Website harsh critic please!

[Nikolas]

Me and Thomas started working together... Considering we know each other for more than 4 years, have met our families, have moved around Europe together... well... it made sense (plus we are awesome composers both of us! )

So...

http://www.northbysound.com/

hit as as hard as possible.

Anything should go through your critical eye. Tell us off. Even if you don't fancy a track on there. Anything at all...

And...

Thank you ^_^

[cat]

Maybe it's just me, but when I first opened the page I didn't really know where to focus or where to start to read.
Also, this large image in the upper left area vanishes when I navigate the menu.

[Nikolas]

Correct on both accounts.

It might be a tad 'too much' on first look, granted.

Also the image disappears on the other pages, since there's no room, and it's just decorational.

Thanks for checking it out.

[cat]

I don't think it is really too much, but when I look at a site I usually start in the top left. Here I see a black/orange gradient and when I look down orange dots.
This is something different and ok to attract attention.

But then I'm not sure whether I should read the stuff that is right under "Profile" or left under the navigation bar.

You have to guide me visually to where I should look next.

[Kweepa]

I didn't look at the website...
Congrats on the joint venture though! Good luck!

[Daniel Thomas]

First of all, you guys are awesome.


And second, Im no graphical designer or web designer, so just take it as my humble opinion.

I think the division going vertically could be closer to a 1/3, all other division seems great and have variation in size.
Moving the empty division space to the right I think gives it strong hierarchy and just gives it more appeal I think. While golden section, rule if thirds might seem cliché, it almost always work somehow. You could even give it a perfect third, something I didnt do in the mockups though.
The first page maybe it would make it cleaner if the image on the left was removed, and instead add something more intense in the "header".
For me I didn't find the cross division that appeared in the other pages, my suggestion could be that join the whole left side into one block, and not divide it up with empty space but with color blocks. I think it gives a good unity, but still break it up some for variation and organization.

Here are mockups of what I suggested above.
http://www.danielthomas.se/upload/hptesting0.jpg
http://www.danielthomas.se/upload/hptesting.jpg

I hope I gave something useful!

[Jenn]

1) The square images above Home/About/Music/etc are unnecessary and distracting.  Just the words are enough.

2) You have several grammatical errors in your Profile paragraph.  Corrections below.  Proper grammar is very important for a business website.

3) Great job on not playing the music automatically!  I hate when websites blast you with sound.


Profile paragraph:  Even if the "|" symbol is part of your name, don't use it in a sentence.  Second, either put the name and then the description of the person, or the description and then the name with no comma separating them.

Corrected paragraph:
North by Sound Audio Productions is a joint venture founded by Nikolas Sideris, Doctor of music composition from University of London, and Thomas Regin, critically acclaimed composer.

The company was founded as a means to bring focus to media songwriting in Europe and let our customers benefit from the great talent here.

[Igor Hardy]

I for one have no ideas for what could be improved, even after being asked to be harsh.The webiste just made a very good impression on me.

[Darth Mandarb]

I wish I had more time to do a concept ... Sadly I do not.  However I did have time to whip up (really quickly so forgive the un-refinedness of it) an idea I had for the logo.  I'm not sure how "branded" you are yet (if what you have is the official logo or if you're open to updates/changes) but the logo lacks ... style.  It's a tad bland I guess.


- made an arrow in the "O" of North to symbolize north on the compass
- made a musical note in the "O" of Sound to symbolize music and also south (since I took that to be the reference?)

As for the rest of the site I think it just needs some "punch" to bring it up.  I am familiar with your music and feel that this website doesn't do it justice!  If I have some time later I will put together a mockup to show some ideas I have.

[thomasregin]

Hey Guys,

Okay, shoot me already!

I stol... eh, I mean designed that website and I am no designer - I'm a musician. Nor am I a native-English speaker - hence the bad grammar. Thanks for the corrections, Jenn. I am considered somewhat a grammar-policeman among my friends (in my native language of Danish).

Generally I think all your ideas are really good! Zyndikate - thank you for the mock-ups there. Definitely useful. Darth - excellent logo design! Could you PM me for further discussion?

Last but not least, thank you for liking our music - without doubt our strongest selling point now webdesign is out of the question! 

I will post back with the final result once it's done - and then we keep our fingers crossed that you'll tell all your friends about our brilliant little company, so we can get a successful start!

Thanks again, people!

Thomas.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

It's a bit unassuming and modest looking, but I don't see anything 'wrong' with the site.  The only thing I would recommend is turning that array of dots image into a grand piano or a classy photo of your studio rig.  Other than that I think it looks nice, and as usual, great music Thomas .

[Nikolas]

Other than that I think it looks nice, and as usual, great music Thomas .

HEY! How do you know whose music it is? 

[thomasregin]

It's a bit unassuming and modest looking

Hey ProgZ, I agree! Being Scandinavian, I've never learned the art of selling myself.

Other than that I think it looks nice, and as usual, great music Thomas

Thank you!  

HEY! How do you know whose music it is?

I think that's pretty obvious!  

[InCreator]

Lose the box things over main menu text

...
perfect.

why? Page overall has professional look. Block things have artsy-wannabe-design.
Doesn't mix in my book.

[Atelier]

It seems great to me but I personally don't think the text should be justified. Most people find it easier and more pleasant to read left-aligned text (even subconsciously).

[thomasregin]

Okay people,

I've taken most of your comments into account and updated the site: http://www.northbysound.com.

Let me know what you think of it now. Better/worse?

It seems great to me but I personally don't think the text should be justified. Most people find it easier and more pleasant to read left-aligned text (even subconsciously).

Atelier, what browser are you using? All text is/should be left-aligned.

Thomas.

[Dualnames]

It seems a great improvement! Not sure about the clarify of the logo, but overall, it's a great thingy! Also congrats!

[Hueij]

Okay people,

I've taken most of your comments into account and updated the site: http://www.northbysound.com.

Let me know what you think of it now. Better/worse?

It seems great to me but I personally don't think the text should be justified. Most people find it easier and more pleasant to read left-aligned text (even subconsciously).

Atelier, what browser are you using? All text is/should be left-aligned.

Thomas.

It's justified in every browser On line 48 of your stylesheet it says p { text-align:justify }

And maybe you should move the Google Analytics code from the top to the end of the body.

[thomasregin]

Dualnames,

You liked the old logo better? I think Darth's logo is pretty awesome!

Hueij,

Damn, you're right! Must have overlooked that when I sto... I mean created the style sheet file! Fixed now. All text is left-aligned now.

About Google Analytics. I think the code was supposed to go in the HEAD-tag, but by mistake I placed it in the Body-tag. Anyway.. Stats are working fine!

Thomas.

[m0ds]

I think it looks fine. The only thing I don't like are the little buttons with squares in different positions. They seem to give it a tacky unfinishedness. The rest is all good - simple and easy to read!

Best of luck though, I hope it works out! I'll try and push some clients your way