Yes you may have notice a change here! My web guy Piotr Godek of Odd Web Things has been working very hard on this redesign for months and as done a wonderful job. I have been a nightmare client of course as what I wanted was very particular and I think we have got it right.
I wanted it cleaner, easier to read, less clutter but still visually interesting. Big thanks to Dan Chung who did the Lens/ Camera city for me. He has A LOT OF LENSES. That is a real photo touched up.
Without a doubt there will be a lot of kinks to works out in the next couple of weeks as we find pages have formatting errors and stuff but it will get there.
I will be streamlining sections, making things easier to navigate, moving sections, organising sections as currently this is simply my old site ported across into a new design. So over the next few weeks it will evolve and improve.
Here are some grabs of my site which has been around for about 18 months I think. I am very attached to it and am sad to see it go but change is a good thing!
I really hope you like it and find it an improvement! If you see something isn’t working please email me at philip@philipbloom.co.uk so I can fix it. Thanks!
Nikola Ovcharski
October 20, 2009 at 11:38It is much easier to read now
Ayo
October 17, 2009 at 19:48I love the lens city scape. Clean background and clutter free. Well done Phil. Nice to see the F-Stop Academy at the top.
John Novotny
October 17, 2009 at 02:32I notice a real problem.
I can’t seem to direct link to any of your articles. All I get is your basic URL in my browser. Having some experience in web development this is a huge problem if your interested in getting your pages linked to in social media. I even tried “Share on Facebook” to post one of your articles and it just gives your main URL. Not good, that is of course unless you want it that way.
pbloom
October 17, 2009 at 04:40are you using the director philipbloom.co.uk address or a re-direct one?
John Novotny
October 20, 2009 at 00:47Fixed now, thanks. I was using your direct address I believe.
John Novotny
October 17, 2009 at 01:46Love the header, not so crazy about the gray scale text and background. Is that your gear in header… nice.
George
October 16, 2009 at 16:36wow ! great relaunch.
never saw the old one had a mirror effect at the bottom.
I never went down so far, alway got stuck somewhere more up.
time for change! (whos said that?)
Francis Shephard
October 16, 2009 at 09:51Good work, the readability is vastly improved, simply because its not white on black which can be a dazzler.
Also your navigation now it more obvious and concrete, which is great. Keep up the work Philby………..
Stergios Ntikos
October 15, 2009 at 15:52I like the new design. It’s much more user friendly to me. Simple and clear to navigate. Well done.
Angel Haralampiev
October 15, 2009 at 05:05Great new design. I like it!
mike kobal
October 15, 2009 at 01:43looks fantastic! I like it a lot.
O
October 14, 2009 at 19:27I really like the new site, especially the clean look. It’s much simpler to navigate and looks more modern and professional.
I do have a couple of things that I could see being improved slightly. One is the mix of column widths, where I feel a little more consistency could help. What I mean by this is that on the home page the menu at the top uses the right hand 75% of the screen, then underneath it is split exactly 50/50 into two photo-links, then 40% vs 60%, then 40% vs 30% vs 30%, then 50/50 again, then 100% across. Does what I am typing make any sense?
Personally I’d make you a tiny bit smaller in the banner (not that you’re not beautiful), and then run the menu across the whole width underneath, to it doesn’t go onto 2 lines.
I’d then take the two photo ads, and make them the same width as the video on the right, and put them directly above or under the video. I’d then try and make the Most Commented and Twitter links, and the adverts the same width too. (I know it’s always tricky with ads.) Just a suggestion, but I think it could help it look a bit cleaner.
Oh, and the other is that I find the default avatar scary. He looks like a possessed mannequin.
It’s your site, though, so please igonore me, and I still think it’s a massive improvement.
andrew
October 14, 2009 at 14:14Having been a bit of a Mr Rude in the past, I’d say that this site is very well done, love this new look…
Things that rock:
• The width. It fits perfectly between the left and right.
• The black, white & gray. Nice to keep the html in the background, and show off the vids, which will make your colors pop off the page.
• Amazon ads are placed on the RHS… viewing on a Mac w/ Safari
• The jQuery image slide thingie on the home page. I use the same thing on my site.
The only thing I’d tweak:
• In the bottom black area, maybe give more real estate to “They trusted me” and a little less to “Follow me on” (I’d give 50% to Clients and move Follow me under Contact)
Slava Kouznetsov
October 14, 2009 at 14:05Congrats Philip! I like this new design. Like you sad it’s uncluttered, clean,
easy to read and contemporary looking. Lens-city idea by Dun Chung is innovative, clever and beautifully executed. If I may, while making changes do not add too many colors – right now it’s has modern/urban look and colors and gives right impression which is professional. Thanks for doing so much for us. Cheers!
cottonc
October 14, 2009 at 13:38Great improvement-clean design- thank you again Phillip!
