Your valued opinion, please

Winterchase

New Member
This is my second try, and I'm now thinking seriously about retiring from designing web pages. :p

http://www.myemc.com/enigma/

I plan to change the lettering in the name to chrome, as soon as I can find the eight individual letters I'll need, and the color of the links (in yellow) somehow bother me.

I value your opinions, be they good, bad or otherwise.

Thanks.

The demographics of my target audience are:

1. Age range - 55 - 70, male
2. Occupation - film/music/financial related
3. Attention span - measured in seconds
4. Dislikes - writers, the www, actors, and about everybody else who isn't worth a zillion dollars.
5. Total target audience (estimated) - 15,000, worldwide
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
1. I like the background image.
2. I somehow dont think the picture of the lady matches the look and feel of the rest of the site.
3. I think the site needs structure, and a navigation menu, rather than having everything on the one page.
 

RAJO

New Member
i'm with ian 100%
+ the red text is hard 2 read on a dark bg
i like the stable bg
 

Winterchase

New Member
Ian, Rajo - thanks!

Thanks for your input. I honestly expected, and wanted, more negatives but I appreciate the ones you did make.

That picture of the lady with the magic jar, true, she doesn't match the BG pic. She was actually a "left-over" from the 1st page I tried and I intend on changing it when I find something that moves me.

On the red being hard to read, again I agree. I'm going to try chrome and see how that looks. Problem is, finding letters that look "real," not dull gray and black. Any idea of where I might be able to find them?

On having a navigation menu: The problem is the viewer I'm going after. They live in a pressure cooker and time (and temper) is in short supply. A screenwriter's page has to be like a real estate ad in the newspaper; make it reasonably pleasing to look at and say something short and original that'll get 'em to walk in the door!

He/she won't spend more than an initial ten to fifteen seconds looking and even then, only the titles and loglines will attract their attention. It's all they're there after - to look at loglines, those ten to sixty (no more) word blurbs that will decide a writer's ultimate fate. If one catches their eye, then they might want to look at a writing sample. It's a complicated process from there on out.

So, my logic was that having to navigate through the site to check out a logline, well, I kind of felt that wouldn't work because of the time demand. e.g. - shoot both barrels on the first page.

Again, thanks, and please take additional shots at it when you have the time.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
Ulead's Cool 3d will make metal letters for you. http://www.ulead.com

The studio version costs a bit more but the other version isn't that expensive. I might have some freeware I've tried on my computer that will do it, too but I can't remember if it made good metallic textures or not.
 

Winterchase

New Member
Will appreciate it

StephanieCordray said:
Ulead's Cool 3d will make metal letters for you. http://www.ulead.com

The studio version costs a bit more but the other version isn't that expensive. I might have some freeware I've tried on my computer that will do it, too but I can't remember if it made good metallic textures or not.

"Ulead's Cool 3d" sounds like the name of a rapper.

I will appreciate anything you can suggest, Stephanie. "Freeware" of course got my attention but if I'm going to do this right, I know it'll probably end up costing. Please send the URL when you have the time.

Here's one that'll, "... kick yer hat in the creek," as they say around here in the mountains of North Carolina. I got an e-mail this morning, off my site, and it was from not a major player in my business but a player still.

HE POINTED OUT A WORD THAT WAS MISSPELLED! :mad: Talk about an ego buster! Me, a professional writer, a hot shot, in a business where details are everything, who is expected to be able to spell (I actually can't, but spell checker can), who is seen and read by millions, who.... :rolleyes:

Jezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! No excuses! He got me and I deserved it.

"A hundred gin joints in this town, and she wanders into mine. Play it again, Sam (which was not said in the film, but maybe you get the point)." :cool:

A lesson well known, never learned.
 

Winterchase

New Member
I looked

StephanieCordray said:
i actually included a link to the main site but here's the link directly to the product, lol.

http://www.ulead.com/cool3d/runme.htm they have a demo download... i can't remember but i think it allows you to use a full version for a number of days so you can test it before you shell out the money for it.

I looked but didn't see what I was hoping for. The samples were too small, to vague, to shell out those kinds of bucks.

