Hey everyone, if you don't know me, I'll tell you a little bit about me. I am an audio engineer who recently graduated from school with a recording arts degree. I have experience with web design/web mastering, however I am apparently not up to date on stuff. I have been re-learning dreamweaver and CSS. I'm not an artist though, which is why I need your help. I know what I want visually but am having trouble bringing it to fruition. I kinda don't wanna ask in case people say "well if you don't know anything, why are you doing it?" . To learn, in case anyone wants to throw that line around. My biz name is Astral Plane Studios and the theme I am going for is a spacey/atmospheric kind of thing that will make people think "well, this is interesting..." I realize I have to think about potential clients rather than myself as well though in order to attract you have to cater to their needs aesthetically and with the information provided in your site. Here is what I originally had going on: However, I have changed things up a bit. I really really want to use that background image as much as possible, I realize though that it may be too chaotic for the simple kind of design I am going for. So, this is what I have done now: I'm keeping the logo I made because frankly, it's fucking awesome and I can't believe I made something that damn cool looking. The buttons in the first picture are pretty sweet too IMO, but maybe I need something less flashy? I don't know. I want things to be appealing and attractive, but unique at the same time. If anyone would be willing to help me with photo editing and stuff (I can only do a little bit of amateur stuff obviously) I would really appreciate it. The reason I'm not hiring anyone to make my site for me is because I don't have the money for it at the moment, it's more immersible and fun to do it yourself...but a little help never hurt anybody.
I've changed everything a bit. I'm using a new background and new buttons. I'm not going for super duper flashy, just a little. The background is less intense now too. I'm doing the best I can with what I know and can do.
To me, I liked how in the first one...the white space (tohugh I'd prefer maybe a light pink/purple) was there for the main content area to give contrast. I don't like the white dots in the buttons because it makes the button texts sort of not immediately easy to read. A tasteful thin yet strong dark glow around the button text might fix that. I am just graduating this upcoming week.. I have to present my senior project which was actually learning how to and building a website.. Here it is: AgileEVM - Something Value Something Agility (it is using a product that my dad and his biz partner are developing)
A button glow occurs when you hover over it and click it. I'm not too sure whether I want to keep the text area white or not. I picked some fun colors to work with didn't i? XD
No i mean the image itself. An outer glow. Idk if you use photoshop or gimp or what but most advanced GFX progs have the ability to put a glow around the layer that the text is on.
your banner looks pretty plain, not very appealing to the eye since its a biz you should come up with a logo kinda bored threw 1 together pretty quick, kinda like an example of what im thinking
Plain? I thought it was pretty flashy myself...My theme is based off new age stuff/futuristicy things. Astral Plane meaning spiritual realm, hence the spacey, mystical, glowing text lol. I will have to update my business cards though after I get all this stuff done. I think I get what you were trying to do with the thing on the S. sorta looks like a musical note . I'm not a fan of the backwards S though...