Opinions please

[Kenny]

Hello Review!!
I'm building this for a friend.
Its not finished by any means, but I'd
like some input on layout/nav/basic feel.

Slightly updated version here.
http://www.shopmusclecars.com/

Thanks.

Peace,
Cyberian

 

[ApocComputing]

Url?

 

[circa1850]

Here kitty, kitty, kitty...

give us a URL.

Nice kitty.

 

[Dan]

Someone forgot the domain.. Oops :x

:red:

 

[Kenny]

Slightly updated version here.
http://www.shopmusclecars.com/

 

[circa1850]

kind of like how you slipped in that, "ok, please look again" thing like it was a hocus pocus magic trick. Pretty slick indeed.

This is by no means a fair question...Review.

You are going to throw a bunch of classic vintage cream puff 70's muscle cars in front of my face and ask me not to look at those but look at the web site?

Oh, no...I didn't look at any of the 19 photos of the white on red 1969 Pontiac Firebird convertible. Oh, no...you had no idea this was my absolute most favorite car from the 60's.

It sucks! I want mine in Blue.

 

[Tippy]

I'm not sure I like the table borders myself and is the middle section ment to be off center or at least thats how it looks via IE.

 

[Kenny]

Hey guys thanks,

Slightly updated version here.
http://www.shopmusclecars.com/

The table on the left of the index is a placeholder for the verticle nav.
I am building a drop down to replace that. The index isnt even close, the car pages are mostly finished.. I have not locked anything down and show 3 or 4 different looks to get a feel for the best one. The wood bg, or the leather bg,
the stone page names or not, stuff like that.

Thanks for the input, dont be shy about calling what you see.

 

[missemmawatson]

it looks pretty good. its not the best ive seen but it doesnt look horrible either. you have done a very good job on it so far. i would definately like to see the finised product.

 

[circa1850]

dont be shy about calling what you see.

I like what I am seeing, but I think it will ultimately need to be hosted on a fast server due to all the layers.

Plus, I am getting two entirely different looks in FireFox an IE. IE is actually lined up nicely whereas FireFox skews the alignment of the graphics quite a bit.

The stone on the pages doesn't do a thing for me. Too many competing elements and textures trying to grab attention.

Not sure whether I like the woodgrain. Woodgrain is probably more appropriate for the 50's-60's Woodies more so than the 70's pavement ripping monsters. The brushed aluminum (chrome) plays off the black leather very well so I put my vote in on that.

I like the look and flow of http://www.shopmusclecars.com/Showroom.html. Starting to have the feel of some dashboard trimmings. Buttons looking like dashboard gauges would be a killer...and might just throw you into a tizzy.

Just thought I would throw my two cents in.

I want the 1969 Firebird Convertible, delivered with bow on top for Christmas.

 

[sdtrader]

I would format the the text on the main page into sections or chunks rather than a continuous paragraph if not already in the works. It makes for more easy reading. The Logo banner is exceptional and individual page logos are nice. The center section with the content seems a little narrow but I have tendency towards wider sites.

 

[Damion]

I hope you wanted an honest review Cyberian?

I don't like it. The design looks terrible in my opinion with the textures and just the overall look it looks like an old back in the day website. Like when the Internet was just invented

The big continues paragraph is just wanting me to click away and it reads horribly.

Never ever make such lengthy texts on a page, always break up your text in paragraphs.
And even then such info should be on a "About Us" page and not on the front page.
The logo is also a prime candidate for improvement

I know this sounds very harsh and you have spend some considerable amount of time on it but i would start all over again with a whole other look and feel.

There is also a spelling error in your top menu.

Make SMC Yout Homepage

And why place a "Bookmark Us" menu option if you already have such a option?
It's like having two "Home" buttons next to each other.
That wouldn't make any sense.

Once again i would start all over again.

My apologies for being so direct.

 

[Kenny]

Thank you all for your opinions so far, and as this is
a work in progress I really appreciate you all taking
the time to comment, including Damion and any others
that see where things can be improved and are
honest enough to mention it.


http://www.shopmusclecars.com <<< least important right now

http://www.shopmusclecars.com/Showroom.html <<< most important

http://www.shopmusclecars.com/SMC_Blog.html <<< no idea how to intergrate this and keep the theme.

http://www.shopmusclecars.com/Downloads.html <<< suggestions for types of free D/L's that would interest the surfers landing here.