When you download a test version, doesn't everything disappear after a certain amount of time, including the ones you've used on your site?
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
ummm... no... you have to make it yourself, save the image and load the image to your site... email me, let me know what you want and I'll make it for you, lol... you can get my email from the profile... anybody spamming me from that email will get complained about to the forum owner tho, so don't everybody jump.

If you have a question about something you think i can help with use it by all means... that's why it's there... but don't send me garbage.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
sorry, winterchase, I misread your earlier post... teach me to read with a grandson at my arm, lol... no, the images don't disappear but the program will become disabled after the time period is up. The offer still stands to do it, though. I already have progs and it's not like you want a web site designed, right?


Spelling aside, typos happen... most of the time you catch them, sometimes you don't... you're a writer, you should know that... why make the editor's job too easy?
 

Winterchase

New Member
I DO know what you mean

StephanieCordray said:
sorry, winterchase, I misread your earlier post... teach me to read with a grandson at my arm, lol... no, the images don't disappear but the program will become disabled after the time period is up. The offer still stands to do it, though. I already have progs and it's not like you want a web site designed, right?


Spelling aside, typos happen... most of the time you catch them, sometimes you don't... you're a writer, you should know that... why make the editor's job too easy?

That things won't disappear is good to know, especially for a beginner or someone like me, "... a one hit wonder." :)

As for the typos, true, but it's still frustrating and I get mad at myself. Professional proofreaders read text backwards, from bottom to top and from right to left, all to keep from mentally skipping over words after they see the first few letters. Back in the days of "hot type," they even read it in reverse. Image doing that!

I know what you mean about the grandkids. Mine loop two words, constantly; why and how. Wouldn't have it any other way, however.

Oh, I submitted the site to the search engines as recommended. This morning I had two dozen e-mails confirming the site has been or is being added. That was a great tip too.

I sent you the PM. Thanks.
 

Winterchase

New Member
Just saw it

StephanieCordray said:
it's not metal; more like glass... but try this. Of course you'll have to resize it to suit.


You must be on line at the moment.

WOW! It looks great, Stephanie, even better than chrome! I like it. Any chance of getting it in all caps?

I'm on to figuring out how to save the attachment and then inserting it in the site. It's going to look great.

Thanks so much.
 

Winterchase

New Member
Looks good

It looks good, realy good, only it isn't as sharp as I would want. Any way to correct that? I use Adobe Elements for photos.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
I keep trying to answer your pm, lol, but the browser keeps locking up on me... probably need a reboot since i haven't had one in ages and i do a lot of surfing. I snagged your page background to make that and, yes, you can get it in all caps and, yes, it can be sharper.

You can save the attachment by right clicking on it and selecting save pictuere as... You can also reduce the size of it to fit what's there now... I made it large to be seen against the very light background here. Photoshop Elements should work with that image, too. Once you see it on a darker background it will look sharper. I'll make 2 more versions... one transparent and one with a black background so you can see that.

I was taught to read everything backwards myself but sometimes you still forget even when it has become a habit.
 

StephanieCordray

New Member
Here you can see the difference between backgrounds. Edited to add a third with "chrome". BTW, once you've got them from here let's be nice to ian and not take up his space with all these images... not that they are all that large, but, well... there's still a limit to what he can handle. I'll edit my posts to remove them later whether you use or don't use.
 
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Winterchase

New Member
Bandwidth

StephanieCordray said:
Here you can see the difference between backgrounds. Edited to add a third with "chrome". BTW, once you've got them from here let's be nice to ian and not take up his space with all these images... not that they are all that large, but, well... there's still a limit to what he can handle. I'll edit my posts to remove them later whether you use or don't use.

I understand about the space. I've downloaded the pics so go ahead and delete 'em.

They look PERFECT, especially the second one. I'll try to get it on now. Thanks again. :)
 

Winterchase

New Member
Look?

StephanieCordray said:
You're quite welcome. I'm not a professional designer per se, but I guess once in awhile I can hold my own, :).

Take a look and see how it turned out. I think it looks good but if you or anyone on the forum can see how and where it could be improved, let me know.

I plan to change the pic of the girl looking in the magic jar to other scenes, changing it from time to time, mainly just to show the viewer something different.
 
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