# An honest opinion needed



## canvasideas (Mar 16, 2012)

Hi guys last week I switched my old site to a new design, had friends say it looks brill etc... But I wanted feedback from the people its directed for. 

I am a photographer & Framer who runs a photo to canvas service. I redesigned www.canvasideas.com with the thought of making it very simple to use. 

Can you guys have a look, maybe if you get 5 mins tell me if its right where I should adjust etc... its purly feedback on the design, its not a business ploy.

Thank you

Russ


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## Bitter Jeweler (Mar 16, 2012)

I clicked the link, and when it opened, I went "AHHHHHHHHH!".

It's rather "in your face".


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## 480sparky (Mar 16, 2012)

"Hey"?  "No siree"? "Couple of mins"?

Who's your target market.....12-year-olds?


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## Forkie (Mar 16, 2012)

Harsh.  

I thought it was rather good.  It's easy to read, there isn't too much info - it says what I want to know.  I quite liked it.


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## paigew (Mar 16, 2012)

I think the literature could use some rewording. Rather immature/unprofessional.


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## HughGuessWho (Mar 16, 2012)

Good start... BUT;
 as mentioned, you really need to take a serious look at your verbiage and punctuation. 
We print your photos *on to* quality canvas
*HEY* WANT TO KNOW WHAT WE DO?
*We* can also do a few other* cool things*; *you *may want to take advantage of... Are you talking about YOU or THEM? The sentence does not make sense.T
This makes the site sound very unprofessional.
Also, IMO, loose the stationary background. That is something you would normally find on a beginners homepage. Again, does not look professional and does not fit your 
Otherwise, I like the look.


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## Joey_Ricard (Mar 16, 2012)

I agree with all the above - reminds me of pop up ads that you get on some sites.


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## Jeff92 (Mar 16, 2012)

The site is really nice but could use the rewording like others have stated. As far as the layout, I like it but the color scheme or something kinda makes me think popup ad.  Not sure if that is just me though. I do like the site and you did a great job with it. Not sure what the "call us" thing in the red circle towards the top is. That doesn't look like any phone number I have ever seen before.  I viewed the site on my phone so I didn't have a huge screen to check it out on but id say it could definitely use some rewording here and there

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk


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## 480sparky (Mar 16, 2012)

Jeff92 said:


> ..... Not sure what the "call us" thing in the red circle towards the top is. That doesn't look like any phone number I have ever seen before...........



It's a phone in England.


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## Jeff92 (Mar 16, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Jeff92 said:
> 
> 
> > ..... Not sure what the "call us" thing in the red circle towards the top is. That doesn't look like any phone number I have ever seen before...........
> ...


 
Well that's embarrassing


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## Bossy (Mar 16, 2012)

1, get rid of the image with selective coloring 

The site looks ok aside from the above mentioned. Its a little...preschool with the puffy letters and clouds. But it also reminds me a lot of moo.com and they are plenty professional. 

You ought to make a separate sister website for your framing biz, bunching them together on one site is confusing.


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## Forkie (Mar 17, 2012)

480sparky said:


> Jeff92 said:
> 
> 
> > ..... Not sure what the "call us" thing in the red circle towards the top is. That doesn't look like any phone number I have ever seen before...........
> ...



Not only is it a phone in England, it's a _mobile _phone in England!


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## molested_cow (Mar 17, 2012)

I am ok with it. Depends on what kind of crowd you are looking to attract. I think it can be toned a little different, a bit more "professional" like other's have mentioned. However I do like the simplicity it has now and that it feels approachable. I don't feel like this is going to be an expensive service just with my impression of how things are being presented. When a site looks too serious, it may imply that they do quality work but also charge "quality" prices.

That said, whatever you do, you should not down play the quality of your services.

The style of graphic reminds me of twitter. Big buttons with soft colours. I personally don't mind because if I look for canvas printing services, these won't be the things that will impress or bother me. It's the work flow/process, efficiency and price that I care about. So far so good.


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## molested_cow (Mar 17, 2012)

Jeff92 said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > Jeff92 said:
> ...



Phone or England?


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## manaheim (Mar 17, 2012)

heh.  I've seen worse.  It seems a little garish, but not bad.


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## canvasideas (Mar 17, 2012)

Guys can't thank you enough for the direct feedback. I am going to change the wording to a more formal approuch. See how that works.

Many thanks again for your honest opinions


Russ


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## JReichert (Mar 17, 2012)

As a former journalist, I agree with the wording - reading it in my mind produces hiccups and makes me think, "Wait, what?" in many places.  I'd be more than happy to provide some rewrites if you're so inclined.

That staffie in the 4th pic looks scared as the dickens.  Do you have  another photo where the dog is more relaxed?  Non-dog people won't  recognize that the dog is very uncomfortable, but dog people will and  may think that you don't know how to work with dogs or keep them happy  in a studio environment.

It rather looks like all of the photos you provide in the reel on the home page are not shot . . . . mindfully.  What I mean is that it looks like they were shot completely as-is - no extra care concerning composition, lighting, etc.  At first glance, that would turn me off from choosing your service.  And it's a disconnect from your studio photography service - why not use that same set-up to show off your canvas creations, at least some of them?

The color scheme is a bit kindergarten-y but it's not in the bottom bracket.

The Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn grouping appears twice on your home page.  Get rid of the one of them.

I know selective color is popular with some folks, but it screams shoot n' burn.  I'd drop it as others have advised.

I'd like to see more information about your packages.  How many images?  How long?  And why are you giving away your copyright in the 2nd and 3rd??  Or is it another way of saying "print release"?

Your gallery page resembles the home page so much that at first glance you don't know what you're looking for, or at.  Also, "If your going to do it, do it properly" should read, "If you're going to do it, do it properly."  It's unfortunate that there's a spelling error in that particular sentence.  

Anyways, that's my cursory look.


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