Obiter Dictum

Content Only Review of Zwinkyness
Date Submitted: January 3
Date Completed: April 11

Content

Looks like there’s a lot to get into here! Your blog posts are long and at first glance they don’t seem to be about random uninteresting tid bits. I’m not going to read all your currently displayed blogs, but I’ve sort of skimmed them and I can see that if I wanted to take the deeper time to read them I’d probably learn a lot about you in a short amount of time. You write very well with acceptable spelling and grammar (always a plus) and your posts are detailed with your thoughts and ideas.

There is a lot of information in your sidebar and footer. I like the ability to change the font size. I am okay with asides (or Twitters, or whatever you want to call them) and you’re not showing too many, but I would put the blurb about you before the asides. You should put sidebar content in order of importance - if possible, I’d even put the about snippet first or right after the font size changer.

It’s always interesting to me the about details people choose to put in their sidebars. Some people just list of some interests, some people define themselves with descriptive words. You’ve done a bit of both, though I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about the “random words” thing being chosen over an actual paragraph that sums up some basic facts. Some errors - You aren’t “17th” years of age - you’re either “in your 17th year” or “17 years of age.” Your “author” link leads to your blog, the page I’m on, and I’m not sure why. Read the rest of this entry »

Combined Review of Backstaged
Date Submitted: December 7
Date Completed: March 16

Design

Not entirely sure how I feel about this layout. Something is off - might be the dissymmetry of the header image, the color use, or perhaps it’s that the “About Me” link sticks out all the way to the left while the “Domain” link ends very close to the right side of the layout. Maybe it’s all of it.

The layout isn’t bad - it’s not very complicated, more or less easy on the eyes, and it looks perfect in both IE and Firefox. I don’t like what you’ve done with the header/footer images. I’m not sure I get the point of the “eaten out” look - that’s what it looks like to me. It looks like tiny mouths have taken chunks out of your layout. If it fit the theme (postage?) I’d understand a little better. Postage stamps have the riveted edges, but those bumpy lines are around the entire stamp, not just the upper left and lower right corners. It just seems like you threw them in there to avoid having a boxy layout. Read the rest of this entry »

Combined Review of final-stop.net
Date Submitted: December 3
Date Completed: February 13

Design

Your design is very clean, simple, and with colors that go well together. I’m not sure I would have picked a pink/green combination, but to each his own. Except for the error at the bottom of the page, your website looks fine in both IE and Firefox. Read the rest of this entry »

Combined Review of un-ordinary.net
Date Submitted: November 13
Date Completed: January 21

Design

I was going to try to put off this review until you got your new self set up but since you’re next in line I had to go ahead and do it now. I’d hate to give you all kinds of comments on a layout that you’re about to get rid of anyway, but here goes anyway!

I like what you’ve done here, except for just two things: There’s a lot of space to the right and I don’t understand the bubbly thing going on behind the content. It would be cool if you had some kind of theme going and I personally like to add a little flair here and there, but it draws attention and I don’t quite “get” it. As for the space to the right, either the text could go all the way to the end (padding included, of course) - but that might look sloppier; the layout could be centered - but that might ruin your left sidebar idea (and by the way, I like your sidebar, it’s straight-forward and minimal and fits well with the coloring)… I honestly don’t have any suggestions as far as that big space on the right goes, but I’m sure you have some things in mind by now based on your recent review. Read the rest of this entry »

Just wanted to leave a note that I’m starting the next review (un-ordinary.net) now that all the holiday fuss is finally over. :) I have a new laptop to work on so I’ve also changed my specifics on the about page.