New Forum aimed towards graphics

[wezoo]

Hi all
Just like to mention my new forum dedicated to computer graphics and programming, its basicaly to give help and advice to people stuck with there applications like photoshop, max, maya, and to submit work for critique etc...

its only 3 weeks old, so its no where near finished , but i would apreciate feedback on it anyway

http://www.cgempire.com/images/EmpireOrange/misc/empiremini.gif (http://www.cgempire.com)
www.cgempire.com (http://www.cgempire.com)


thanks in advance

wez

[Shelley_c]

Colour usage you picked looks very nice. The colours fit together nicely and complement each other very well. However, The lastpost.gif markers (shown in green) don't go very well and I think you ought to use the same colured orange you used throughout the graphics on your forum. Another grievance I have is the forum width overlaps the full length of the screen and I need to scroll to look at the rest of the content and graphics. This really ought to be fixed.

Another thing I noticed is the default graphics which are still present. I guess you haven't got around to designing them yet but just to remind you that for consistencies sake that you should design and implement the default graphics which still lurk on your board. When i say default, I'm referring to the Topic Icons & Emoticons/smilies.

Hold that thought. I just scrolled down and noticed some default graphics in the What's Going On? area. They ought to be changed and replaced for custom made variants. I also noticed that you have a mixture of custom/default forum Icons, they should also be changed to compliment such a nice style.

looking at the Thread List I noticed the threadmarkers are still default. Again, They should be changed for custom made threadmarkers to add a little more consistency to your style.

Now venturing into the postbit area and for me this looks good. The colours and graphics that compliment the style looks very nice.

Edit: Just noticed that there are still some default images still present in the postbit area. the menu_open.gif range of images & post_old.gif range are still default which (guess what?) should be replaced for custom made images to add consistency. In short, I would really replace all default images (even ones I have failed to mention).

[wezoo]

Hi shelly

Thanks for the comments
Yeahh i fully agree, I do plan to change all the default stuff over the next few days
just getting round to id is all ;)

the forum width is a pain, im not sure at all how to get it to be thinner im sure its probs just a simple change, I just have to find where it is..

I'll make the changes you suggested to the green bits, its all a bit experimental at them moment..

but thanks again

wez

[Shelley_c]

No Problem,

It's always nice to see a graphics forum in developing and evolving into something that looks beautified. I also noticed that I failed to say (didn't notice at the time) that the IM_icons (msn, icq, yim and aim) icons are standard default vb images, not to mention they have a white matte surrounding them (which looks worse if you have a dark style.

I happen to have released some IM_ICONS located HERE (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=113699). If you would like me to modifiy them and save them out for you to compliment your style I would be happy to do this. This would eliminate that white matte and result in smooth IM_icons.

[wezoo]

Hey Thanks shelly
That would be very decent of you, its a forum aimed towards people helping each other, and you are just the kind of person i am trying to attract..
nice one !!!!

I look forward to them ;)

thanks again

wez

p.s I plan to change EVERY default icon so there will be no white matt, its just I do gfx all day and find it difficult to find inspiration sometimes in going home to some more.
anyway its work in progress ;) (excuse)

while im on shelly if you had any tips on 2dstuff which you are obviously good at, you could always post the odd aricle / tutorial on the forum ;)

hint hint....

[Shelley_c]

p.s I plan to change EVERY default icon so there will be no white matt

I'm going to hold you that that.

I recently finished a style for a friend and let me tell you, replacing all the default images nearly killed me. not only that, I replaced all the default images to the hacks they installed with custom designed ones and it was like I did something badand was sent to hell. Actually, it was fun most of the time and I managed to increase my PSD collection with vb images so it was worth while but at times daunting. That will pass though, and I can understand totally why it can become daunting because there are alot of images (more than people realize).

I dunno, I seem to have more good days than bad when designing so getting inspiration hasn't been a problem for me *touch wood*. There was a month when I couldn't design anything, and anything I did design just looked crap and not up to (what I call a mediocre standard). For me, I get inspiration by looking at strange objects, textures on surfaces and even when watching tv , as mad as it sounds, and I am a little mad, getting away from the computer will help. There's nothing worse than sitting at the computer only to be staring into photoshop (or the software of your choice) for hours at a time.

Anyway, I'll start on those IM_icons for you and post the attachment in a few minutes.

Edit: IM_Icons are provided in the attachment (below). Let me know if they look any better with the new matte colour. I think i got the correct matte colour.

[wezoo]

Thanks shelly I'll put em in now
dont supose u know how to make the forums thinner? ;)

thanks again

wez

[Shelley_c]

I think it could be some redundant code, possibly a tag hasn't been closed. I think a member of staff would be able to rectify this issue for you in a matter of minutes.

Edit: It's your logo that is causing the problem. You'll need to slice it and give it a repeating part. that's causing your width problems.

The width of the logo is currently 1100px.

[wezoo]

logo is getting changed too Shelly ....

not sure how to do the repeating part .. ?
i'll look at the forums when i go home see fi can find the answer

thanks again btw they look sooo much better!!!

:)

[Shelley_c]

I'm glad it looks better.

What you need to do with regards to the logo is make sure it's below 800px (compensate for those 800px users) and then slice the logo into two parts. With the left side being static and displaying the title and maybe the image and then slice a 1px width repeating part (and whatever the height is) and then implement it to expand to 100% of the width which means that all resolutions are covered thus solving the overlapping width issue.

The staff will be able to help you with the code involved but it's simple enough to implement. Anyway, goodluck with your forum.