Review my band site

[Krissandra27]

Hi there!

I just made a new website for my band. Can someone look it over and give me some feedback?

http://www.fuzzymachete.com/

[aneel90]

Re: Review my band site

Really cool website! Look forward to listening to your music.

[Krissandra27]

Re: Review my band site

Thank you :)

[SChajin]

Re: Review my band site

Very Nice..Love your font!!Good Job

[Krissandra27]

Re: Review my band site

Yay! Thanks guys! That makes me feel pretty special. :D

[Krissandra27]

Re: Review my band site

So I was reading an article on what makes a good and bad band page and read this. Any thoughts? Is my page hard to read?


Things Not To Do!

Bad Color Choices - Black is probably the worst color to use as a background. Anything that makes your site dark and depressing should not be used. It doesn't matter what type of music you play. Yes, even Metal and Goth bands! Plus it makes your pages hard to read. That is why newspapers and magazines are not printed on black paper! Most professional webmasters (the good ones anyway) believe that black is usually the sign of a bad website. I have trouble reading white text on a black background and I'm definitely not alone. Just because you think that it looks cool doesn't mean that it will be for everyone else. Black text on a light colored background will insure that everyone can read your pages. Also, do not use blue heading and titles. The color blue is the web standard for links. If it's not a link, It shouldn't be blue. A recent study showed that 87% of the web surfers surveyed said that they would not revisit a website with bad color choices. Use this to your advantage because there are millions of bands who have bad color choices on their websites.



I also wanted to know if its difficult to load for anyone. Put yourself in the ***** of a booking agent, is there anything that should be added?

[Vasili]

Re: Review my band site

So I was reading an article on what makes a good and bad band page and read this. Any thoughts? Is my page hard to read?
Things Not To Do!

Bad Color Choices - Black is probably the worst color to use as a background. Anything that makes your site dark and depressing should not be used. It doesn't matter what type of music you play. Yes, even Metal and Goth bands! Plus it makes your pages hard to read. That is why newspapers and magazines are not printed on black paper! Most professional webmasters (the good ones anyway) believe that black is usually the sign of a bad website. I have trouble reading white text on a black background and I'm definitely not alone. Just because you think that it looks cool doesn't mean that it will be for everyone else. Black text on a light colored background will insure that everyone can read your pages. Also, do not use blue heading and titles. The color blue is the web standard for links. If it's not a link, It shouldn't be blue. A recent study showed that 87% of the web surfers surveyed said that they would not revisit a website with bad color choices. Use this to your advantage because there are millions of bands who have bad color choices on their websites.
I also wanted to know if its difficult to load for anyone. Put yourself in the ***** of a booking agent, is there anything that should be added?

"There's no accounting for taste," said the farmer as he kissed a pig!

The "article" you copied here is just so much dribble: I would like to see this 'recent study' that put such a high figure on an abstract as no intention of re-visiting a site with 'bad colors' --- who is to quantify a standard, or to outright say what constitutes a bad color'??? This is just more of the same drollop that people encounter and drink up like soda, thinking that anyone that has anything on the web that sounds half-ass resonable it must be credible!

Do what you like, for only you know your message (the band) and emotion you wish to communicate to visitors who pore over every nook and cranny trying to share an experience .... don't let 'critics' spoil the show!

* Besides .... a black screen/background is truthfully more "Green" than a white or light-colored one, as black takes up the least amount of energy to display! SO, not only are you being 'tasteful' you are also responsibly aware!

I too, have a number of sites that according to this "web expert" would "qualify" as being depressing ... yeah, right! i.e.> 1 - 2 There are simply too many wahoo's and self-proclaimed 'Guru's' out there with BS 'wisdom' for me to always stay cool as I try to "enlighten" those who have been swayed by their wiley charms....

Technically??
+ I would think that it might be better to "Center" your pages in the browser, thus allowing more universiality to viewers across various systems/monitors/browsers.
+ I would also think that you should utilize you page space more effectively, particularly when it comes to the "photos" section: using larger sized 'thumbnails' is far more effective to engage Visitors form the get-go, and then when clicking to the Lightshow, if they were set to the max size possible (basically within safe margins for actual page size) your Visitors/fans would be able to clearly see the band in all its Glory!
+ Last but not least, consider using the last "button" in your Menu for adding a Community -- a Forum, or better yet a WordPress Blog-- where your Visitors/fans can join your Community to leave notes, converse, share stories, etc. (If you do add a Forum or WordPress Blog, be sure to select Admin Moderation of all comments or submissions prior to posting, thus avoiding Spam and ardorous moderation). It would also be a superior platform to publish your Calendar, Events, and Booking Inquiries. Point is to give your people something to participate in, to share, and to feel part of something bigger than just another website.....