I have made some changes, please have a peek and
share any suggestions or criticisims you may have.

Also the Logo.... It needs serious help.
If anyone thinks they can clean it up (the arm is weak)
you would be welcome to try...

Please keep in mind the index page will be last, and
everything there is just temporary including the text.

The big questions atm are ... more wood or more leather?
More or less chrome and Black.

Remember who this site is targeted at. Those of you who
have ever been to a Muscle or Classic Car Show will have
noticed the general age group to be 30 plus, all the way to
really old.
The main reason for this is... this is a very expensive
hobby, and many participants are successful, mid life
men reliving a part of their youth.

I was there when the first GTO rolled off the line and fell
in love with it the first time I saw it.

So keep an eye to who the visitors will be when you
suggest changes.

circa1850, I hear you on the '69 drop top, she was
beautiful when we were kids, and she hasnt lost
a drop of beauty or charm in almost 40 years.
And the dashboard thing... I have explored countless
possibilities, as that was the first vision I had for this...
I'll send you some of my attempts if you like, maybe
a fresh perspective could revive the concept, but man
I couldnt find anything that worked and would fit.

btw, I get to drive these cars on occasion...
69 Fbird... Huntington Beach... beautiful girls
.......... ahhhhh ............Sweeeeeet...........
~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~*~^~

><><>< !!POP!! ><><>< Back to Reality ><><><><

.... really old guy driving the car ....

Oh well....

 

[sdtrader]

I don't see anything wrong with the logo-I like it. I must be an a old fogey or something.

Then again look at my choice of avatar?

 

[Damion]

The big questions atm are ... more wood or more leather?
More or less chrome and Black.

Loose the textures....
Start over

I have taken a look at the competitors in the SERP's for "muscle cars" and noticed a lot of these websites are back in the day websites.
( I guess those websites are build by back in the day guys )

Your current design is just another one.
This is your opportunity to stick out from the rest with a cleaner and fresher design.

Something with more oversight.
You really should take more importance to your index page since this will be your business card if you know what i mean?

Is there a monetization aspect with this site Cyberian?
If there is then presentation and design should be higher up on your priority list.

If a complete overhaul is not something that you are against i could give you some ideas if you can give me a clear description of the sites purpose and functions.

I could take a look at the site and have something made for you that would in my opinion look different from the rest and more easy on the eye.

I am not a professional coder by any means but i could fix something to give you an impression.
Just let me know

 

[circa1850]

Remember who this site is targeted at. Those of you who have ever been to a Muscle or Classic Car Show will have noticed the general age group to be 30 plus, all the way to really old. The main reason for this is... this is a very expensive hobby, and many participants are successful, mid life
men reliving a part of their youth.

So TRUE! When designing a web site, always keep in mind the target audience. I would say the demographics for the Muscle Car market points to the white male, early to mid 50's.

The reason I mention gauges is it seemed like you could not have enough gauges so everyone added their own gauges...on the dash, on the windowshield column, every where!

Round chrome gauges down the left hand side (remember them being on the windshield post so you could see them) large enough, maybe three total, with a slide show in them showing the inventory! Yeah, Baby. That's what I'm talkin bout! Could design this all day long but don't know how to pull it off.

Okay, I'll come to sunny Cal and we can be two old guys cruising in the '69 firebird wondering, "why aren't we picking up any chicks?"

 

[ajkendall]

i think the color scheme suits the purpose of the website but i think the whole thing needs centering, the navigation is basic but works well and is bold / in your face - which is a good thing

i think the banner could deffinitely do with some work and the font used for the title of the site looks a bit tacky

get rid of the background image it makes it look unprofessional and amateurish

is the bar going down the left supposed to be sticking out the left side of the page? i'm using FF to view it but the black bar looks out of place

other than that, it looks decent so far but a few improvements are needed

 

[Henryct]

Font size is too big (text and menu). Also, text is too long.


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