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Old 11-08-2007, 05:11 PM
D856C D856C is online now
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Join Date: Jan 2007
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My Critique is you have a promising image with the lab flasks, but it goes nowhere. You haven't developed a visual theme for the site.

What's a visual theme?

One company did a nice header image on the theme of balance. In fact the flash animation came right out and used the word "balance." You can't get more obvious than that. However, absolutely nothing else ...not copy ...not other images ...carried on this promising theme.

So what could have been a connecting thread throughout the site was reduced to yet another pointless flash gimmick.

A web design site uses a stock photograph of a lone tree on a grassy hill. Why? Why not. That's how you get clients who don't value what graphic designers bring to the table.

Instead the business consulting site with a flash header on the theme "balance" explains what's out of balance with business today. And how what they do restores balance. A web design firm with a stock photograph of a tree explains the tree is a figure of speech for their approach to building websites.

That means the end of pointless graphics and effects and the beginnings of art direction on the web. Sorry, but an eccentric image choice does not qualify as graphic design.

A theme is especially important with a site which has a lot of example pics or portfolio thumbnails. A theme gives your creativity much needed structure for what's next, what's missing, etc.

Web Burza Superhero Edition has a theme. You might think it's the worst theme ever, but there is a theme.

I doubt they have a creative block, unless a flood of too many ideas is a block.

The idea of themes are crucial for high value web design, and it's what clients need to see to keep from thinking all you do is shoehorn a stock photo into a layout container.
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