Template for charity web site

Hello All!

Please could you take a look at the following template. I have put it together as I will be developing a web site for a charity. I would like to be a professional web developer/designer one day so constructive criticism is very much welcomed.



http://www.urbanforest.co.uk/c4cc/template.jpg

Thanks in advance - Gareth

Hi


First off........

wrong forum........... I think it should be here => DevShed Lounge

Secondly...........

If you want people to really be able to test your design, then you must show us a real page......... reason I say this is below....


Designing web content, is not the result you see, but the result others will see!


Showing a real page..............

Allows me/us to check your html/dhtml and so on....

Allows me/us to check your javascript if you are using any, and so on....

Allows me/us to check your (CSS) and so on....


And the big one..........................


Allows me/us to verify if you designed your content to work in many different browsers......



Last question


Why do you show 2 images the same size then your last image is only 3/8's the size of the other two.....


F!

Hi

Sorry about putting this in the wrong forum - I am new to this site and when I saw Project Help Wanted I assumed it meant that if you wanted some help with what you were doing you could add a message.

The reason that I have only posted a template is becuase I was asking what people thought of the design of the site, not how it works, the coding, etc.

I always do a template first because then I can see what it would look like.

I can do things like check the browsers, screen sizes, etc on my machine. Other people's opinions is something which I don't have though.

The reason the last image is smaller is becuase I designed the template in 640 x 400 so that I know what people would see when using 800x 600 screen settings.

What do you think of the general design of the site?

Thanks - Gareth

Sure, everyone does the graphic design concept first but that's not really going to tell you what it will end up looking like .. just an approximation.
It will look different on different browsers and platforms. It could also end up looking different depending on how you implement it .. which parts are going to be expandable? is it all going to be one defined width or are you going to allow the table to expand to fit the window width? Will it be in frames? will the content be static and the images be in a scrolling window?


Actually, checking browsers etc is the one thing you can't do on your machine, unless you have a good setup with a few different machines (mac, pc).

I like the style of the design, I think the green text on the green background is not enough contrast (some viewers may not have good vision). Try making the text the same dark grey that's used in the side bars. The images could be a problem if you're going to have many of them... if you can't keep those photos below 15k I'd consider reducing the dimensions of the images and perhaps even the number of them... otherwise it'll be a slow loading site on a dial up connection.
The navigation bar is possible to do but you have to allow it to "float" to its position on the right hand side .. if you implement the site so it's a fixed size some users could have their navigation dissappear if they resize the window too small. If it gives you any problems it might be best to just align the navigation to the left.

overall a nice sharp style, code it up so we can get an idea how it's going to look.

I'd ditto most of Jonathon's comments. Overall the design is very good, stylish yet simple. I would be wary of contrast though, not only in the text but also the title - perhaps embolden the letters a little? The menu might also be a little small.

I don't think you need worry about those images, actually. A charity web site will be a showcase for the charity - not something people will visit daily... am I right? As such, waiting an extra 10 seconds for the images is OK and enhances the messages of the site a lot.