Hopefully going to launch this site tomorrow, it's for our fledgling company.

http://www.linemodern.com/index2.html

I give you guys permission to have at it, but keep in mind the shopping cart is LIVE, so don't go through with any payments (unless you want to buy something )

If you find problems/issues, or just have commentary on the layout/design/nav/whatever, I appreciate it all.

There is definitely still a bit of text content to be filled in tonight, and it may happen as you guys look at it. Thanks!

3/22/2007 7:13:47 PM

i don't have any specific suggestions, but it's kinda blah to me

are you expecting most of your traffic from word of mouth or google?

3/22/2007 7:48:01 PM

hard to say about most websites - but it's too simple imho - an argument for it being simple though from browsing the site it appears that your designs appear to be more classy, modern, simplistic

i personally hate it when i click a picture and it goes to the next one - if i click it the only thing i want it to do is to get bigger - personal preference though

3/22/2007 7:50:42 PM

what's the TWW discount for furniture...i like the simona set

3/22/2007 8:00:07 PM

^^ simple, not so much, but definitely minimal and modern are the themes.

We've gone through about ten different revisions of the photo browsing, it's definitely been a tough one for me to decide on. What's up there is pretty much a compromise, which usually isn't the best option.

^^^probably 95% word of mouth, but we are going to start pretty agressive blog-marketing pretty soon. Google doesn't do much for us at the moment, but maybe in the future.

^hahaha, yea it's all definitely very boutique furniture at the moment. We are hoping to have a version of simona out soon that will be a good amount less expensive, at least a good 25% less, but it won't be all white.

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:05 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2007 8:03:24 PM

i just want to know why this costs $300



[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:04 PM. Reason : *]

3/22/2007 8:03:55 PM

because it's solid, and beautifully painted. the industrial varnish we use will hold up better than almost any traditional paints and it looks like an automotive gloss finish. the paint on that alone costs us around 150 bucks.

3/22/2007 8:08:18 PM

Noen...i'm serious man. i just bought a new house and i have dark hardwoods like in the pictures (once it's built)...if you want to create a couple betas and loan them out for feedback then sell at a discount...i'm your man. i'm looking for 2 nice coffee tables and a dining table at the moment...so pm me.

i like the site...i knew it would be "simple" when i saw who posted it, but i think there is a good match for what the site looks like and your market. there are consistencies there and a lot of the "good design award" winners have similar approaches. http://www.g2art.com/sub/Ceilingfans for example.

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:11 PM. Reason : / durr]

3/22/2007 8:10:33 PM

i would like to see some "connection" between the text and the pictures on the front page. It's not immediately clear that the text menu on the left side are linked one-to-one to the images on the right.
I would like to see some highlighting (change color to green) on mouseover of the menu items, and the corresponding picture should be highlighted somehow - at the least make a single pixel green border. Or extending on your single pixel wide line theme (like when you go to a particular page), when you mouseover a picture on the front page or the text, a line will appear and connect the right picture and text together.

ah hell, i'll just draw it. this is on mouseover of either the text or the image, and the are still both linked





[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:25 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2007 8:22:10 PM

^i like that, but it could be tricky to pull off with multiple rolled images...i don't know if you could get the slice right to change like that (easily at least).

i would have the mouse over extend the horizontal green line (like when you click a link) under each text box...but then the image layout would have to change somewhat...

hmm...lemme think about it for a second.

3/22/2007 8:26:35 PM

hey, if Ken Jennings can make it work on his site, i'm sure someone here can figure it out!
http://ken-jennings.com/

3/22/2007 8:27:55 PM

i saved it as an html...maybe i'm just rusty...it was just a straight forward image swap...

here is what i would do



in this example, green is for mouseover...i would add mouseover (grey to green) for the text links at the top too. i wouldn't link text to image for two reasons.

1. some people may have a crappy browser or slow connection and have image loading problems...side navigation is always good because some people like that better than navigating through the main content

2. it gives you multiple ways to use the site with ease. you can either use the text links or middle content to navigate.

i would def. add a simple text rollover to change to your green color because some users are idiots and even though the clicker appears, when they see text they need to see a visible change before they click something.

hopefully this makes sense.

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:43 PM. Reason : chris]

3/22/2007 8:32:40 PM

i take it Carpetbagger is your partner?

i would say move the profile, contact, services link to a more prominent location. especially considering that when the photo galleries, it pushes that div to the bottom of the page

[Edited on March 22, 2007 at 8:43 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2007 8:41:29 PM

do you guys do home theater? that's a sweet setup in Carpetbagger's gallery

3/22/2007 8:46:37 PM

The pictures should be bigger, or at least have a bigger option. I browser regularly on a monitor that is a modest 1400x1050 and the pictures look too small to me.

