XHTML This - Quality Coding

Alright, guys lets just calm down and move on.

On the other hand,

Wonderful job on the site! It truly is a work of art.

I just referred a few people to your services also from my msn.

Best of luck with your coding,

Damien

Originally Posted by Blue Ire Before you offer your services, you might consider picking up CSS Mastery from Amazon, it's only like 30$.

have had my eyes on that for a long time, you reminded me so i thought i give myself a christmas present.. its on its way

the site looks great, im not really feeling the logo right now tho, maybe another color like adding a tiny bit of orange or something else to make it pop. or maybe something small like a slogan would help.

and the fact that the text xhtml this isn't hidden makes it look tacky in my eyes.

but still looks good, best of luck.

Sorry, but i'm going to go against everything that everyone has said in this thread. This probably one of the worst designs that i have seen in ages. It is full of design clichés. Way to many gel effects. You've even managed to work in that annoying pattern you've got in the background of the header that is in practically every design made on this forum in the past 6 months.

The font that you've used for the site content doesn't look right and it's way to small anyway.

I know you're offering coding services and not design services but honestly, you'd be better off with a simple html page displaying your services rather than this cliché, whored up excuse for a design.

You might write the best code in the world at the cheapest price but i'd never use your services based on this design.

He didn't make the design.

Originally Posted by hjalmar have had my eyes on that for a long time, you reminded me so i thought i give myself a christmas present.. its on its way

Fantastic book, I highly recommend it. It's a good reference and best practices sort of guide... I don't agree with everything in it, but I can't think of a better CSS book.

Originally Posted by WardLarson Hey garrett, i've got a question for you... If you didn't want critique, why post it in the gallery showcase? Read the forum description; "Post your latest creations in here for review by the community." i.e., comments from the community. Honestly, saying he's jealous of you because he corrected your mistakes is pretty damn immature.

One suggestion, don't set your self up which in this thread you already did. This is a Gallery Showcase which means that the critique will be on the design not the services he is offering.

What you did is just quote the source that proves you wrong. It says post your latest creations in here for review by the community....Unfortunately this is not a review on his technique of coding but rather the design that Anthony Bullock made.

On the other hand, the design is allright...I have to agree with some points Jon provided in his post. Anthony should definetly expand his styles and feel out more texture so that he can be more flexible in his work.

I like it Garrett. and Michael does have a point on the meaning of the gallery showcase.

That purple header on the top center is a little choppy, very nice besides that.

I think you need to seriously identify your audience before sending a specification off to get it designed, that's why this design isn't doing ANYTHING to help sell your services, it may as well not be there.

It's not the designers fault, it's not a BAD design, it's the case of a bad specification. Whored, trendy style as Jon mentioned, little to no identity created, you would probably get more sales with a simple white page with links to your work.

The content text is a pt or two too small, and there's definitely too much of the same shade of purple. The rest is nice, really good actually.

On the other hand, it's only a recycled hodgepodge of successful yet overdone design techniques. It might be well done, but in my eyes, it's still a collection of Anthony's awfully clichéd, patented graphics.

Whether that's a deciding factor for the success of Gareth's business, I'm not one to say. Personally, if I was interested in hiring a coder, I could care less about any of what I just observed design-wise. His reputation and the skills demonstrated in his portfolio would be the only things I would take interest in, though already, Blue Ire's post has brought those into question. Nonetheless, I'm not a regular customer of any coder, so again, my views are not characteristic of his potential audience.

Anyway, I wish the best for you in this project of yours Gareth. Regardless of my negative comments, it looks like a promising endeavor for you.