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DerZauberer Elite user Southern California 468 Posts |
I am new to the Magic Café community, but for the very brief time I have been here, I have seen some very positive threads and some warm, friendly and constructive advice given here.
Saying that - I am not at all hesitant to offer my website for critique and constructive advice for improvement. I am currently designing a new navigation bar with more options and I want to design some fun activities for children that visit the site. (I am told children visit the site often to see the photo pages). All of the web design, artwork and animations were done by myself. I am aware my biography needs polishing; some things need to be added whereas some things need to be taken out. A lot has changed since I launched the website in October 2004. I also want to stress, I pay 99% more attention to the German site than the English site simply because that is where all my clientele go. (The English site is a mirror site of the German version). http://www.derzauberer.net Cheers, George AKA Der Zauberer |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Suggestion #1: Get rid of ALL music on your website.
Suggestion #2: Reconsider the black background. You've got a good start. better than most.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
DerZauberer Elite user Southern California 468 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-03-24 12:43, Frank Starsini wrote: I put an "on-off" music option on the navigation bar, but I understand that it might annoy some viewers. My #1 comment from children is that they enjoy the music! (Funny). I chose a Black background because the Purple and Gold I use in all my advertising, i.e. business cards, flyers, posters, etc. follow the same design theme. When I switch to a White or lighter background color, I notice the colors don’t pop as much. I appreciate your input - Thank You. |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I think music can work just fine as a feature to the web experience. The thing you want to do is give the viewer the option to always trun it off should they decide they want to do so. This way you cater to everyone.
Also, black can work fine as a background as long as you are aware of the colors you place on top of it and make sure your readability is still there. You would want to make sure your type is readable easily and there is enough contrast going on. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
JackScratch Inner circle 2151 Posts |
I don't know if this is an error or not, but if you select "english" the photos are still titled in German. Looks nice, I like that you kept it simple. I can't decide if I think the music is good business or not. At least it is original, well, to me anyway.
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Monster Creations New user England 2 Posts |
Ahem! Cough !
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DanielSteep Inner circle 1409 Posts |
The music is okay but it you listen to it for any more then 5 min I swear you're going to go nuts! I think a good choice would be to put on some music but don't have it that short it is only about 15 sec then it loops back again and starts over and over and over until your head falls off from annoyance.
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
The best policy regarding music is simply giving your viewers the option to turn it off if they want to. It is an easy fix that solves your problem for you.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
I like it.
I would, however, make sure that the text and photos under the header line up. On my browser they do not line up and I use internet explorer. I'm not a big fan of the music and something you said previously that the kids like it-- well kids are not looking at your site to book- it's the parents that do the booking. But other than that I like it. It's neat it has a constant & consistant feel to it. You don't have to scroll a lot for the info and things load fast. Great |
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
I really like the overall feel. Here are a few thoughts, in no particular order...
On the photos page, I'd make the photos larger. Granted they would take longer to load, but right now I'm seeing a lot of black and not enough exciting stuff. I agree about the music being too short and repetitive, and I did notice the music option on the nav bar. However, it's not clear up front that the gramophone is an on-off switch; for all I know when I enter the site, you may be offering music as a service in addition to magic. If the kids like it, the option might be to put it on the kids' page, not on the entire site. Finally, from a visual standpoint, I would consider replacing your photo on the home page. Right now it shows a very specific style: the dark, mysterious performer. I don't know about the public in Germany, but over here a lot of parents would be turned off immediately by that image when they're looking to book a show for young kids -- and would not bother to go deeper into the site. It may be different over there, but here a lot of people nowadays just love to make immediate assumptions and then behave as if their assumptions were correct. Which means losing potential customers. I think that photo would be fine later on in the site, where you show more of a range of styles. You have several others that show a friendlier "look" and one of them might be a better choice for that first impression. Nice job. Keep us posted!
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
Brent Allan Elite user Chicago 415 Posts |
Consider this . . .
Who is your target audience for your site? Most performers I know want parents and adults who might book your show to visit your site. What benefit do you have by making your site attractive to kids? Can they book you and pay your fee? It comes down to what purpose you want your site to serve. If you want it to give warm fuzzies, then fine. But if you want it to act as a sales tool on your behalf, then perhaps you should re-think the design. How does the site make people want to book you? What message are you trying to impart to people who visit the site?
Turn your business card into a relentless salesperson that brings you business!
http://www.TransformYourBusinesscard.com |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
Didn't I already say that?
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MikeRaffone Special user 623 Posts |
The site is completely awesome in every way...
except... I've seen this too many times where I work... A co-worker is surfing the web. All of a sudden she gets to a website that causes music to comes blaring out of her speakers and to her embarassment, everyone in the office turns around to look and see who's making all the noise. The next thing you hear is a cuss word coming out of her mouth and then she quickly hits the "x" on her browser. In my area, most of the people take care of their personal business while they are at work (hey, why not?), but they don't want their boss or co-workers to see them doing this. Mike
Mike Perrello
DC Area's Leading Family Entertainment Expert |
magicalaurie Inner circle Ontario, Canada 2962 Posts |
I'm in a college computer lab and can't get the audio without headphones. So no comment there, except you've said you have an on-off switch- as long as that's clear to those who don't want the audio- great.
Beautiful site, George, in my opinion. |
Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
May I suggest you work on your information more. You tell a lot about you and some of the things you did, but they have nothing to do with hiring a magician. It does not matter that you did a walk-on on Star Trek. Your pictures are confusing also. Are you going after kids shows or adult shows?
You should have some pictures of your audience watching you and enjoying your performance. Why does your site take so long to load? The computer I am on uses a fast download and it take several seconds for your pages to come up. Cut down your bytes on your pictures or take off the music if it is downloading. I agree, un-wanted music can cost you engagements. People at work or in a home late at night do not want to wake the family, just to view your site. |
rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
I don't know if I agree with the comments against the music. I found it very helpful in setting a mood of fun and mystery. It's one of the features on David Ben's site (http://www.theconjuror.com) that I like quite a bit.
The only suggestion I would make is in the contact section, maybe have a brief form that asks a few qualifying questions as part of the information request. Clean Comedians does this very well (http://www.cleancomedians.com) Thanks, Richard |
Ray Ouellette Regular user Ottawa, Canada 114 Posts |
A great start. I also do not like the music. I did find a way to turn it off but it was not intuitive.
Also on your photos page, when you click on some of the thumbnails, the larger picture is not the same as the smaller one. I really liked the camera whirring effect when you click on Pictures from your navigation menu. Also the owl whooing for the magician was neat. You have to be careful with music and sounds as these can be get very annoying very quickly as people navigate your site. The last thing you want to do is to cheese off your visitors as they will not be back. But a very good beginning. Very professional looking and I liked the black background. The colour scheme of the text goes very well together. Cheers,
"Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice"
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