Starting a website. Need some opinions.

Trying to put together a website, so I can start getting some business with my artwork, video editing, etc. Just looking to get some opinions or things that might need to appeal to large numbers of people.

First off, here is the template I chose, with one of my pics up in the top corner:
dreamwalkerinc
(Changes will be made to the overall layout, later.)

Now, I need to know what kind of font to use for the header. I've narrowed it down to a few. Bear in mind that I'm going to add some effects to the lettering and stuff, but I'm looking for the basic font format. Which one of these appeal to you the most. Just pick one and call out which number number you like. (Forgot to add the numbers, before uploading. So just count. Lol.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...tChoices-1.jpg

Number one.

Since this is supposed to look professional and therefore somewhat "square" I would go with number 19 or number 3. Plus they go well with your layout.

Personally I like number 22 and number 1 though.

Wow, awesome. I like 1, 4 and 17. :)

1 is awesome, looks like it would go well with your idea of the site.

Looks like 1 has the most votes.

It would be cool if you posted some links to your art. :D

Sure. :)

Deviant Art

Music Videos / Video Editing

#1 both suits your style and is suitable as a website header most.

Hmm. Yeah, it does look like #1 is winning here. Hehe. Thanks, guys. I also have a poll going on Facebook. Taking all into consideration, I've narrowed it down to 1, 3, 5, 18 and 21. I should be able to make my decision from there, by the time I need to start sprucing it up in Photoshop. :thanks:

Wow your really good. :D

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs10/i/20...etypical_G.jpg

I love how you captured the essence of the mc. Donalds cake.

Thanks, dakotahnok!

And this is how things are shaping up, so far:
dreamwalkerinc

(Sign my guestbook! :>)

Also, here's a link to the new blog where I'm putting the best of my dreams over the years:
Dreamwalker Chronicles

Let me know what you think!

The site looks different. I like it!

I signed your guestbook and read some dreams. I commented on one of them.

You have so many talents!

The more extravagant the lettering on a website is, the more reluctant I am to pay much attention to it's content. Could be just me, though.

Looking really nice O! ;)

I'm short on time so I can't give this a thorough critique at the moment, but some things that stick out...

Some common mistakes made by newbish designers...
1. using fancy/ornate/cheesy/free downloadable fonts (opt for easier to read, simplistic, default style fonts)
2. enormous text (remember it's the internet, the reader is sitting less than a few feet away, there's no need for billboard size text)
3. multiple fonts (it's fine to have a few, one for the header, one for the info, just make sure it's not more than 2 - 3 and make sure they work well together)

So with that said...some suggestions...(assuming you can and are willing to make changes to the design)
1. maybe look for another font for the header (typography always gave me a helluva time)
2. shrink the size of the header, both the header text and the vertical scale (bring the dividing bar up further, shrink the image at top right corner)
3. bring the rest of the modules (navigation, image, right column) up to just beneath the header dividing bar...if possible (and it should be), fit everything up to the bottom of the picture in one screen without having to scroll down
4. play around with the nav buttons/style...currently, the style used makes the text harder to read
5. I'm not sure of the purpose of the image in the top right corner, other than being there just to look pretty, but it would be good if it had some functionality as well...and the colors clash just a tinge from the rest of the site. You could fix that easily though by adjusting the hue/saturation...it seems just a bit too much toward blue-indigo-purple. Might just be my eyes though.
6. also, maybe consider making your default font size smaller, it looks like it's 14 maybe? 12 is good though...the bigger the font sizes you use, the more amateurish the site is going to look.

All that aside I think it is really coming together nicely...truly a man of many talents. Great work! The artwork is really beautiful. ;)

Thanks for the suggestions, Nina! I will definitely consider them. :kiss:

I don't think that the lettering is extravagant. It looks pretty minamal to me. But thats just me.

Hi Oneioronaut,
I have had a quick look at your website via the link on this page & I'm quite impressed.
From what I have seen as a fellow artist myself is that you will have no problem with your work.
It is something I have thought of doing myself - i.e. my own website(s), but not necessarily to do with art. Have you any tips?
Are there any mistakes to avoid? Would you have done things any differently?
I have looked & reseached the internet, etc. Domain names / Hosting / SEO, etc. All the spiel.

