Urban Digital

[markw7]

http://urbandigitalworks.com/ud/

The intention... simple, clean, easy to navigate. Achieved or no?

[kkbbcute]

Well, for one thing, there's a major bug, some of the content appears off-screen in the swf, so I cannot view it, for example, the "services" section is always cut off and I can barely view it on a small 17" screen.

Also, the blurred background seemed like more of a distraction than anything, and made the site seem weird. But overall, the simplicity has been achieved and navigation is pretty easy to understand.

[markw7]

Thanks kkbbcute. Can you elaborate on this "weird" quality? It's supposed to look attractive, not distracting, and certainly not weird.

Bad on me for missing the scrollbar issue. Got it to stop getting cutoff on the left and trying to force the scrollbar back on with a hidden CSS footer.

[kkbbcute]

It's just that the sudden dash of green and beige hues in the back doesn't seem to fit in well with the rest of your color palette and seems out of place, as if two completely different people made this site, and one person having absolutely no idea what the other guy's portion of the site looks like.

Also, the semi-transparent hue of the background of your text makes this all the more obvious and distracting, as the point of focus is taken away from your text and into the background image instead.

[RelaxGuy]

The first thing I notice is the font....all the white (arial?) navigation font looks un-aliased, and unprofessional.

Also the black text on the orange box just doesn't seem appealing.

It doesn't need much of a change but when I first saw that I just thought that it stuck out because the pictures and loading come out very clean but then that bright orange just doesn't match.

Maybe a different shade of orange, or making the orange just slightly transparent to match the theme of the rest of the site.

[markw7]

The first thing I notice is the font....all the white (arial?) navigation font looks un-aliased, and unprofessional.

Hmm. I've seen that problem come and go. I got it to look good on a variety of pcs and macs, but I'm evidently not going about it the right way. I hadn't embedded the font, but it was Arial so I didn't think I'd need to.

Maybe a different shade of orange, or making the orange just slightly transparent to match the theme of the rest of the site.

Agreed. Corresponds with criticism from someone else too. Thanks.

As you guys will see, I've ditched the background altogether for now. I guess in trying to make the website stand apart I also made it ugly.

[markw7]

Question...

Between these two direct links...
http://www.urbandigitalworks.com/ud/
http://www.urbandigitalworks.com/ud/index.htm
... I see the whole page getting cut off horizontally. Perhaps this is the major bug kkbbcute was trying to describe. Last night I thought his feedback concerned the browser window being too small and the swf falling outside the frame with no scrollbars to adjust it back to the center.

I think it has something to do with a combination of missing or adding the DOCTYPE and the AC_RunActiveContent.js (the latter which I've now forgotten the reason for using). Anyway, if anyone can recreate or solve it would much appreciated.

[kkbbcute]

I doubt it has anything to do with the active content javascript file. What are the export settings that you set for your swf right now? (Under the HTML tab of the publish settings)

[cjx3711]

No visible bugs and yes, it does look clean, simple and easy to navigate. Can't seem to find the bugs kkbb was experiencing. I'm using google chrome.

[markw7]

Hey cjx3711. Awesome! Positive feedback. Thanks. My poor ego needed a little.

[cjx3711]

The site is fine, in my opinion, but I am still unsure what that small thumbnail in the bottom right does. It seems to be randomly changing. Is it supposed to do that?

[markw7]

It's a thumbnail of whatever item you're rolling over. I'm considering doing more of a traditional array of thumbs instead.

[kkbbcute]

No visible bugs and yes, it does look clean, simple and easy to navigate. Can't seem to find the bugs kkbb was experiencing. I'm using google chrome.

That's because you have a 24inch screen, I was using my school's puny 17inch screen at that time, so the whole image was cropped off. It looks fine on my 24inch screen as well too.

[cjx3711]

kkbb: No I was using a virtual computer which had a pathethic resolution of 1024 by 768 and it was fine.

markw7: The thumbnail changing looks random because it changes too slowly. While it is still changing, I have already moved over another 5 links.

[kkbbcute]

kkbb: No I was using a virtual computer which had a pathethic resolution of 1024 by 768 and it was fine.

Do I have to take a screenie to prove a point? Seriously, just browse through to some of the details three levels down to navigation to specific projects, you would find that the last row of text is out of the screen. Or did you just click on a few links :p