Name: Hillarie
Site: Unbeknownst Music
Review completed on: 14/07/07
SPLASH PAGE
No splash
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Well hello there, Hillarie of Unbeknownst-Music. How are you?
I sound like a snob when I say your site title out loud, but I'm not particularly bothered by this fact. Unbeknownst is a great name for a band I think. I've known of the word for a while now - want to hear a story? No? Well, it won't take long I promise.
I found out about the word 'unbeknownst' when I was all of eight years old, and at the time I thought it was the coolest word ever. I used to go around the playground saying to random people, "unbeknownst to you, you're an asshole". I was at primary school, and I had it in for my teacher big time. He was a smelly old man called Mr Gore, and he looked like a version of Santa Claus gone wrong. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was dedicated to making his life hell. One afternoon he was sitting at a table, and unbeknownst to him I had crawled underneath said table. I got a pencil and jabbed him in the _ _ _ _ . Boy did he ever scream like a little girl!
Some memories are sweeter than candy.
LAYOUT
Forgive the lack of commentary so far regarding your site, I'm still trying to get over the fact that you've used brown yet it looks decent. These two words are not often associated with each other, at least not by me. In the world of PSGR, brown is synonymous with poo, smelly things, and, well....all things repulsive. Yet when I look at your layout, none of these words seem to spring to mind, and all I can think about is the fact that your layout is looking damn good. You have challenged the PSGR Law of Brown...turned my world upside down...and all I can do in my defense...is act like a clown...
Revolutionary notions aside now, time to get serious. What are you wearing? Just kidding.
The reason you've made brown look sexy would probably be due to the fact that you haven't used a copious amount of it in the first place. I've seen sites that are 100% brown, that look like someone shat all over their image and then decided to use it as a layout. Not a good look.
The only thing I can really think of to mention here is to add an "Index" or "Home" link on your navigation bar.
All up, your site is sporting an extremely clean cut, attractive layout - not to mention an accessible one. Well done!
CONTENT
About
Interesting and informative. I had no idea that your domain name had been around for so long!
You've covered some basic facts about the band such as who the members are, the genres you've covered in the past, and your musical inspirations. Perhaps a fact file on each band member could serve as some additional content. Basic facts, mainly music-related eg favourite bands, personal inspirations, and favourite songs.
Media
The media is the real juice of the site. Sorry, we're running low on fruits, so we need to plant a new tree.
You can say that again!
The media is the real juice of the site. Sorry, we're running low on fruits, so we need to plant a new tree.
Okay, that's enough now. Only one media item here...a four second long welcome message from you. Okay, that's a start - now you should get the other band members to record a message of their own. In addition to this, you could include some Unbeknownst mp3s. I've seen them up previously, but they've obviously since been removed. I'm almost positive I read a review of your site a couple of months back and the reviewer was slating your music. Around this time I decided to take a listen myself, and they weren't bad.
Photos
The four of you look really cute! Not sure if that was the look you were aiming for, but take it as a compliment! There are only two pictures here though, both from 2005. I'm sure you have some pictures that are more recent? If that's the case, then by all means add them.
Shows
You haven't updated this page in a while, going by the fact that a proposed show in August is under the heading "Future Shows". Did the performance go ahead?
FAQ's
Fair enough for taking the script down because visitors weren't staying on topic. How do people ask you a question now though, via the Contact form?
Contact
How come you have a country selector field here, does it really matter? Just curious.
Links
There's not much that I can say about this page, especially when I can't find anything wrong with it.
SUMMARY
It's a sad day in the world when the bulk of a review consists of me rabbiting on about how I jabbed a teacher in the nuts with a pencil. Unfortunately, you haven't really given me much to go on - your layout is pleasant enough but your content is extremely bare. You recently sent me an e-mail with a few questions regarding the state of your website, and what changes you should make to your site given the current status of your band.
You could possibly leave Unbeknownst Music as it is, and create a subdomain eg http://www.unbeknownst-music.org/hillarie, and create a personal site for yourself?
I've seen you rapidly grow as a webmaster over the several months that I have had the pleasure of knowing you, and with your knowledge of web standards and coding, I have no doubt at all that you'll be able to come up with a successful website. Don't forget about the content too though - while the appearance of a site can do a lot in the way of impressions, your content is the core of your site.
I wish you the best of luck with your band and whatever direction you wish to take in the future.
