Beta Version of my New Site is up and Running. Oppinions are Welcome.

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Marko Tsourkan

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http://www.tsourkanknives.com/index.php/kitchen-knives/heat-treatment

I am still working on content (there are probably some typos and grammatical mistakes) and will populate the site with pictures as they become available. The couple of pics there now are far from best and are there just to get an idea how pictures fit into a structure of the pages.

Just wonder what you guys think and what you think I should add to the site.

Thanks!
 
Looks clean and sophisticated for being incomplete. I like it.
 
You weren't happy with the old site?
 
The old one is build in Cold Fusion and is difficult to update or modify if you try to do it yourself or on the cheap.

The new one is build on Joomla platform. Easy to modify, expand, change.

I do most of the maintenance and some changes myself, which I couldn't do in CF.

M
 
I really like it, good job Marko.
 
I like it, it loads really fast and is easy to navigate. A little touch of color would be nice!
 
There will be a little color, but not much. B&W has been my preference since my early teens when I started taking photographs. Liked it then, still like it now. Why should I change? :)
But I agree, some color is needed to capture things B&W can't, like wood grain.

Thanks, guys for your feedback so far -

M
 
Achromatic actually. Should work fine for blades, but handles?
 
I thought you were refering to the color schemes on the site. For gallery, I will take color pictures to capture the grain.

M

I thought that's how you would set it up. I like B&W, doesn't it remind you of when things were made by hand and were built to last?
 
Yes it does. B&W give the impression of timeless, but as Steve and Spike pointed out, sometimes you have to use color to capture things that you can't well in B&W.

M
 
The site doesn't load right for me, but that's probably because I'm on an ancient browser here at work (IE7). Other than that it looks nice and clean!
 
What would be cool is adding a touch of color to a B&W photo. Like a photo of your shop in B&W with a finished knife in color. Stuff along those lines, things you want to highlight about you and your work.
 
I like the structure and overall look of the site.
My only concern would be the size of the center frame.
Photos might be a bit on the small side when content is added.
As long as the photos were able to be clicked on for a larger version of the photo, I think it will be great.

I like that the color and such are understated.
I think that will be less distraction away from your text and photos.

All in all...... I really like it.
 
I like it a lot Marko, it looks simple and easy. I agree that the center frame might be a little small after you post the pic on it. And if i may suggest, maybe you can create some section for Q&A regarding your knives, customer feedback/review.
 
My 2 cents ... Like you I'm not into the bright colors (I see gray and ... eh ... gray). I have done many sites and my experience tells me that you need a few more colors to make things stand out. I myself like earthy colors, nothing fancy but conservative. Maybe creamy and black, together with the gray, would make the design stand out more and still be "easy" for the eyes.

And yes, I'm sure you will regret the width of the centerframe. Most people use a 1024 px resolution or more - a total width of 1000 px would make sense. That would leave more room for descriptions etc.

Congrats on your new site - nice logo you got there by the way :D
 
I am sure this site will change a lot by the time it is done.

As for the centerframe, I like a narrow one (I might change my mind about it over time), as I find a short description is often better than a lengthy one. There will be a gallery for the pictures, and picture shortcuts in the text will open in a larger size.

The pictures in the upper portion of the page are for a background though the theme is relevant to the subject of the page, i.e. heat treating page will have a picture of a blank in a kiln or hardness tester, etc.

I am going to try to combine B&W photography with color. For instance, a knife with a highly figured handle, only a handle portion will be in color - the background and the blade will be in B&W.

There is Q&A in About page, but I might make it a separate page. Feedback page is in works as well, I just haven't figured where to put it.


Thanks everybody for your suggestion!


M
 
Looks great Marko, Simple clean and straight forward.
 
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