: How to not make my website have a “1990's” look I recently launched a comics website, www.hittingtreeswithsticks.com, which I created from scratch. I created my own design because I wanted
I recently launched a comics website, hittingtreeswithsticks.com, which I created from scratch. I created my own design because I wanted to keep it unique, and used no templates.
Unfortunately, people who've looked at it says it appears "outdated" and "from the 90s", but haven't really been able to pinpoint how so. I was wondering if people could help me "modernize" my site without presenting me with downloadable templates. I'd still like to keep this my design, but I guess I need some artistic/design pointers.
DESIGN EDIT:
Okay, I've spent some time redesigning the template given your feedback, and found some great ideas on designshack.net/articles/layouts/10-rock-solid-website-layout-examples/.
I have two main templates I'm going to go for: (keep in mind this is just for layout... so none of the fonts, colors, images, or dimensions are set yet)...
Either:
A) Two column template
Search is on top and will expand down a bit with search results
In effort to get people to my artwork sub site, I'll include latest artwork on top right
Or
B) 3 Column template
Search is on the right and will expand downward as such with results
Gives more room for advertisements and other links
And this is the proposed, although minor, redesign for the View All and View Image templates:
View All: displays all images with archive-able dates
View Image: displays single full size comic
Any thoughts would be great!
More posts by @Berumen635
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I think you just need to sit down and put some more thought into some of the decisions made.
Some things to consider:
why is your top navigation larger than your logo?
why is the spacing between navigation uneven?
why does your home page have a breadcrumb trail 6 levels deep? (comics > homepage > all categories > newest post > page 1)
what were the reasons for choosing that typographic style?
do the 3-d frames add to the design or distract?
Etc.
Basically, just have reasons for each decision and try to bring them together under some common framework...be it typography system, a grid layout, colors, etc.
Right now it feels very haphazard and amateurish--which is what the web mostly was back in the 90s.
Factors which may contribute to a "dated' feeling:
Large text in Comic Sans (or similar)
Comic sans use at all
Canned drop shadows
large image borders
uneven spacing in navigation
pushing everything to the absolute edge of the window
Things which may assist in creating a more modern feeling:
smaller text for navigation
a larger header banner with smaller text links
subtle gradients for backgrounds
no image borders
more white space or "air" between the browser window and content
An in-page comic viewer such as Lightbox or Thickbox rather than one page per comic
rounded corners
smaller comic links -- I'd go about 50% smaller than the boxes currently are. Ideally I'd use non-square links in favor of more horizontal banners. But that's my preference. I dislike a page full of squares, there's no visual interest in that.
feature the artwork in the comic links rather than placing text over the images. Use the thumbnail as a thumbnail... an image.. then use the caption below to place your text description. Images are much more intriguing than text.
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