And maybe it's because i'm use to seeing doctored up photos, but some of those product shots have harsh or odd-looking lighting, or are unflattering (on one of the kitchen counters, it looks like it's dirty).

And it's also slightly confusing that the behavior under the furniture link is different than the other sections. In the other sections, click the pictures takes you to the portfolio browser interface, in furniture, it takes you to the product spec page. Then, in furniture, when you click a products teeny tiny picture, it takes you to a different type of picture browser where you can't click on the picture to see the next in the series. And for some products, there's only one view. If I were a new customer, only seeing one small picture of a product would frustrate me and make me look elsewhere.

3/22/2007 9:33:24 PM

latin in the profile?

3/22/2007 10:01:11 PM

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the feedback so far!

We are definitely going to think about the homepage more, very good ideas presented here for sure.

One thing we definitely took into account is load times, as that's a huge pet peeve of mine. The whole site should be 56k browseable without much problem.

Quote :

"i take it Carpetbagger is your partner? do you guys do home theater?"

Yep, he is. We don't do the electrical, but we do all the casework associated with it. We have some REALLY amazing A/V guys who can do damn near anything you want. The setup in his gallery (also on the casework page on the site) is sick. We need to get some pictures with the doors open, because there's amazing tech stuff going on inside.

Quote :

"The pictures should be bigger, or at least have a bigger option. I browser regularly on a monitor that is a modest 1400x1050 and the pictures look too small to me."

Definitely something we thought about. Just couldnt find a good way to put in the big shots without just linking to images, or overwhelming people not on high-res monitors. If you have any solutions, my ears are definitely open. We tried the whole lightbox/litebox deal, as well as gallery. Just couldn't control the picture enough to our liking.

Quote :

"And maybe it's because i'm use to seeing doctored up photos, but some of those product shots have harsh or odd-looking lighting, or are unflattering (on one of the kitchen counters, it looks like it's dirty)."

Which ones in particular? Several of the pictures (especially the countertops) we already have better replacements for, that will be up tomorrow, but I'd like to make sure we dont miss anything.

Quote :

"And it's also slightly confusing that the behavior under the furniture link is different than the other sections. In the other sections, click the pictures takes you to the portfolio browser interface, in furniture, it takes you to the product spec page."

I guess the explanation is, it's a store versus a portfolio. But I agree it's inconsistent and definitely not ideal. Kind of an issue of time & resources, versus design, which sucks.

Quote :

"Then, in furniture, when you click a products teeny tiny picture, it takes you to a different type of picture browser where you can't click on the picture to see the next in the series. And for some products, there's only one view. If I were a new customer, only seeing one small picture of a product would frustrate me and make me look elsewhere."

Yea, I'm thinking of ditching that for the way the rest of the site works. It just happened to be the way the shopping cart handles images. And we are definitely adding more views, to make sure people can see what they are getting.

^yea, like I said it's still in Beta

3/22/2007 10:24:34 PM

my option would still load really fast......the three text mouseovers and three image mouseovers (with minor changes) would still be very quick. i like the layout though and i'll say again...it's consistent with GOOD DESIGN award winners' sites that i've seen...it keeps the focus on the product.

3/22/2007 10:50:53 PM

It reminds of alot of flash webpages that are minimalistic/simple but have certain subtle animations to make them not overly so. But this isn't in flash and those animations aren't there and it does seem (although I never thought I'd say this) too simple.

Maybe some artistic wavy lines in the background or something that are a light light grey and barely visible. I just think it needs something.

Also the pictures don't line up for me with the concrete picture being a few pixels right of the others. Winxp w/ IE 6.0.

Also on http://www.linemodern.com/services/ the spacing looks odd. It looks great on the pages but for some reason when I see that page I think "Why is there so much space between the main page text and the links on the left?"

Overall looks great though.

3/22/2007 11:03:30 PM

i guess its good if you know what you are looking for, but if i just came across it i wouldnt be encouraged to investigate and look around

3/22/2007 11:11:49 PM

thanks for the feeback guys, keep it comin! We are going to have a whole bunch to talk about tomorrow for sure

3/22/2007 11:14:02 PM

definitely needs some margin or padding at the bottom of the pages. If you're viewing in a short browser window and you scroll down, the images and text go all the way to the status bar. Needs some whitespace or a footer at the bottom of each page

3/22/2007 11:27:05 PM

I don't really like how the page content gets pushed down according to menu item, but I guess it works (assuming thats a feature not a bug)

Also, you have a duplicate image in the rocking chair image list

3/22/2007 11:46:31 PM

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/pezdek2.jpg

In this picture, the colors just look dull, and it doesn't really look like a product shot for the concrete counters (i'm assuming that's what it's for). I would think you'd want to get a little closer to the concrete to see the texture more, or at a higher angle if you're trying to offset it with the other elements of the kitchen. As far as a solution for a bigger picture, you might could just put a "zoom" link at the bottom of the picture where it says "next" and "back to portfolio."

