new Funky Canvas website - any advice please!

[Poppy Design]

Dear All

Have just set up our website Funky Canvas (www.funkycanvas.co.uk) offering a unique collection of affordable & contemporary digital printed canvas art inspired by the botanical and natural world.

Any comments, helpful suggestions, advice etc on improvements would be appreciated.

Also - if anybody wants to exchange links - please email me at info@funkycanvas.co.uk


Many thanks
Joanne

[Astaroth]

I like the look of your site very much. The only thing that did irritate me slightly was the links near the bottom with different themes (contemporary etc) all took you to the identical place.

Personally I cant stand paypal and to me it doesnt say that the person who is going to take my money is an established trustworthy company - for all I know it is a teenager in a bedroom somewhere that is never going to send me my goods.

The only other thing... in your FAQ you have "HOW LONG WILL MY PRINT LAST? - there's a good chance of our prints outlasting many of our customers". I realise this is ment to be funny but it could be taken the wrong way by some people or be a little too close to the bone - up to you though.

[Poppy Design]

Dear Astaroth

Thanks for the comments.
Yes I need to relook at those links - I am just about to add a few more categories so I'll sort those links.

I must admit, personally I am not a lover of Paypal - not because I think it is unsafe to use (I have used it for the last 6 months to pay for goods and to receive money and there have been no problems) but because it was a nightmare to set up the Paypal 'buy now' buttons and when I contacted Paypal for help by email - I just got a link redirecting me to their help pages (which would take all year to read!)

The problem is at the moment I have a very limited budget and I do not know of any other payment providers that are free or low cost to set up ... can anybody recommend a payment provider?

"HOW LONG WILL MY PRINT LAST? - there's a good chance of our prints outlasting many of our customers". - I'll need to think about this one (it was quoted as per my canvas printer)

Thanks again
Joanne

[Astaroth]

I think what ever you put you run the risk of offending someone somewhere - it comes down to a choice of if you want to run a risk of putting a small number of potential customers off against amusing a larger proportion.

I dont sell online but have heard good things about nochex so you may want to look into them - the ones I have seen it is a lot more intregrated into the site as well.

[Dawg]

Hi,
very nice site, but there is one thing... from the pix above the sofa it looks as though the canvases are block mounted rather than framed. (Your drop shadow is a bit deep..). Some people* are offering both frame and block mounts so perhaps you could either offer both or make the pix look more like a framed one.
*explosure.co.uk

[Poppy Design]

Dear Dawg

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, perhaps I have not quite got the images right in Photoshop to represent a canvas (back to the drawing board!).

I was just trying to represent the depth (i.e the 1.5" deep frame) of the canvas and what I came up with at the time in Photoshop seemed to be the best!

However - if anybody out there could advise better - please do!

Best wishes
Joanne

[Mac Yeti]

Hi Joanne,

Use the drop shadow just play about with the size/distance/etc settings to make it a bit more subtle.

I really like the website and prints. Only suggestion I'd have is maybe show the whole canvas in the shop section so people can see the whole thing straight away without having to click through them.
Having said this, I need to listen to my own advice as I do the same for our work :D

[La_Geneve_North]

Hi Joanne,

I like it. I think it's very contemporary, eyecatching yet simple.
My local art shops allow free advertising so feel free to send me a the flyer for it and I'll get it posted up for you.

Good Luck with it all

Yolanda

[DavidHorn]

Just a few observations - LOVE the product ... could be exactly what we're looking for in our new house!

- You might want to use customized buttons instead of the paypal default - just a small detail.

- I like website navigation to be able to tell me where I am in a site. So, when I'm in the 'shop' section, I'd expect the 'shop' menu item to be a different colour, or underlined, or something.

- The text could use some padding (left and right) to bring it in from the borders - right now it nearly touches the edges (info page in particular).

- Center aligned text is not a professional way of aligning text (home page, about page)

- the related links section at the bottom of the page - all the links go to the same place. I understand if you've done this for SEO purposes, but it is confusing and misleading for consumers

Like I say though, I love the product and I think you've done a nice job of presenting it,

David

[Poppy Design]

Dear David

I am very glad of your comments! I did the site a while ago and I am afraid when I work on it I focus completely on the images themselves - not the design.
I have known for a while that I have a few things to sort out and I plan to get these all sorted/changed in the next week.

However, I have managed a few quick changes to the 'about us' and 'info' page using your guidelines.

Thanks & would love to sell you a Funky!
Joanne

Just a few observations - LOVE the product ... could be exactly what we're looking for in our new house!

- You might want to use customized buttons instead of the paypal default - just a small detail.

- I like website navigation to be able to tell me where I am in a site. So, when I'm in the 'shop' section, I'd expect the 'shop' menu item to be a different colour, or underlined, or something.

- The text could use some padding (left and right) to bring it in from the borders - right now it nearly touches the edges (info page in particular).

- Center aligned text is not a professional way of aligning text (home page, about page)

- the related links section at the bottom of the page - all the links go to the same place. I understand if you've done this for SEO purposes, but it is confusing and misleading for consumers

Like I say though, I love the product and I think you've done a nice job of presenting it,

David

[DavidHorn]

that's immediately better!

[Poppy Design]

Thanks again David! ...
you have inspired me to revamp my Funky Canvas site and I am really pleased with my efforts! Sometimes you really need a stranger to point things out to you straight - which is why this forum is ideal
I just need to sort out shopping cart and then get ready for the orders!

Thanks
Joanne


that's immediately better!