Ok this site is not complete but I need some feed back on the design and layout please give me your thoughts http://www.directline-web.com

Ok first thing I noticed was the rollovers in the top frame. Checking them I notice they are .jpg, and have been compressed within an inch of their lives. As the gradients is horizontal they should be able to be .gifs and still be small. Even if they aren't they'll still look better than they do now. I've always found when you have to decide between size and quality, go for quality. If you can't get quality at the right size, then try something else. The directline-web graphic on the right needs less motion blur too - maybe fade it out a bit or use a different color (I'd go for fade). It's very hard to read.

The frameset could be smaller at the top too. That's a lot of space unless you plan on putting a lot more stuff in it. On a 800x600 screen the top and left frames are about 40% of my whole screen - too much.

The left nav headings could use some anti-alaising too. Again, it reduces load time, but 'jaggies' ARE evil. Also on my screen the menu falls below the fold and as a result I'm looking at two scroll bars - not a serious issue, but poor design habit.

Your main screen will have content in the lighter area? Maybe spread it out a bit more to fill the screen closer to the edge. Seems like a waste of real estate otherwise.

'white space' is very important as long as it doesn't get noticed too much. The idea of spreading your content is to give it balance and control, instead of people being able to notice the gaps. If so, you've failed it's purpose.

Those little markers next to each heading in the nav seem a little over complicated for what they are (and the squares seem out of alignment).

All in all, a good start though. You may want to look at a contrasting color somewhere though to offset the blue and white. I'm guessing that's coming with the content? For the love of all that's tasteful, don't use red however. *lol* Red, White and Blue looks great on a flag, but I think websites are a little past that for now. Sorry, about the last, I've been doing too many of them lately for it not to affect me. Sometimes clients are like a dog with a bone.

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

I like it, nice colors (very smooth) but I do agree with akashik, the top frameset is way too big.

Originally posted by akashik
I've always found when you have to decide between size and quality, go for quality. If you can't get quality at the right size, then try something else

Aaaaah!!! Golden words spoken!!! How I wish most web designers out there believed in your philosophy too!!!

Learner

Originally posted by Learner
[QUOTE]
Aaaaah!!! Golden words spoken!!! How I wish most web designers out there believed in your philosophy too!!!
Learner

*chuckle* well thanks :) Keeping my system simple (online wise) reinforces this to me daily. If I can't get a fast load then I'm doing something wrong. If I can't get a clean site then I'm not earning my money :) You might have noticed my habit of pointing out compression and jaggys a lot, as once upon a time I did the same (ie 1996, personal sites, the now defunct WBS.com network). Got photoshop and started making huge graphics (60k plus) when 28.8 was king. After getting my 'guestbook' filled with "Nice graphics, too slow" comments, I figured I didn't want to lose the "nice graphics" part *lol* but better work out how to compress right. Did a lot of reading (.gif Vs .jpg - 24 bit Vs 8 bit etc) and have gotten close. I still which to crunch a little more but Fireworks 3.0 is a godsend (I hear De-Babelizer is the best).

Flash Designers are the supreme culprits these days (well the bad ones). alt.flash has heaps of references to Hi-Band ONLY, 1200 res ONLY 3 meg plus flash movies *shudder*

Too many designers design for each other, and not for the web - Look at what happened to Boo.com *lol*

Greg Moore
http://www.akashik.net

I havent heard truuer words ever!! ;)

Its good but you have to many options people might can confused make it as simple as possible.
:uzi:

hmmm.. where have I seen a side menu like that? :)

hmm, not bad, looks fairly clean and easy to read

Originally posted by jaguar
hmmm.. where have I seen a side menu like that? :)

Oops?

Originally posted by PSL
Ok this site is not complete but I need some feed back on the design and layout please give me your thoughts http://www.directline-web.com
Nice site. When it will be ready?