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/pezdek4.jpg

In this one, the scratches on the dish washer are very minor and subtle, but subtlety is a significant component of art, which is what the design of the products seem geared toward. Also, it looks like it was lit with the flash from a point-and-shoot camera. The foreground is much brighter than the background, and the lighting doesn't really illuminate the texture that well. It may just be me, and i'm on a Mac with Safari (so it's calibrating based on the embedded profile if there is one), but all the colors look a bit dull in most of the pictures, i'd be better off saying which ones I thought looked nice.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/lakewatauga1.jpg

This one is not too bad. The picture is too small for me to tell if that is grime on the counter or just the counter's texture though. However, it looks kind of grimey.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/lakewatauga2.jpg

This is good picture, I think. Bright, clear colors, well lit, good angle showing texture. Now if there was just one of the top of the counter that is as good.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/lakewatauga3.jpg

This one is pretty good too, although the lower right portion of the picture should either be more dark to take emphasis away from the drawers, or more light to draw attention to how the entire scene fits together, I think.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker1.jpg

This picture is good, but it's too small. And the camera looks like it's being tilted to the side (if the ceiling edge on the back wall were perfectly horizontal, it would be much more professional looking). There also seems to be some slight pincushioning in the lens being used there.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker2.jpg

This picture is okay, but i'm not sure what another long shot is really doing. And the light I think is too cold in the foreground there (and it's small ).

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker3.jpg

THis is the picture with the dirty counter top, that I think is unflattering to the product. And something about the angle in this one is not quite right, but i'm not sure what it is. I like the warmer colors though, but it could be just a teeny-tiny bit brighter.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker4.jpg

The camera is a bit askew (by a small amount, maybe .1 degrees), and if you're taking pictures of a bathroom, and the toilet is not relevant, I would leave it out. And the trash bag should be hanging neater too, not with the sides flailed out like that. There are too many shadows on the wall as well, if they were minimized, I think the picture would look cleaner.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker5.jpg

Picture is not lit evenly, and is too dark, I think. If there was another light source where the camera is that was soft to kind of even out the shadows cast by the strong overhead light, it would look better.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/concrete/barker6.jpg

This picture is good (apart from its size). the colors could be a bit warmer though.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/drake1.jpg

This is probably the best picture of the lot, I think, so far. Nice and bright, even lighting, good angle.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/pezdek1.jpg

All the ones up to this are great. With this one, if you're showing the case work, that dirty air vent shouldn't be so prominent in the shot. If the air vent was clean, and the background were lit better, it could work though.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/pezdek2.jpg

This one is okay (a tad too dark, I think), but it has a tiny, barely noticeable lens aberration.
http://www.thewolfweb.com/photos/00477005.jpg

In the lower circle, you can see the counter drops below the red line I drew, and in the upper (you can't see in this picture because of the reencoding TWW does) circle the edge just goes above the line. I doubt most people would notice this, but this is usually lacking from typical professional pictures.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/barker1.jpg

I don't like the angle shown, but that is not an objective evaluation. That white piece of conduit in the foreground shouldn't be there either.

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/barker2.jpg

This one is pretty good (except it's too small).

http://www.linemodern.com/p/casework/barker3.jpg

Is that the 40" Sony or the 46"? This is a minor issue, but this picture is pretty good as it is, but it would look just a hair better if the couch in the foreground were brushed so the grains looked more even.

That's it... i'm neither an artist nor a photographer, those were just my thoughts if I were a customer looking for some new designs for my house.

All the pictures under furniture are well done/rendered, I have not criticisms of those.

[Edited on March 23, 2007 at 1:06 AM. Reason : ]

3/23/2007 1:01:50 AM

Just a comment. You do realize that the target customer that will buy your products is not on a 56k. So going a bit over isn't going to hurt your business.

3/23/2007 6:31:29 AM

you can't make that assumption



people with $$$ might live out in the boondocks

3/23/2007 6:34:31 AM

eh good point. I recend my previous opinion

3/23/2007 6:56:16 AM

rescind

3/23/2007 7:43:56 AM

^^suprisingly, the high tech market doesnt really overlap our market. Most of our clients are casual web users at most.

