Do I dare say critique please

[Spinners' Wacky World of Tops]

O.K. Be gentle http://www.performers.net/spinner

[ 06-28-2002: Message edited by: Spinners' Wacky World of Tops ]</p>

[Chance]

Having the webpage URL across the bottom of the main page seems redundant: obviously I already have it or else how would I have gotten there? And every telephone number should have a country code prefix.

Chance

[Brian Wilson]

Hey, a few little notes - seeing as you are looking for input.

The Past Appearances fly in with great style, but it takes a LONG time for all of the events to pop in. I stopped reading after about ten... looked at another page, and then went back to find 15. Maybe trim the list (the top 10) or make the graphics load faster.

Shouldn't Contact be the last sidebar link?

There's my 10 cents..

Bri
www.orbitalent.ca
www.cowguys.com

[Mark Wessels]

Maybe you could make a section about the show and write more of a biography for your biography. Video possible?

mfw

[Rich Potter]

Dude!

I went to your site and it immediately reprimanded me for not having Flash Player 6! Many people booking your act are inept with computers. If they weren't, they'd be programmers and would be making the big bucks.

Dumb it down at least to an earlier Flash Player, and better, have a link to "skip flash intro" or have a "no flash" option (more work for you to create a parallel .html website, but worth it for the less tech savvy people who might book you). Chances are if it runs on player 6, it probably will have the same functionality with player 3 or 4.

Without player 6, I am unable to access ANY of the information about you....Just as your show should be accessible to your crowd, your website should be accessible to your agents.

Okay. 'nuff said. I downloaded the player and am looking....

I echo the "too many credits" that Brian mentioned. I would also say too much animation. I want the information. Now. Give it to me and don't make me wait. HTML text loads fastest. The point of a website is a) to divulge information; b) to get clients excited about the product, and hopefully you can do both by c) entertaining. Too many graphic (and web) designers concentrate on c) without fully considering a) and b) and often end up d) irritating the viewer with too much "icing" and not enough "cake". In the end, it's substance, not flourish that warrants long-term attention.

Remember. The most important thing people should get from your website is that a) They know how to find you; and b) Your show is great (not your web animation).

I like the colors. I like your font choices. (except for on the typewriter graphic: hard to read)

A good rule of thumb on fonts: pick 1 for headings; 1 for subheadings and 1 for body text. 3 different fonts, used properly, get the point across without looking too busy and possibly overstimulating the eye of the observer.

Er, was I gentle enough?

--Rich

.

[scot]

Spinner,
It's a lot better than most. That being said, it sucks. Ok, a few things suck.

You don't need a splash page (a starting page with only one link [the picture of you coming out of a top]). It doesn't do anything for you. It's good to have a splash if your page loads slowly, or you want your site to be a special experience for which you need to prepare the audience. Your primary goal is to get across information about you. Blinking animations are annoying. If you want it to look like the top of the top is opening, make it pivot using flash.

It's important to have the web address at the bottom of the screen because someone may be sent to your site from someone else's and the address that shows up in the browser is not that easy to remember.

The typewriter thing is hard to read and uncomfortable to look at. It doesn't fit with your happy clashing colors theme either. Your first page is the best place to put a picture of you that shows off your facial features or makeup. Close up pictures are good for establishing trust (see every insurance ad).

Your bio doesn't say anything except that you use tops in a thirty minute show. Most people include biographical information which helps a future employer decide that the act is the best possible use of money. Usually have the feeling of being written by a third party.

Right now, your contact page is the first page people see and the second page in the menu. This inconsistency can be confusing a little more frustrating.

You photos of the words "Coming Soon..." were not helpful. If you don't have a house, don't build a driveway if you know what I mean.

The long list of credits would be fine if they loaded faster. I don't know how many you had because I didn't want to wait. Unless your list is amazing (see http://www.therubberboy.com) you should narrow it down to a list of 20 or less and keep a number that makes sense (15, 10, 5, etc.) so that it looks like you weeded some out and didn't list everything you have.

The upcoming events page is fine. You can get really creative here because it's mostly for fans. If you have an availabilities page, it should load fast. If you're trying to make money, always think of the agent first.

Some people think that if the page is big, beautiful, slow to load, and confusing to navigate, people will stick around longer. It might be true. I want people to find all the information they want and know that they can come back any time without a big investment of time.

You need a flash alternative.

Most people don't care how many people have visited your site. The ones that do care are unlikely to be impressed by 405 especially since many webmasters pad their numbers. One counter on the site is alright. I find a counter on every page unnecessary.

You should have more photos. You should have more text. There are people that want to read this stuff. If someone wants to stick around, you should give them the chance to hang out for a while.

There's a lot more.

If you fix the things I have listed, you will be doing great. Your website is already functional. I had a basic idea of what was going on the whole time I was there. I just don't know very much about you.

[scot]

I would like critiques about my site also.

http://www.jugglegood.com

[ 07-22-2002: Message edited by: scot ]</p>

[scot]

I would like critiques about my site also.

[Spinners' Wacky World of Tops]

Being that I'm clueless in Seattle I will take all this to my designer and site savvy people on my end and work out the bugs.Some of which seem to be big and splattered.Funny,I thought I had enough to do with working on my show. Thanks and keep em coming

[Doctor Eric]

Hey scot,
You're web design is real good first off, but I have a few points... First off, your first page has a great, simple, and hip sesign, I would stick to that design throughout the entire site, "The Show" page is very poorly designed by contrast, take the edge graphics off of that red table, the simplicity is nice. Also, your first page takes too long to load for the amount of info that is on it. Give me something to read while that big picture of you is loading, and since that pic does take so long to load, leave it there throughout the entire site, and take out the other graphics (again, the dithering on "the show" page is ugly, and that extra pic is unnecessary if you leave the big one. Also the header on that page is unnecessary). The first sentence on the show page refers to charisma and cynicism, yet there are no examples of these things on the page. The info is dry, and the only things that come near cyinicism actually just come off as pretentious, like this paragraph:
chainsaws:
He never tried. Doesn't really care to. It's not mainstream juggling and it has already been done so, It doesn't seem worth learning to him. What a slacker.

I'd take that out, although it may be in there because jugglers are asked that so much, the paragraph itself is very useless, and comes off with a negative attitude, I'd take it out, as well as this sentence:
You wouldn't understand the power of Scot's show without seeing the whole thing.

I think this sounds evasive, and the rest of the text would be fine without this sentence.

Again, stick with the simple red stripe, I like that, and the graphics you've used to spice it up not only don't look that great, they also load last. The Scot Nery graphic also is not clear, and doesn't look very good, you design better with raw html and photos than with graphics.

One more thing, mention more of your non-skill skills, like the duct tape thing, and how your show ends (two dead guys and a new wife!). Your wackiness is your selling point, and your page doesn't really convey that, it just mentions a bunch of standard juggling skills, although the cats are a good touch.

Also, when you refer to yourself as charming and sexy, without much wackiness on the page, it sounds smarmy. If the page had more of that insanity, referring to yourself that way WOULD be charming and sexy, but, right now, it isn't.

Other than that, it's great!