Keep going - you can turn this one around!!!

[jeffonfire]

I am working on the waves and their incoperation into the design.

I am going slow :sigh: But it is winter and i have school.

[jeffonfire]

I now understand more about wave flow. I wish I had a scanner, I am better at drawing by hand than on the computer.

[Templarian]

... Use vector then or get yourself a wacom for christmas.

[shane-c]

I'd say get a scanner... If you feel like your hand-drawing is better, it could actually be really cool to use it on your site. You'd just have to pull it off well.

[jeffonfire]

I think that i will not put the fomy part on the top of the waves because it does not enhance the style i am trying to make.