# Layout design help **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [May 26, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349 "2004-05-26T02:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![firstborn01](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/firstborn01/32/346_2.png) [@firstborn01](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/firstborn01)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/1 "2004-05-26T02:47:24Z")
so i decided that i want to update my site. i am sick of the old design. after about an hour i came up with [this](http://www.davekoen.com/newsite/index.html). but i’ve been sitting here for 3 days looking at it and i’ve hit a wall. i don’t really know where to go from here. all i know is that i want to keep it kinda simple. it’s just my personal site… nothing special. all the same content that is on [my site now](http://www.davekoen.com) will just be moved to the new one… so please help me out. i am not a professional designer by any means but i do like to screw around with ps and i would like to have a cool looking website. thanks, dave ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/2 "2004-05-26T14:22:12Z")
actually, i think it looks _really_ cool 🙂 definitely go with it, if you’re handy with flash maybe some simple animation would go well. i like the little rolleover buttons. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/3 "2004-05-26T14:23:06Z")
Not bad, not bad! Few things, at first glance: - front splash page color does not match main.html color scheme - maybe a drop shadow in the middle table? Maybe you can get a bit more fancy and go for a flash header? Like this one I created: [http://www.steadysystems.com/stuartrosh](http://www.steadysystems.com/stuartrosh) Cheers, Daniel ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/4 "2004-05-26T14:42:55Z")
yeah a drop shadow would be good ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/5 "2004-05-26T21:43:16Z")
thanks for your replies… i was considering using flash for the main content but then i remembered that i suck really bad at it. but what i was trying to do before was more complicated then what i would be doing here. i toyed (sp?) with the idea of a flash header but it looked kinda plain. i could do a lot more detail work with photoshop then i could with flash. also, i don’t want a full flash site. but i will play with it a little bit. the main splash page’s colors did match the rest of the site but i originally had the white background behind it and it was transparent. so when i got rid of that it made the red a bit darker. so thats something thing that i have to fix. i also think a drop shadow would look really good. i will have to modify my original photoshop design though. because what you see there is just what i did in photoshop over a dark grey background. i will also change that. if you think of anything else please don’t hesitate to post or email me or whatever. thanks again dave ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/6 "2004-05-26T21:54:27Z")
Dave, I understand your limitations but I must tell you that working with Flash and Photoshop together is super easy. Draw up your header in Photoshop, say 740px wide and 200px tall. Get as fancy as you want, as colorful as you like. Now at this point you have a few options. Either: A. splice up the image based on where you want to add flash animations, buttons, elements. B. Save optimized for the web as a jpg (super high) and import to the Flash Library. Change your flash movie to be 740px X 200px and center your image. Now you can add buttons, outlines, masks, scrolling fx, etc. When you go to Publish your flash file, set the jpeg quality to 100 and do not compress the movie. Cheers, Daniel ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/7 "2004-05-27T22:03:29Z")
i thank you steady for the mini-tutorial. i just don’t think that i am ready for flash yet. maybe someday. but for now, i think i just work better in photoshop. i made some of the changes that you guys suggested and added some text and crap. my one concern is that it’s too plain. i would like to add something over on the right side but i don’t have anything to put there really. so i don’t know. let me know what you guys think. EDIT: i just found this site that i really like. it’s simple and it’s kinda what i want to do with my site. here is the link [http://www.themindofcomicgeek.ph/](http://www.themindofcomicgeek.ph/) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/8 "2004-05-27T22:07:34Z")
Much better splash page. Was it your intention to make the website border outline when the contact link is mouse over? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/9 "2004-05-27T22:10:25Z")
> gotta be quick! i’m from erie, pa another fan of That Thing You Do? My cat is named Skitch 😉 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/10 "2004-05-27T22:20:00Z")
haha, no i didn’t. i was doing this last night during american idol so i must have missed a button. i wanted that outline to show up all the time and i was wondering why it wasn’t. haha. oh well. thanks for picking up on that! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/11 "2004-05-27T22:21:14Z")
haha, yea unflux. i use that line all the time… that and a million other lines from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/12 "2004-05-28T00:40:51Z")
me too :beam: oh, I’m not here with these fellas. I’m got a piggin’ competition over at the pavillion, and I am gonna win that blue ribbon. :thumb: ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/13 "2004-05-28T02:26:20Z")
haha… “we’re not ‘The Wonders’ right now. We’re ‘Cap’n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters’.” but perhaps the best and most well delivered line in the whole movie… “Guys? Chad fell down.” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/14 "2004-05-28T05:02:43Z")
which movie? \<— is totally clueless ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/15 "2004-05-28T23:07:49Z")
that movie would be That Thing You Do. you remember the song that you couldn’t stop singing around 1996? well thats where it was from. anyways… back to website stuff. i played around with the design a bit. hopefully made it a little less boring. let me know what you think. [www.davekoen.com/newsite](http://www.davekoen.com/newsite) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/16 "2004-05-28T23:21:46Z")
Hmmm…Still fells real empty. You can have alot space without it feeling empty. Although sometimes difficult to do. Like my site (refer to thread I posted in showcase/critics), not to sound like I know everything, cause I don’t. Just giving you an example of how space can be unboring. Get what I mean?🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/17 "2004-05-28T23:36:18Z")
Hey DJ I really like this… [http://dj-studios.com/new/flash.html](http://dj-studios.com/new/flash.html) how did you create it the graphics? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/layout-design-help/111349/18 "2004-05-29T04:55:00Z")
yea DJ, i know what you mean. i think it’s boring… so i dunno what i am going to do. i think i might have to go back to the drawing board on this one. maybe just use some basic colors and not the pattern and gradient overlays. it just makes things more difficult. also, very awesome website. i wish i could create something like that. it is truly awesome.