Josh Bowman
October 14, 2009 at 10:41nice redesign, it’s growing on me, I didn’t like it at first. I still think that it should be white text on black background as it give the site more of a “film look” ;-p
Stian
October 14, 2009 at 10:06Really nice new design! A lot easier to read and navigate through! Love the Lens-City – wish I came up with that idea!
Keep up the good work, Philip!
Stian, Norway
Paul Treacy
October 14, 2009 at 09:27It’s looking good sir. Looking good.
Juhani Väihkonen
October 14, 2009 at 05:23Very good job, light and good looking.
Michael C.
October 14, 2009 at 05:15It is wider that the previous one, but still not wide enough. The best option would be liquid markup, not fixed width. You also may consider playing with typefaces, font sizes and interline spacings, I find them too large, between paragraphs as well as within paragraphs. Otherwise, looks ok. After all, BBC blogs do not look much better, still, they are wider and easier to read.
pbloom
October 14, 2009 at 05:16with width, it is perfect size for my 13′ MBP, any wider and I would have to scroll. Lot’s of tweaks to come. Thanks for feedback Michael.
Max
October 14, 2009 at 04:41I tought I pressed a wrong button and landed at videocopilot.net…
Nice design!
Max
pbloom
October 14, 2009 at 05:16thanks Max
Luc
October 14, 2009 at 04:21Great new website, loving the new layout
Gyula - FCPUG.HU
October 14, 2009 at 04:06very nice clean design, easy to find things.
David Barrett
October 14, 2009 at 04:04Wow. Change is good. You’ve done a good job of making it easier to find articles from the past – an important issue if you’re making comparisons or trying to find a comment, etc. I also love the way you’re handling links in editorial. Really clever. Even the “leave a reply” section is easy on the eyes.
I do think it would be nice if the videos themselves could be organized in some respect. Sure, you can go to Exposure Room or Vimeo, but jumping back and forth gets OLD and I’m sure you would rather keep the traffic local as well. Regardless, good show – and keep up the good work!
pbloom
October 14, 2009 at 05:17Hi David, the videos are organised. What do you mean so I can make changes if needed?
Sean McCormack
October 14, 2009 at 03:31Looking good Philip. Nice work.
Stuart Sharpless
October 14, 2009 at 03:02Overall very clean and well designed. Great idea on the lens city, looks great.
stuart atkins
October 14, 2009 at 02:06love the new look, especially the skyline of lenses. i knew it was coming, but still surprised by it. can’t wait to come back and see all the new updates to come
Michael Buffa
October 14, 2009 at 01:32Great new look Philip. This layout is easier to navigate and find what you are looking for. I have to agree, the Lens city is pretty awesome.
derrick
October 14, 2009 at 01:32ha,
had to check the address twice, thought i went to the wrong place, until i recognized the photo of a lone man, keep a watchful eye on the distant horizon for signs of life.
keep those shores safe.
nice redesign, by the way.
Anthony Burokas
October 14, 2009 at 01:31Nice. Less cluttered-looking than the old one, though the old one didn’t break your navigation into two rows. Maybe axe a couple? Or make the theme wider? I chose the latter when I redid mine, also using Wordpress.
I’d have one suggestion… especially considering your excellence in grading video… how about grading the site- give it some color, even if it is subtle. All the gray and black and white on gray doesn’t reflect accurately on you because, IMHO, you’re quite more colorful than this.
pbloom
October 14, 2009 at 05:20Hi Anthony, what do you mean about the breaking the navigation into two rows? I couldn’t go wider as many computers, my 13″MBP for example wouldn’t cope with any wider.
LFK
October 14, 2009 at 01:25Yeah it’s great this way !
Still waiting for your next Film
Bye
Josh Gooden
October 14, 2009 at 01:01Looks great Philip! Very modern/fresh and the lens-city is awesome.
Francisco c.p. Vasconcelos
October 14, 2009 at 00:34Escellent upgrade, my congratulations and keep on the excellent work.
Matias Rispau
October 14, 2009 at 00:10Cheers for the new cool look!
Sven
October 13, 2009 at 23:47Nice New Look!
I really like the Lens-City.
pbloom
October 13, 2009 at 23:48first post! thanks!!