There's my 2 cents! Good job, and good luck! ROCK ON!

[Tom Finley]

Re: Review my band site

The black background is perfectly appropriate and the copy is very easy to read.

Where did you find the cassette mp3 player--me want one!

[travlinman]

Re: Review my band site

Cool site, great color combination and the black definately works! Not sure how you did the logo but I like it. As for the musik, well the 8 second track was a bit short.

[Tom Finley]

Re: Review my band site

The song plays through for me.

[Krissandra27]

Re: Review my band site

Thank you thank you thank you! Thats' a huge relief. I love the idea of the forum or comment section. I'm gonna start working on that right now. The pictures too. I don't know if I want to center the profile because I like that the Lime kind of looks like a garnish and your monitor is the cocktail :)

Vasili: I found the the cassette tape player at www.mixpod.com. They have all kinds including a nintendo controller!

[Tom Finley]

Re: Review my band site

Hi, Krissandra. That was me that asked for the link. Thanks very much for it, looks like some good stuff there. Best wishes for your site AND your music!

Tom

[Vasili]

Re: Review my band site

Thank you thank you thank you! Thats' a huge relief. I love the idea of the forum or comment section. I'm gonna start working on that right now. The pictures too. I don't know if I want to center the profile because I like that the Lime kind of looks like a garnish and your monitor is the cocktail :)

Yes, I understand about the locked-left thing ... I struggled with it too, and on one site left it only because it had so much bearing to the overall vision/impression [example]. But maybe mine has a much more pronounced definition, or "directional source" that makes it work only this way ....

On yours, since you don't have too many pages yet, and it isn't absolutely crucial (may be a matter of opinion, I know), maybe experiment with some kind of edge treatmenat ... or offer an artistic "opposition": on the right edge, create a visual effect similar to stage lighting in the background which thus highlights the "edge" with a faded illumination, only combine it with either the lime or red color for effect??? My suggestion is really to exhaust all reasonable alternatives to 'fix' a true center of the concept --- it will flow for everyone once that is done. It would be a shame to ever have a regret sneak up behind you if you didn't see for yourself when it was easy.

And the more I think about it, you would be better off using WordPress ... (for the Community) ... you can load anything on it, and it has a pre-optimized format that allows Visitors easy understanding of how to participate.
Oh ... and maybe consider calling it "The Crowd" or "Fan Club," "Fan Haven" or something trick like "Our Hacks" as if to play on words, from the name of the band???

Glad to see Tommy made it also with a comment ..... I hear he is still awfully busy on his stuff. Wonder if he ever did anything for the "meal" idea or the "out of state worker" ideas .....

[Krissandra27]

Re: Review my band site

Lol! Our Hacks! Thats hilarious. I took your advice and added the blog. That took me way longer than necessary. I felt so dumb once I figured it all out.

I've set up the blog so that only our band members can post and anyone can comment. Are you suggesting more of a forum atmosphere where anyone can post a blog? That could be cool but I need a little direction so as not to allow spammers in.

I'm going to try something different things with that lighting idea. Would that have to be added as a background image or is there a setting in page properties for that I haven't seen?

[Vasili]

Re: Review my band site

Here's a suggestion, if you can use it! (I just made simple colored shapes to illustrate best positioning).
I really do think you should define your page bottom --- just use the copy icon to duplicate your bar at top and move straight down to wherever you need it to be .... you might also lay over the page footer bar your "Copyright" line!

And really, using WordPress for a "Fan Zone" is the best, because like I said, not only can you create a Calendar Page (upcoming gigs), and all kinds of articles you can post under whatevewr Categories you decide, anyone can post a comment on anything only to wait in a que until you "Approve" it and publish it or not ......it's a lot easier to let people create an account but not submit/publish directly. The good fans that you do recognize are just as happy to wait a day or two before seeing their posts (comments) show up .... all part of being a patient fan!