Comments for The McStorian

Comment on Color and more color by markofando

markofando — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:19:00 +0000

Want to start your private office arms race right now?

I just got my own USB rocket launcher Awsome thing.

Plug into your computer and you got a remote controlled office missile launcher with 360 degrees horizontal and 45 degree vertival rotation with a range of more than 6 meters – which gives you a coverage of 113 square meters round your workplace.
You can get the gadget here: http://tinyurl.com/2qul3c

Check out the video they have on the page.

Cheers

Marko Fando

Comment on This is my research. Hands off! by durbunk

durbunk — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:44:33 +0000

ford indianapolis

Comment on Finally! (maybe?) by maureen guignon

maureen guignon — Tue, 08 May 2007 21:02:54 +0000

Hi James,

I think your page looks great. The background is fabulous. Wish I could help you about the white space but I am still working on headers. I tried several variations of small gif images using the floral pattern and have one that is looking better. It is still too dark and the text won’t show up; so I will not use it for CLIO. But, I will try to get it finished for the class I teach this summer. Thanks for your advice.

Comment on Clio II Portfolio by Laura

Laura — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:04:55 +0000

James–if you add the following code to your css (near the top, say after your body tag), I think it should fix the white space problem:
* {margin: 0; padding: 0}

Also, one design point. I find it somewhat distracting that there are four different fonts on the page: title, subtitle, menu, and body text. Are the title and subtitle the same? I would recommend making them the same if they are not. I think it will make the site look that much more polished.

take care,
Laura

Comment on Myst by Jennifer Levasseur

Jennifer Levasseur — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:05:34 +0000

I think all of what you’ve said makes me glad I kept things simple by playing the first Myst. I picked up everything pretty quickly, and only got frustrated when the helper would tell me something that made no sense to me like “go somewhere else so I can help you better.” I have two other versions as part of the package I got, but I have a feeling they’ll stay nice and sealed up for awhile.

Comment on Myst by maureen guignon

maureen guignon — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:04:13 +0000

I am also tired of being alone in the mists and not really knowing what I am doing or where I am going. And, I am usually trapped somewhere I am not supposed to be. Actually, those are peaceful moments so I guess I should appreciate the brief respite. I am interested in what others experienced; I assume this game is popular if there are so many sequels and I assume most enjoy the challenge. I need to start with an easier one. However, I am not convinced that it is similar to a good history essay. There are too many dead ends in Myst so it actually seems more like a research project in a brand new archive.

Comment on 2 steps forward; 6,124 steps backward by Misha Griffith

Misha Griffith — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:04:21 +0000

Amen, brother, you are preaching to the choir! Ten years from now, designing sites and browsing them will be a WYSIWYG affair, and we will all laugh at the gyrations we are suffering. But yes, our assignment is due in just a few weeks. Aside from what you think are problems, I thought your site, on the whole, was one of the best we critiqued. I love your choice of title font-very period. And I agree with Laura-make the site three columns across and skip the buttons. It is an introductory page, let it be so. I totally disagree with Dr. Petrik about one-word buttons–if only because I had a terrible time navigating with them on our assignment to use the screen-reader. Your concept has an old fashioned elegance to the problem. They feel like “calling cards”. Those were specially embossed cards the wealthy Victorians carried to announce themselves when visiting. The really special ones had photographs on them. I think it is where we got the modern tradition of business cards. Anyway, I would give the navigation statements a different look than just underlining. Another font, perhaps?

Comment on 2 steps forward; 6,124 steps backward by veprek.com » Blog Archive » Design Critiques

veprek.com » Blog Archive » Design Critiques — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:58:18 +0000

[...] because I thought she did a really great job and the critique got a little carried away, and on James’ blog. Perhaps I’m saying this because I know that for this project, I worked nearly non-stop on it [...]

Comment on 2 steps forward; 6,124 steps backward by Laura

Laura — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:55:34 +0000

I really, really like your site design. I mean, you’re lucky to be working with such cool images, but you also came up with, I think, a rather creative horizontal layout. It’s a little different and it works. So, to your design question: I would keep this design. I would consider making the columns wider so that the three cover the whole body section adn there is no troublesome gap on the left. Your photos at the top and bottom are excellent. I have a couple of comments that may help.

1) Try making the background color of the whole page the same color as the light color in the header so that it blends.
2) I think the three different fonts you use in the header and then titles just below are distracting from one another. Try repeating the top one in the titles below, and make those your “buttons.” I would also take out the links in the paragraphs and the text that essentially says “click here.” Instead, I would make what you currently have as link text into a subheading, like “Overview of the Corps of Engineers’ involvement in the Canal Zone.” Make it slightly smaller than the title but larger than the main text. The title and image should be clickable, but I would not add a link in the text.

As to your development issues with Dreamweaver and IE, I would download Firefox and use that with its developer extension, so you can see where your troubles are. Then, check it in IE after you’ve gotten it where you want it in Firefox, and do damage control.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’m happy to help.

Laura

Comment on Ugh! by karinhill

karinhill — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:41:54 +0000

If you just sucked it up and bought a $500 graphics card, like the people at Myst IV would like you to do, those sites would work just fine!

I feel your pain though. I think these vitural museum are now beginning to get so technological that they risk losing their core audience…the average user who has never had a lan party (and never cares too) and just wants to look around, maybe participate a little.