I think the more you can publicise your website the better. I may be teaching you to suck eggs here, as you may know already. But if you can get established links via the main social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The more traffic you can get to your website will help with your search engine rank . This is like the 'holy grail' from what I have read.
However don't go paying for links yourself. There is a lot can be done with self-publicising.

Good luck.

Hey thanks, RobStar!
I'm not too sure what kind of tips I can give. I'm still kind of in the 'feeling out' stage of it all, really. So far, I've been seeming to get some pretty good feedback, as far as the design. It's not professional work, by any stretch, but I think it's decent. I'm thinking of changing the buttons on the left hand side - if I can figure out how - because I agree with Pan in that it makes the lettering a little harder to read than is necessary. I also might change the format of some of the photo albums into single pictures (see the Scraps/WIP section, how it's a single picture instead of matted on an album). That's just so I will be able to put captions on some of the individual pictures, which you can't do (with webstarts.com) when they are in photo album mode.

Other than that, I'm liking it. I've just ordered 500 custom business cards from vistaprint.com ($10), that should be here in a couple of weeks, and started up a facebook page for the website: Greg White - Dreamwalker Inc. - Wall | Facebook (HIT THAT 'LIKE' BUTTON!), so we'll see how things go. :)

Good luck with yours as well, if you decide to give it a shot. Webstarts.com will let you get your site started for free. Then, if you want to build upon it and get your own domain name, it's like $90 per year, which ain't bad. :)

White lol

:lol:

Seriously though, are any of those fonts free for commercial use? I think the first one isn't. I've seen it before somewhere I think.
Anyway, IMO the 11th one is the best without being too crazy. (Hopefully I counted that correctly).

Also, have you registered yourself as a business? Coz clients etc. will want Tax Invoices. I learned that very quickly lol (exact words Me: "I'll get you the invoice" Client: "Well good, coz if you don't you won't be getting any money")

And you should only pick your best pieces. Since you've got categories, I would probably have no more than 7 or so in each category and just have them a bit bigger.

Alternatively, have less categories, which will also clear up your menu. Then have all the category thumbnails on one page, but only have 5 or so in each section.

Atm it does look a little bit cluttered, unprofessional.
Even the top professionals might only have like 20 pictures on their site.

EDIT:
This your porno studio? :lol:
http://www.dreamwalkerinc.com/uploads/pg/Oneirotic.jpg

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Originally Posted by tommo

White lol

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I wonder if there is some unwritten rule that every single person I meet has to make that joke. Lol. So lame. :chuckle:

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Originally Posted by tommo

Seriously though, are any of those fonts free for commercial use? I think the first one isn't. I've seen it before somewhere I think.

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Details. Lol. Just got them off of various "free fonts" websites, so if they aren't, then I'll worry about it later.

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Originally Posted by tommo

Also, have you registered yourself as a business? Coz clients etc. will want Tax Invoices. I learned that very quickly lol (exact words Me: "I'll get you the invoice" Client: "Well good, coz if you don't you won't be getting any money")

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Yeah, I had the same conversation with Alex (DV Owner). I haven't, yet, but I will. As I told him, so far I haven't made any money off of the site, so I'm not too worried about it yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommo

And you should only pick your best pieces. Since you've got categories, I would probably have no more than 7 or so in each category and just have them a bit bigger.

Alternatively, have less categories, which will also clear up your menu. Then have all the category thumbnails on one page, but only have 5 or so in each section.

Atm it does look a little bit cluttered, unprofessional.
Even the top professionals might only have like 20 pictures on their site.

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I might agree with you on all that, outside of the fact that it's more a personal gallery first, and a 'store', second. I have thought about cleaning it up, though, and putting more in the Scraps/WIP section, than in the other categories. I'll take all of that into consideration, though. Thanks. :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by tommo

EDIT:
This your porno studio? :lol:

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Why, lookin for work? Lol.

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut

I wonder if there is some unwritten rule that every single person I meet has to make that joke. Lol. So lame. :chuckle:

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haha, yeah I just found it funny because I didn't expect your name to include either Greg, or White. Oneironaut suits much better :lol:

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Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Why, lookin for work? Lol.

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Hehe, well as a matter of fact....
Nah, Just when I first looked at it, it was like "Erotic Studios" haha