This is a template for the new Beecher Networks website, due to be launched when CIX is hooked up to the grid and multihomed. I’d be interested in your opinions. Click for full size.
This is a template for the new Beecher Networks website, due to be launched when CIX is hooked up to the grid and multihomed. I’d be interested in your opinions. Click for full size.
It looks lovely, and very web 2.0, but it’s a bit generic for my tastes. There’s nothing in the look of the website that says “internet consultants”. It could very well be an off the shelf template from somewhere like templatemonster.com, which is not the impression you want to give if one of your services is web design. If it was my site I’d look for a nice piece of relevant stock photography to put in place of the circles on the dark background.
First impressions are good – nice big font and clear design. A lot of potential for nice effects when you mouseover the different sections – I’m assuming those 3 big circles will represent the different sections, each one changing the text on the ‘Strategy’ part when you mouseover? Pointy haired bosses are often blown away by simple things like that. If so then I would agree with Gary – some way of knowing what each circle represents (or even of knowing that it represents something) would be more helpful.
The downside for me is that I’ve never been a fan of the colour brown on websites. Nearly any shade of blue/green/red/black/grey/white works for me, but I just don’t like brown, pink or yellow. If you replaced the brown on BEECHER logo and the bar, even to something bland like grey, I think it would look a good bit better.
Also, something I often have trouble with is how to fit the menu in the top right corner without the tagline getting in the way. In this case, because the tagline is so prominent, I think the menu needs some kind of border or something… not sure what exactly.
Thanks for the feedback Gary, I appreciate it.
You’re right, it is a bit Web 2.0, but whether you see it as good or bad, that’s where the web business is at the moment, and our site needs to reflect that (pardon the pun). I don’t really see generic tbh, if anything I was surprised when I first opened it because it’s quite different to what I was expecting. I really think it’s quite fresh and I’m surprised you think it could come from Template Monster, but of course it’s possible I just haven’t seen sites you’ve seen that are similar. Please do point me in the right direction if that’s the case!
Whatever about the rest of it, I’d honestly have a fit if Walter had put stock photography on the front page. Every consulting site under the sun has stock photos on their homepage, and although you can certainly do better than the generic girl-on-telephone-and-smiling-minority crap most of them come up with, I very much like the fact that we haven’t gone down that route at all.
Thanks again for your comments, if you have any more please post them. I hope I’ve responded politely enough, I’m terrible with criticism. :)
adam
I’ll be honest with you James, I have no idea what Walter intends to do with the circles. I thought they were going to be static, but you have a good point about making them interactive and perhaps that’s what he plans. The only problem I have with that is if we do annotate them in some way, it’ll take away from the clean look of the site?
I take full responsibility for the brown. I’ve been a monochrome fan for years and nearly every one of my own sites until recently has been plain black and white. However I discovered brown last year – it was a revelation that it’s not just for old people – and had a kind of a brown year. I think we’re going to retain it for a while, not least because of the hundreds of business cards and reams of headed notepaper, but also because it’s an “organic” colour, and that’s a core of our philosoophy. And because I still like it tbh, and because it’s just that little bit different. :)
You’re right about the nav, it needs to be brought up. I was thinking of just bolding it to be honest, but another option may be to use the green colour in the nav, and switch the tagline to it’s usual colour of brown.
Thanks very much James.
adam
I guess it depends on your target market. If you’re aiming at the pointy haired bosses, then a couple of bells and whistles go a long way. But if you’re focused more on the type of people who know a bit about technology and are interested in compliance with web standards and stuff then they will appreciate the simplicity.
I see where you’re coming from with the organic angle, but I think the brown would be easier to take if it was partnered by a “Techcrunch green” instead of the bluey colour. At least then you would say “nice organic feel to the site”. I’d tone down the grey colour on the footer too, make it a bit paler.