Name: Toya
Site: Vibrance
Review completed on: 27/09/05

SPLASH PAGE

No splash n/a

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Loading time on a broadband connection sucked majorly - hard to believe, I know. The tables loaded instantaneously, but right now I have your page loading still and the layout hasn't even begun to load, and its slowed down the whole computer. Maybe if you're using an image host, their server is down or something. If this is the case, I recommend using Photobucket - it's pretty reliable and has about 99.9% uptime. This is seriously taking ages, and a lot of people would have not bothered waiting - loading time is a massively important factor when it comes to first impressions. Ten minutes later, your layout graphic finally loaded, and it looks good. No idea who the chicky is, but yeah, it looks good. 5/10

LAYOUT

The design itself is of a high quality - I like the slightly blurred look you've given the image. Colour-wise, I'm not too sure about the combination of the colours in terms of how it blends in with the picture, it doesn't look quite right. I love the font you've used for the layout title, "Retro Sophistication". It looks great teamed with the deep yellow you've used with it. Your layout is relatively small compared to the massive space you've been given to work with, and everything seems cluttered to the left. Centralising this layout would make everything look so much better, instead of aligning the tables and the graphic to the left - this leaves a massive void to the right. You have the space to work with, so why not centralise the layout and make the tables wider, and getting rid of the anorexic look they currently have. It's not like you don't have the room or anything, so don't put all that space to waste! Navigation-wise, it's placed in a prime location - although I can barely see it! The blue is way too light, maybe even simply bolding the text would make it more distinguishable. 11/20

CONTENT

I'm having some problems trying to make out the text, it's just too light for me, so I'm highlighting the links so I can actually see what they are. You have tonnes of cool visitor content, including several interactive pages - something that is always a favourite with the visitors. I tried to check out your graphics on offer but they just wouldnt load - I'm definitely thinking it must be the server you store your images on. You have a massive array of interesting, informative tutorials - this section is surely appreciated by your visitors. Okay, onto the next section...Tutorials? Again? The exact same page appears on your previous section, "You"! Why have it twice, it seems kind of silly. Onto "Vibrance" now - pretty much your generic site section here, but one wouldn't expect anything more than that - I think site sections are designed to be pretty boring aren't they. Nice layout for the "Ask Toya" section - I'm liking the colour combinations and font choice. It looks well made with a touch of elegance. Great job with that! You should definitely consider adding a "Back" button on this page though, for convenience' sake. The "Toya" section contains some interesting information about yourself, that at times you have presented to the visitor with a touch of originality. Take the "Memories" page for instance. You've uploaded a series of pictures of people in your life, past and present. I found that quite endearing. Also, you've included pictures of people you'd like to meet in the future - I hope you will one day! 16/20

SUMMARY

It's clear you've tried your best with this site, and in parts this great effort shows. In other parts there are a few careless errors and a few obvious mistakes. Your dedication to designing layouts and providing entertaining visitor content is commendable, although it was disappointing that I was unable to get the most out of these features due to loading time. Your site has potential for sure, and with a little more consideration and with striving for perfection in mind, you'll come up with a real winner.

OVERALL SCORE: 32/50