band website...would love a comment

pretty nice. 1 thing i don't get is what is the use of all those names on the left???

The most recent 20 people to join our mailing list will be put in that column. I just added the names to satisfy the design. I chose this for the site to be a bit more interactive.

Andrew

A few points; the text I find hard to read, 11px is really too small for comfort especially when used with the rather cramped and nasty arial font. I have supposedly good eyesight but I find that it's a strain to read

You would be better off setting a basefont size as a percentage i.e 76% or 80% and using ems to size. This would also allow IE to resize the text. try using one of the specially designed fonts such as verdana for the body text or maybe 'trebuchet ms'; both far nicer to look at.

Centering the page would be good, also why not keep the right content fluid to adapt for different resolutions.

I realise this is early on in the design keep it minimal and clean but maybe start to think of breaking up the page with some color/backgrounds to soften the bleakness but don't overdo it

Looking ok so far, update and repost

Hugo.

Thanks Hugo,

Based on many of your comments, I put together another layout for this. What do you think?

version 2

Andy

Yep, it's often surprising what a few minor changes will accomplish. That now looks 100% better, it's a far more solid design with the text content framed and focused.

I still think that you should try using ems for sizing text

Now here is where I start annoying you but why are you using position absolute on the sidebars rather than floats ? I'm not saying you shouldn't just curious why.

Onwards and upwards

Hugo.

I used this as a basis to start from:

http://www.bluerobot.com/web/layouts/layout3.html

This example uses absolute positioning for the left and right columns and relative for the middle. Using position: absolute for this task didn't bother me because I know enough of what I'm doing. That probably sounds like an anti-climactic reason but there's really not much else behind its inclusion over floats.

As far as font goes, I will look into em's in the next 24 hours. Been quite busy with other work lately.

Unfortunately, the band hates the site and I'm still screwed, though it's always nice to see something work as it's intended. One member said the fledging layout looks "corporate" and that the colors "don't work." Another said that he "vehemently refuses" to use the names in the left column for people that will have recently joined our mailing list. He also insisted that none of the columns have any different color that good ol' #fff . My opinion on all this is that his taste is missing a few buds, but that's another story. The bassist is drunk and won't call me back. The singer is away for the weekend. Life sucks.

AntiBand

Oh well, it was a good start even though it's been completely trashed

Ah BlueRobot know them well, they do like their position absolute.

I only asked about the use for interests sake , I figured you probably new enough to use them correctly, although ultimately I think that floats will probably win over them for layout purposes.

Well sounds like your going to have fun getting these opposing views to agree, good luck and keep posting variations.

Hugo.

Philosophical point. What is the band's 'brand'? Do they have any distinguishing feature, characteristic or something that sets them apart? If they do, that needs to be incorporated into the design. What would you use on promotional materials? Do they have a logo?
You have chosen to use pixellized text - there are a number of sites that use that artistic device, often accompanied by fine "bug screen" gridding as a background - have you looked at any of them. The curlicue in the upper left corner of the content area is stylistically discordant with the rest.

I guess, most fundamentally, this doesn't say rock 'n' roll band to me. From a htmls/css point of view it is competently done but in terms of graphical impact and "get down" it ain't happenin', man.

DE

In the words of Larry the Cable Man, I can't seem to graphically "get er' done." This is why I need to marry a graphic designer and create thousands of graphic designing babies that I'll agree to feed for their line drawings. "D*mnnit Jim, I'm a builder, not a designer."

Here's a song of ours: demo

If it's not too much to ask, I'd love for you to take a listen as it might help to refine your opinions further about the design. Thanks for all the help so far, by the way.

I think we have a driving, new-wave feel to us. Our singer embodies "the sexes" because she is flamboyant and beautiful. The rest of us are kind of moody and dark, all with various social problems (surprised?).

Someone in the band suggested a photo beneath the main body of text (but still insists on arial font for everything ). I attached a screen of his idea. The photo will be different so the text will be more readable, but the main idea is there. Thoughts on this screenshot?

oh I like the menu at the top. but I think the txt would be hard to read with a photo under it. unless it's really really light/transparent-esque if you will.

larmyia

ps...as an aside, I feel my creativity has temporarily (hopefully!) left me the more I focus on get the css/xhtml/etc/etc to work well.

Regarding the screenshot,

Do you think the picture would work if a semi-transparent background was laid overtop of it for the text to be more readable?

Andrew

I think the black&white theme is going to make it difficult imho. but I guess it's just something you're going to have to try...if that's what they want.

btw I take it you're in the band...what do you do? I listened to the demo. not bad for a geek but I do think you need something more edgy and hardcore than your first designs.

If your going to use the text over the background photo, then yes, set a transparent copy of the image in the text div to keep the text legible.

Doesn't look bad from what I can see from the screen shot.

Try the transparency then move on to the next design at the end of the day your going to end up cutting and pasting the best bits that every one agrees on from a dozen different designs. Punk up the next one.

On the question of basic text font styles stick to your guns; your the one with the experience and judgement on that .

Hugo.

I'm going to need to see a picture of your lead-singer before I can confidently assess the situation. :]

- J

I drum.

The myspace page has a picture, although it's not a very clear picture. Unfortunately, to see more pics, the site forces you to log in.

myspace page

Thanks,

Andrew

I get a 404 on that myspace link, Andrew. BTW, the photo bg (the jpg you sent) is much more in the right direction for R&R, imo

Bill

Weird, myspace doesn't like the closing slash in the url. Try this one:

http://www.myspace.com/thesexes

Andrew

Ok ... That worked eventually, andrew. Got error again clicking on link but made it in with cut and paste .

bill