...so apparently I am a web designer now!

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

01/07/2008 08:33:26 PM · #1

My father owns a business called McAdams Instruments and just about anyone in Texas who has been in a high school or college band or orchestra has probably seen or used one at school. They are big and awesome. They are really loud and each one is hand put together by my grandfather and there are about 20-30 out there I hand built myself.

Dad has been wanting a new website, so I finally created a brand new website from scratch, came up with some new letter heads and did a bunch of product photography of the metronomes and their inner workings. I have been having a lot of fun and after about 15 hours of work have finally created something worth putting online and I thought I would share it with you all because I love hearing your feedback. It is still in the creation faze and I still have to settle on a cool official Mcadams Instruments font lettering thingie, but the site at least works now.

Here is the OLD website my dad put together

Here is the NEW website I have created for him with a lot of the photography I did for the business.

The site is still very open to adjustments and change. I would very much like to know how it looks on your different monitors and such. I am at a loss with what to do with the first page because it seems a little busy to me but my dad likes it so i don't know, we will see. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!

Thanks
Claire

ps. For those who are curious, this entire site was created in Microsoft Publisher

Message edited by author 2011-09-10 11:41:42.

Apple iPhone 5

01/07/2008 08:41:13 PM · #2

There's something strange happening to the fonts in your header. I've checked this in IE and Firefox and it's the same in both.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

01/07/2008 08:43:34 PM · #3

oh DARN

ok so this is an issue I was wondering about, your computer doesn't have the font that I am using and so it picked a random other font that doesn't fit....should I just use images??

Apple iPhone 5

01/07/2008 08:44:46 PM · #4

Originally posted by lovethelight:

oh DARN

ok so this is an issue I was wondering about, your computer doesn't have the font that I am using and so it picked a random other font that doesn't fit....should I just use images??

Yes, I often use images for headers to get around this exact problem. Regarding fonts, I tend to use the common web-safe ones like Verdana so I don't have different browsers selecting the wrong fonts by default.

Make sure the header JPG size doesn't get too big though.

eta: Here's a site I did using an image as the header, instead of fonts. //www.house2homedesigns.ie/

Message edited by author 2008-01-07 20:45:47.

SamDoe1

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/07/2008 08:44:55 PM · #5

I'm about ready to start designing a new website for myself. How do you convert MS Publisher for web use? Oh and I love the new site by the way and I'm not having any font issues.

Message edited by author 2008-01-07 20:45:12.

JerseyGenie

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/07/2008 08:55:25 PM · #6

A 100% improvement (even with the font issue). Nice job.

01/07/2008 08:57:26 PM · #7

Thanks! I am working on some images right now....fonts make me mad! haha

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

01/07/2008 09:05:58 PM · #8

okee dokee so I tried to fix the header problem, the "McAdams Instruments" and the message under it are both images now and I spaced out the links so that even in other fonts hopefully they will fit...hopefully....

Apple iPhone 5

01/07/2008 09:09:27 PM · #9

Yeah, looks okay for me now - you just managed to squeeze in the menu items! :)

alanfreed

Nikon Z9

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/07/2008 09:09:55 PM · #10

A nice improvement! I'd make the top graphic a .gif instead of a .jpg since it's not photographic artwork. The .jpg compression is pretty evident in the top header.

fotomann_forever

01/07/2008 09:12:23 PM · #11

Originally posted by alanfreed:

A nice improvement! I'd make the top graphic a .gif instead of a .jpg since it's not photographic artwork. The .jpg compression is pretty evident in the top header.

or PNG, but yes I agree JPG isn't the best file choice for graphic elements.

smurfguy

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/07/2008 09:30:14 PM · #12

Nice work, and $250 is a bargain - tell him that he owes you big! ... Oh, I guess there was that incident with the drowned camera. =)