5 replies to this topic

[Big_Red2009]

http://hogwartsmagic.net has been open for a while now, getting quite a few visitors and was just curious as to what a professional site builder would think about it

[rich_505]

I'll review this today

[Prince_of_Slytherin]

Well I'm not a pro site builder, but I am a pro designer. Here is a review from a designer's POV.

1) First impression
Well, for me, the page doesn't load properly in Opera, but I suppose that is a minor thing.
I find the font you have used incredibly awkward to read. I suggest using a sans-serif font, like Verdana or Arial. Especially since the eye has to work harder to read white writing on a bl
ack background. I find the words
on your poll a lot easier to read, I am sure you would agree with me. The font there is Verdana, I think.
Please proof-read before submitting info. About a third down the page, you have spelt Phoenix wrong. Plus you are writing 'i' instead of 'I' and it doesn't look good. Galleries is the plural of Gallery.

Quote

Movie, i wonder how this one is going to turn out parent's-though wise?

 What is 'parent's-though wise?'

4) Skin/Layout
Firstly, I think the top banner is far too dark. I didn't even notice it at first. In fact, everything to the right side of Malfoy is completely indistinguishable. It's like it hasn't been finished. Tell your designer to remake it, if not, at least boost the contrast right up, and then put something in that right half.
The 'OOTP Movie' icon (radcliffe with blueish background) is repeated far too much. You shou
ld try and show a different picture for each post.
I think your text would benefit from a better use of colour. Especially the text
. At the 
moment, everything is all on one 'level'. The important things need to stand out so 
that the eye is drawn to them.   
Your images for the navigation titles, (Site, Books, Movies etc on the left and Partners, Po
ll, Fans etc on the right) is suffering from 'Over Design', a common mistake with some designers. Ie. 
It's over-complicated and the text is again too hard to read. Tell your designer not to us
e serif caps, like, ever. It's really no good to read. Plus, the blurred images in each graphic is frustr
ating for the viewer. It's Potter on the left side
but just looks like a blur on the right. I am not sure why the designer has blurred it, really. 
I am not sure about the font your designer has used for your site name. I don't know what it is exactly, perhaps it's because it doesn't look very 'Harry Potter-y'. And it's too small and tucked away to the side.

5) USP, Unique "Selling" Point
There is nothing here that I haven't seen on other news sites. Sorry! Although the falling snow is quite effective. Again, though, it's nothing new.


I assume Theresa is your designer? I would pass this info onto her and see what improvements she can come up with. 

(ETA - I am not sure why the formatting of this post is all messed up - it's fine when I go to to edit!)
 

Edited by Prince_of_Slytherin, 11 May 2007 - 04:16 AM.

[rich_505]

1) First impression - Global warming really has hit hard, it's snowing in May

2) Content - Lots of high quality content, could perhaps be more detailed and more expansive but what is there is great stuff. Good job.

3) Organisation - News is pretty up to date, always a good thing for a Potter site. I'd get rid of the snow script though!

4) Layout - I like this layout quite a lot really, it's not overly filled with graphics but it's not bare either. I don't really like the font used for the news postings or the content, it doesn't fit in with the rest of the text IMO. Aside from that it's good, well done.

5) USP, Unique "Selling" Point - I think that if you get all the features like forums, chat etc (not working for me) going and keep doing what you are doing, the site has a pretty unique feel to it and it is quite rare that sites have that feel without trying hard!

6) Reviewer Comments - Nothing major that I can say is bad about this to be honest, a few bits and pieces to sort out but I'm sure you will do that

[Big_Red2009]

@ Prince_of_Slytherin

yes she is the designer, she designed everything except for the text on the headers (i had to edit to add more categories and I'm not so hot with text in photoshop)

I do not understand why the text is hard on the eyes in opera because for me in firefox it is good, but i will defiantly check out changing the type of font to better suit other browsers.

i also thought that the constant blue logo was a bit too much but never really thought about changing it, i will defiantly come up with some new ones now

thanks for your help, i have changed the grammar errors, not exactly my strong-point

@ rich,

1) lol yeah it has taken a major toll especially on my site -blushes as i take it down-

2) thanks, it took a while. I will go through and see if i can explain some of the content more in detail.

3) thanks weeks of work

4) it was designed by one of your own be proud! -cough-theresa-cough-

@rich, you are saying that the choice of font for the general content isn't so good correct?

when i get a new layout i will ask the designer what kind of font she/he would suggest for cutenews icons and re-do them all because i think its time for something new anyways.

thanks for the reviews, you've helped keep me busy for a while as well as improve my site

Edited by Big_Red2009, 11 May 2007 - 07:32 PM.

[rich_505]

Yep I think it's either times new roman or something similar that's been used for the content, it just looks a bit boring in a way I guess.