It's been almost two years since my current (v2) gold & yellow design hit the web. I'll admit it was a huge step up from v1.
In Version 1 I used images just about everywhere. It was a great concept and in ways, was ahead of Version 2. I had Back & Next links pretty well integrated, something that Version 2 still has yet to officially acquire. It was just a lot of work and I cut many corners (e.g., the galleries). I coded all nine images in and added the images as I did, without modifying too much of the source. As a result, depending on your browser, you'll see broken image placeholders frequently. It was also purely in HTML.
In Version 2 I took away from the dark, colour of Version 1 and got a little bit richer with deep yellow and red. I favored the change. A friend designed the concept and I did the rest. I had difficulties in getting it to look identical. One cut-corner left an omni-present horizontal scroll bar that I got many comment about. The way I created the website, left no easy way to implement back and next links. Version 2 started out as strictly HTML as well. It got PHP before it was a month old (April 2010). It's still largely HTML with incredibly static PHP scripting; however I'm working on changing that. (Thanks!)
Version 3, will be even lighter. I deciding to shy away from a lot of colour. I wish I had kept working examples from old concepts I made for Version 2, I still have the photo mocks (from before the name change), for all. Three. Iterations. I'm not particularly keen on any of them. For one, I don't really want gray, nor a side navigation. I also don't want a "compartmentalized" layout as it could feel restrictive to certain elements. In Bv2, I have come compartments but it's the body is open. I'm not liking it, but I'm not against it.
Same story with the side navigation. I'm not a fan, but I'm not against it. What five colors would go well together? I've been looking at color palates but haven't found anything yet. I'd like to loose some of the masculinity the Version 2 has: the rich colors, the hard edges. I've been talking with friends and colleagues, and they mention that girls look for portraits more often than guys. So, I should try to market my website towards the feminine crowd. I'm not thinking pinks and purples (ha) but rather light colors.
I don't want a white theme as any photos that have a white background, but aren't "pure" white, will look awkward and those with pure white backgrounds will blend in. So, any ideas toward colour would be great, ideas for layout would be cool too.
I figured I may as well restyle my site now, since I'm doing a lot of work to get the site to work with the script. (Okay, it's not a lot of work, but I've streamlined the headers and footers, and it would take some work to adjust each page of the site to use those new includes. I wouldn't bother but the page will error and die out if I don't.)
I'm currently coming up with designs without color, and will share my concepts with you guys
In Version 1 I used images just about everywhere. It was a great concept and in ways, was ahead of Version 2. I had Back & Next links pretty well integrated, something that Version 2 still has yet to officially acquire. It was just a lot of work and I cut many corners (e.g., the galleries). I coded all nine images in and added the images as I did, without modifying too much of the source. As a result, depending on your browser, you'll see broken image placeholders frequently. It was also purely in HTML.
In Version 2 I took away from the dark, colour of Version 1 and got a little bit richer with deep yellow and red. I favored the change. A friend designed the concept and I did the rest. I had difficulties in getting it to look identical. One cut-corner left an omni-present horizontal scroll bar that I got many comment about. The way I created the website, left no easy way to implement back and next links. Version 2 started out as strictly HTML as well. It got PHP before it was a month old (April 2010). It's still largely HTML with incredibly static PHP scripting; however I'm working on changing that. (Thanks!)
Version 3, will be even lighter. I deciding to shy away from a lot of colour. I wish I had kept working examples from old concepts I made for Version 2, I still have the photo mocks (from before the name change), for all. Three. Iterations. I'm not particularly keen on any of them. For one, I don't really want gray, nor a side navigation. I also don't want a "compartmentalized" layout as it could feel restrictive to certain elements. In Bv2, I have come compartments but it's the body is open. I'm not liking it, but I'm not against it.
Same story with the side navigation. I'm not a fan, but I'm not against it. What five colors would go well together? I've been looking at color palates but haven't found anything yet. I'd like to loose some of the masculinity the Version 2 has: the rich colors, the hard edges. I've been talking with friends and colleagues, and they mention that girls look for portraits more often than guys. So, I should try to market my website towards the feminine crowd. I'm not thinking pinks and purples (ha) but rather light colors.
I don't want a white theme as any photos that have a white background, but aren't "pure" white, will look awkward and those with pure white backgrounds will blend in. So, any ideas toward colour would be great, ideas for layout would be cool too.
I figured I may as well restyle my site now, since I'm doing a lot of work to get the site to work with the script. (Okay, it's not a lot of work, but I've streamlined the headers and footers, and it would take some work to adjust each page of the site to use those new includes. I wouldn't bother but the page will error and die out if I don't.)
I'm currently coming up with designs without color, and will share my concepts with you guys