3/23/2007 8:35:10 AM

i want to know why the fuck I would pay $4000 for this. It is ugly as shit.



[Edited on March 23, 2007 at 3:33 PM. Reason : .]

3/23/2007 3:33:41 PM

^ It has a really expensive paint job.

3/23/2007 3:39:01 PM

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh well sign me the fuck up!

3/23/2007 3:41:20 PM

thanks, real constructive there. keep on shopping at stanley furniture.

3/23/2007 4:10:46 PM

good job changing the description on the adela moves...i was going to point it out yesterday

3/23/2007 5:59:35 PM

^^^^^ glad we could make you feel better about yourself today...

3/23/2007 6:39:24 PM

Quote :

"Our new site will be launching today, March 22nd, 2007 so keep checking in!"

i would change that...

3/23/2007 6:42:19 PM

good catch, thanks

3/23/2007 6:46:11 PM

Quote :

"Since birth, Kevin has been a designer. Here he speaks a little more about his design philosophy. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Pellentesque sollicitudin enim ac ipsum. Suspendisse vel eros a tellus tincidunt congue. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. Ut pretium, urna eu malesuada posuere, pede libero mollis metus, ut nonummy mi erat at ante. Proin quis sem. Sed tellus ipsum, fringilla id, molestie quis, pharetra et, dolor. Donec metus risus, luctus non, dignissim et, luctus eget, quam. Proin at risus quis ligula scelerisque lacinia. Suspendisse congue odio non sem. Fusce nonummy, erat ac consequat eleifend, purus velit egestas libero, ut nonummy nulla turpis et nisi. Praesent felis odio, laoreet et, sollicitudin nec, tincidunt nec, mauris. Proin enim sem, tempus nec, aliquam sed, porta ut, nunc. Etiam quis dui. Integer eget velit. Nam dui turpis, euismod ut, commodo vel, venenatis et, felis. Quisque congue luctus tortor. Phasellus ipsum nisl, dapibus at, sagittis ac, vestibulum sit amet, tortor. Donec sit amet odio vitae nisl sagittis aliquam. "

Whats going on here?

I'm a fan of the work. Of course it's out of my $$ range

3/23/2007 7:04:26 PM

"lorem ipsum dolor" is the standard latin-looking filler when you're trying to figure out how text will look in a certain situation without actually having the text ready to go

3/23/2007 8:37:27 PM

no offense, but i'll eat my shoe if you sell any of that top dollar shit [that looks like my bar with a new paintjob] to anyone besides your mom, gay uncle or grandma

3/23/2007 8:42:01 PM

You underestimate how many gay uncles are out there...

3/23/2007 9:56:45 PM

^^devil is in the details man. I can understand why a lot of you guys may not see the value in it, but luckily a lot of people do. Our stuff has gone through a lot of design work, prototyping and testing. It's made MUCH better than traditional furniture, and our craftmanship is absolutely top notch.

A lot of people care about good design, skilled craftmanship, and quality in materials. It's the same reason people buy paintings or sculptures, except with day-to-day use. Most people end up with 10 dollar posters on their walls, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[Edited on March 24, 2007 at 12:17 AM. Reason : .]

3/24/2007 12:14:50 AM

I can't get in, but the screenshots you've got look like a good start.

^^^Fortunately for Noen and Carpetbagger, there are actually people out there who have $texas and would drop it in a hot minute for these sort of things, if for no other reason that to pride themselves in their $4000 dining set or their $800 side table.

3/24/2007 4:40:53 AM

Sorry about that, we pulled the site to do some backend work. Should be back up with revisions tomorrow. Thanks a LOT guys for the feedback, it's pretty much in line with what we thought internally and what some other people have said. Thanks!

3/24/2007 1:09:57 PM

add some descriptions of what they are made with to highlight the high-end quality

you've already had to explain that fact in here multiple times

3/24/2007 2:26:06 PM

http://www.linemodern.com/index3.html

We've incorporated a lot of changes (actually I think we ended up addressing almost all of the feedback from this thread) and have it pretty polished up.

More feedback welcome!

3/28/2007 4:59:28 PM

looks like the load times went out the window

3/28/2007 5:08:03 PM

?

3/28/2007 5:12:10 PM

yeah, the photos are loading very slowly for me too. even the portfolio and services link took a while to load

3/28/2007 5:17:37 PM

it loaded quickly for me. http://www.linemodern.com/concrete/services/ has the profile links at the very bottom which is really low for me (that may be intended though)

3/28/2007 5:19:51 PM