I'm working on a new look for my website IronBox And this is what I have so far, it's pretty bad at the moment, and I'm lokking for some input.

Thanks,
Nightmare JG

It's pretty bad at the moment :P. You need to convince us that this is high strength metal as opposed to maybe being just shiny plastic. How about rivets, some kind of wear pattern, and more contrast between the darkest and lightest values.

<<my opinion>>

Scrap doing the layouts in photoshop, I used to do this and it worked when using images, but I dont think I would ever do it again, especially when using shapes like this. Vector would be the best (i.e. flash) if this is the effect that you would want, but honestly I think you should drop the idea all together and start with something fresh. What you have there is the start of the same stuff you have before. Get away from it.

okay, I'll start anew. Let me try again.
I'll post when I get somthing worth showing,

love the buttons! hate the header
I can kinda see where your going with it, keep developing the idea.

I liked your original idea better than the new one to be honest, it just needed refining. Here is what I saw when I looked at your first idea:


I thought your first idea fit with the theme better and other than the buttons, looked better.

Evlolution?

Yes, my spelling sucks and I don't feel like fixing it.
Maybe I'll do a blend od ideas hmm? I'll fiddle somemore and post again.

Er, don't do stickmen... I like the spinning boxes for active buttons...

When I think of the word "IRONBOX" I think of rusty wrought IRON metal (like an iron stream engine, or an old bedpost or something), NOT aluminum. Keep trying, play with layer effects for your text (double click on text layer in photoshop and add strokes and drop shadows etc to your text).

PLAN your site out, think of a layout, colour scheme, something unique. Straight-ahead design doesn't often come out nice.

KEEP TRYING!

-PA

Well I wanted to add more rust...and the bolts look like crap. But I think it looks alot better. It fits the name more.
Oh and for those wondering, the sites original name was:
Freedom form The Little Iron Box (of life)
But I just shortened it to IronBox, thus the reason that the site looked nothing like any kind of metal.

Does anyone know some good ways to make rust and bolts? I still need to finish the banner/header.

Oh, and by the way, the stickmen are from an animated comic I make whenever I feel like it called "Stick Men of Doom".

Anyway, here's the link.

Nightmare JG

It's definitely better.

You're better off using stock photo as your base instead of trying to render things fully by 'hand' (paint tools+filters), trust me. Let me see what I can do, or find... Or... not Keep trying, lets see what you come up with!

-PA

Well, alright, I'll show you what I did even though i think it sucks....

-ProAni

Definatly getting there! The scratch looks a bit out of place, I think it'll look better if you make it look more corroded. Also add a few more of them.

Added somemore rust and another...scrach...thing-y.
Still need to know hoe the heck to make decent looking bolts.


Link.

[EDIT: Oh, and ProAnimator, That looks pretty good, but it's not exactly what I'm looking for, and besides, I hate using stock photos. I actually like to make my own images by hand in photoshop.]

Nightmare JG

There's some good tutorials on realistic rendered metal out there. I seem to remember a few good ones over at [url]www.wastedyouth.org[/url] but it's been dead for a while. The tutorials are still up, but they aren't organized at all so you'll have to sift through alot of em. But hey, go there anyways and take a look at some of their hundreds of tutorials.

The design is becoming more convincing as an Iron Box, but that's about it. It's not really pleasing to look at, and doesn't really draw me in at all. Maybe try something new, and not so cliche as the top-banner-CurvedIntoNavbar thing. I would definetley reccommend drawing out your whole site on paper before starting to render it. It may seem like a hassle, but there won't be a single expierienced designer that says it's a bad idea. Besides that, it's quicker.

Lookin good.:)

I like it! The only complaint I have now, is that the highlights on the bolts look a bit too bright. Other than that, looking good :p

You like poodles eh?

-PA

That little wink smily just saved your life
No actually that's my mom's webhost, she raises poodles, thus poodlesrus.com...It sucks that's why I prefer the .tk address. But you can't direct link with those.

Nightmare JG

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA POODLES

:|

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Okay...
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Thrawnnumbers no C&C?
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Just kidding, I need my own domain, but IronBox.whatever is pretty much taken...go ahead, try it. Just about any extention you put on IronBox will take you to a site that's not mine.

[url]www.ironbox.cc[/url]

All right, I'll admit .cc isn't taken, but that's about as good a .tk, just with direct-linking and subdomains. Maybe I'll look into buting it is the new look works out.

Anyway, more changes to the site, check it out.

Nightmare JG
-Who only signs posts when he's not busy.

Coming along nicely. BUT you should never feel the need to explain how to navigate your site unless it's a tech-demo or something else very unconventional. While it's good to be creative, keep equilibrium in mind. It's getting better and better though, keep at it :).

Figured it was something like that, hehehe!

-PA

I sell webdesign, ogten to fat old people that raise animals and barely know how to click, and there customers are generally worse off, so things need to be as easy to use as possible, hence the fact I'm hesitant to get too creative.

Nightmare JG

Why aim low? It won't really get you anywhere... There's alotta 'monkeys' out there who can whip up a cheapass little webpage. You should do your best! Improvement is the greatest achievement of all!

-PA