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Having played around with my website colour scheme i have come up with the one now online. I would appreicate anyones comments regarding colour use...is it appealing for a toy site...is it too tacky looking...anycreative people out there :?

Thanks

 

[clairemackaness]

I like the colour but I'd change the font. Although it's a fun font it's not the easiest to read

 

[Cornish Steve]

I agree with Claire's comment about the font; it seems rather 'fragile'. For me at least, the blue clashes with the orange/red theme you have created. What about using a black font?

I'm told that the best font to use on web pages is Verdana.

 

[clairemackaness]

You would say that steve, my old site was verdana and everyone told me to change it LOL

 

[Cornish Steve]

You would say that steve, my old site was verdana and everyone told me to change it LOL

Oops - serves me right for simply repeating what I was told. I'm no expert on fonts.

 

Thanks for the comments, the blue text on the home page is a definite no no, that i agree will have to change.
I am trying to make the site more 'child' appealling even though the main customer base will be parents / grandparents.
I have looked at too many bland toy sites and wanted to make mine cosier.

 

[crus]

Hi,

I feel that you should change the font and swith to a dark grey font for the main page, 333333 or 666666 for example, maybe helvitica?

D

 

[Whistle Ink]

Hi,

I can agree that the font looks 'fragile'. But if you are appealing to kids it won't work! It's just text apart from that hedgehog. Maybe make it more coloufrul, with pictures of the items you are selling. An cartoon hedgehog maybe. make the site more like a cartoon but with real toys!

 

Hmmmm.. thanks guys and gals.....lots of ideas for me to ponder over and experiment with. Maybe i will get this website off the ground for next christmas....lol

 

[Coding Monkey]

Not if you hire us.....

 

[Whistle Ink]

yeah get some pros in!!

it can be as quickly as you want it or are willing to pay for it to be.

things can be done quicker than you think.

 

[Coding Monkey]

Cheques in the post, Whistle Ink.

 

LOL...thanks guys....don't think my budget will stretch to having a personally built site just yet....afraid i will have to stick to the ready made template site until cash flow dictates otherwise.
I will bear you in mind though :wink:

 

[Whistle Ink]

Cheques in the post, Whistle Ink.

lol yeah, and your cartridges will be with you tomoz :lol: :wink:

What is your budget? You don't get a second chance to create a first impression.

Why not get some quotes from forum members, there are some good creative web designers on here, take a look at the portfolios.Good design is worth paying for and as I said it might not cost as much as you think.

 

Well to be honest...my budget could probably run to £300-£500 tops at the moment, 4 kids and a wife to feed etc ....the current package seems quite flexible and is only costing me £15 a month.
When i originally started getting quotes for a site they were coming in around £1200 - £3000....which is quite scary for a new business.

 

[Coding Monkey]

An advocate of my job! There is a god!

Whistle Ink is quite right. I've spent over £2000 on the TEXT on my website alone. The difference it's made has been phenomenal. Backed up with a professional design and you've created trust in your users. There are few websites I would buy from that don't look like they invested money into a professional design, and they would have to be selling something incredible. It says to me that they don't have any money and therefore don't take their business serious enough to warrant having my money. That's not just my view. I have some very firm research into this concept.

Ask some web designers on here for a price. Creacom/creospace should be able to help you out.

 

[Whistle Ink]

If you already have a shopping cart, can you not just get a new template designed and integrate this into the existing site? (replace the template) The chances are the back end of the cart will be enough (maybe for now) but design is important.

 

Agreed, but although i do take the business seriously, sometimes it's not easy to raise the cash to splash out on everything, i.e. new IT gear, stock, stationary, various fees for Data Protection etc etc etc....so in this instance i had to choose a lower option for the shop design.
This time next year Rodney.......etc etc

 

[silverpuresilver]

Hi Hedgehog

Good luck with your new website. Having looked at your homepage, what strikes me the most is that most of the actual wording is about you and your family. My thoughts would be to make it big and bold exactly what Hedgehog Toys Website is - leave the family background bit to an 'about us' page. Make your three 'aims' more visible and perhaps the main part of your home page.

Also, I appreciate that you have a 'template' to work on, is it possible to tweak it a little? Your logo header takes up a third of your page. . . . . As far as I'm aware (although I am certainly no expert!!!) you will also need to have a section for terms and conditions.

Please take these comments in the manner in which I typed them (meant to be helpful! :lol: ) - things can come across differently in text.

Kind regards

Karen