My website is up!

Hey Marc: I went through every page.

My faves first:

VERY clean and modern with minimalist white. It looks current.

Home page photo: Great dramatic image.

Good clear double spaced text and a VERY pleasing grey font. I could read nicely. (What is that font? So smart.)

The Photo Gallery format is medium 'thumbs' to LARGE. Just right!

You ACTUALLY have some knives available. How about that!

Your knives and sheaths are spectacular. Immediately apparent.

Minimalist contact page: Get right to the point.

First person dialog. You are talking to me directly. Very personal. ( I dislike third-person dialogs: Marc has been making knives for 10 years... etc.)

Your photography is professional and VERY satisfying. You clearly spent time creating a light tent and quality lighting to showcase your superb work. (I've seen, you've seen, we've ALL seen, ummmmmm, far worse from makers.. ;))

_______

I have some subjective points of things I'd prefer and didn't like:

The home page photo is huge. I find it's a bit TOO large. I have a 27" hi-res screen, too.

The link menu bars on top were lost on me at first. I'd wish you'd increase those fonts. I know it's minimal, but for me they get lost. I'd grow them a bit.

For years and years I have ALWAYS wished for a nice clear photo of the maker on their 'About me' page. This is where the maker is talking to me directly. (In your case you are also talking in first person, and that much more I want to SEE the person I'm talking with, not tools.) Your header photo is not enough. I"d ask you for a direct looking-at-the-viewer shot from your workbench. That's me.

Nowhere on the site does it say your full name. I only know your name is Marc from here and on Facebook. You may be doing this on purpose, but.... why?

Your pricing is described well, but you are generalizing. In your conversation you are lumping yourself in with ALL 'Custom' makers. Here's where you are distinct. Bring it back to YOU.

Pricing: 'Price on Request' This sure will weed out the tire kickers, but I am uncomfortable in spending time in a dialog to see if you and my wallet are even close. I want answers, not more questions! :)

The blocks of text, although very readable are, from a grammar standpoint, needing paragraphs. This would take away from the look. You have to decide which is more important: a look, or the message read clearly.

All of my comments are subjective. Thanks for asking. VERY good work!

Process and source: Did you work it from a template? How much time did you spend? (From one who spent WEEKS years ago creating mine!)
 
Nice web site, fantastic knives and sheaths.:thumbup:
 
looks snazzy. Needs pricing.
 
Thank you guys for your input!

Jim,

Thank you very much for that very well thought out and explained review. There are definitely things I overlooked unintentionally as I thought I might. That is why I asked you folks to get me straightened out. I don't know code and I don't have much experience building websites. To answer your questions, I built the site from a Squarespace template which I modified. I'm still trying to get the hang of the features and ways to edit the site. I started putting the site together about 4 days ago. A day of that time though was spent taking and editing photos. The font is called Calluna. Just for perspective, I'm viewing and editing the site on a 30" monitor. Maybe that's throwing my sizes off a bit. I will make some changes as soon as I get a moment. As far as the knife photos go, the light set up I have is based on your tutorial of how to build a budget light tent. So, thank you!
 
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Looks great on my 43" monitor!
Everything looks very clean and well formatted.
The only thing I would change (and it is just a personal preference) is to "left-right justify" the text paragraphs in the "about" sections.
 
I just looked at it on both my iPad and iPhone and it functions well and looks great on those mobile devices, at least.

The home page picture is a little dark and hard to see on both, but is only really an issue on the small phone screen for me. I am not sure how many people use their phones for internet browsing. All of the other pages were perfect on both mobile devices, sizing appropriately and showing crisp pictures and text.

Most importantly, the knives look fantastic!
 
Thanks everybody. I listened to all your valid comments and made some changes. I appreciate you all taking the time to peruse the site and offer your impressions.
 
You asked, you listened, you implemented.

I LOVE that smiling face on your 'About me' page, and I feel like I've shaken your hand through this. I can't tell you how much MORE of an impact that makes.

You edited the 'Understanding Pricing' page, and it's so personal and valid. I 'get it'.

I hope those in your family approve as well. I give the site a 10 of 10 now. :)

Inspiring for me to blow the cobwebs off my site and take it up a notch.

Bravo!
 
Very nice website, very nice work!

I hope you will be going for your JS stamp soon, I think your ready!

Steve
--------
Member, W.F. Moran Jr. Foundation
ABS Apprentice
 
Steve Nuckels said:
Very nice website, very nice work!

I hope you will be going for your JS stamp soon, I think your ready!

Steve
--------
Member, W.F. Moran Jr. Foundation
ABS Apprentice
Click to expand...


Thanks Steve. I joined the ABS January 1st this year so I have three years to go before I can test for JS. ;)
 
I like it. Great looking knives.

Maybe lose all caps at the header and drop down menus, they read a little loud. Might even look more refined in lower case, dunno.
 
Marc, looks to me. I could navigate fine, clear info and well laid out. Dozier (not Bob)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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