ArtKills has 4 Reviews
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![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Vam.jpg)
Vam gave it
on 17th Apr 2009 and said:Hello there, before I ramble on, I'd like to say...I adore Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly. I, (more than) adore them! Now on, =] (Look at the bottom of the response to see my browser and system).
The name of your site is pretty catchy, and as I am engaged heavily by art, too. From reading your 'Domain' section I have founf out that it kills... I am going to remember your site for this =]. The title "These hazy eyes..." should be pushed after you write the name of your site...it;s very cofusing like this. I had many tabs up while looking at your site and I had to check all of them to see which was yours =S. Try "Artkills.info // These hazy eyes,...".
Now my first impression of the site, is very...typical. There's a celebrity layout, which, I'm sure is illegal unless you've got some form of permission from Rob Evans (you linked to his photo stream as credit, but has he given you permission?). And with the photos: have you applied any effects to it? It looks incredibly boring. Perhaps colorizing it, manipulating it, would have worked better. What I would suggest: try duplicating the pictures, desaturating them, resizing them and distorting them a bit would add a little "wow-factor" to your layout.
Also the 'Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly' text should be on the layout, preferably in a different font from 'Impact'. It just doesn't suit GCWCF, and it looks dodgy underneath the image. While you're at it, let your content breathe! It's too close to the right of your sidebar, and it makes your whole site look cluttered as the columns are close together, and both of the same style. I'd suggest using only
h2headings on the sidebar, andh1 and h2headings in the content. There'd be a nice, neat difference between the columns that would be pleasant to the human eye.I've just realised - your
h1tag has the font 'Impact' but, what you don't know is that not all computers have that installed first hand. My siblings computer certainly doesn't. But this isn't a big problem as your targeted audience probably has the font installed anyway.Speaking of your
h1, it is very unattractive - as a main header. Sure, it's a different font, but it's grey. The body text is grey, too. There's no lust in your CSS. It's too... dull. Try a different colour, or try something new, like maybe rounded corners, if you add a background. Make it look like ah1!Oh no - the layout is left-aligned. Problemo! Especially for the layout style you have chosen (elongated header at top of screen) your layout should be centered, it would add a bit more to your positives list, ;]. Centered layouts are just great for all layouts, really. It would make your site seem even more professional, yet personal - depending on what style of layout you choose to go with.
Your sidebar is a bit confusing, I can't make out which header is which without reading closely - from your CSS I've gathered that your body text size is 8pt, and your
h2is 10pt!?! Those are nowhere close to what they should be, and their differences are titchy. Body text should range from 9-11pt, depending on what font you use. Yourh2should be at the very least 14-16pt, so it can be seen as different from the body text.
[Why is "VERSION 11" different from the other titles? This title is what I call good looking. Why not do all your other titles like this?]Congrats, though, on choosing a grey for the body text. I'm glad you know that white text on black hurts my poor, sensitive, eyes T_T.
The selection of colours otherwise, though, is very, very plain. You have orange, grey(s) and blu-where's the blue coming from? Oh wait there's a blue dot at the top of your header image. Again, if you had made the two photos of the GCWCF dude a layout (as opposed to putting them on a canvas, as you have done), you would have achieved different colours, and therefore a selection of colours to choose from - instead of a limited orange, grey, and a forced blue.
The navigation, and normal
a:link's are both the same... why? Shouldn't there be a difference? Oh, wait - there is a difference. You've putclass="nav"in there... but in your CSS, (I'm confuzzled) there is nothing that goes by the name ofclass="nav". Maybe it's from a previous layout. If it is, you might want to either remove that or make aclass="nav". As for the navigation, try to make it differ from normal links. Increase the font size, change the colours, I recommend changing the hover style. OR add some spice and use horizontal block navigation!I found this very annoying:
<h2>Loved</h2>
<h3>< a href="http://www.hollywood.plagues.nu" target="_blank">Anny</a>
<a href="http://www.latchmered.org" target="_blank">Ben</a>
<a href="http://www.ahh.treblesome.net" target="_blank">Courtney</a>
You have assigned all thses links to open in blank windows. You do not know how annoying this is. I'd rather it be gone, than have to keep closing windows, or 'right clicking and clicking "Open in New Tab"'! Please, just remove the
_blank.I would have a lot more to say, but it involves coding. If you want I'll add the review of your coding, but hey, it's up to you. Concluding my rather sarcastic review, I think you have the potential to continue what you're doing and suceed. You're the kind whom I think will get some great inspiration from Smashing Magazine, Tutorial9 and much more. Try to avoid using celebrity images, and design your own art! It would make your portfolio much better. Your writing is also really touching, and personally, I'm a fan of your writing now XD. All I can say now is; keep moving forward. (Man, that sounded freaking cheesy!) :P.
UPDATED 17 Apr 09:
Ok, so I'll get on with the coding-related part of the review, as you requested.
You said you don't have enough time on your hands to find tutorials, so I'll try my best to provide as many of my favourite links as possible, if needed. But from the looks of the site, you don't seem to not know how to do
something, but I'll provide the links anyway.First of all, I'll do a comparison and see what happens...Ok, so:
In IE
The font size and line height seem to shrink when I convert to IE, and it's definitely a problem with the coding - I checked with three different computers. As you did say, IE screws with yourh1, but I
wouldn't say screws because it doesn't make your CSS look ugly. It just changes the font, and to be honest, it looks pleasant, IE or Firefox.
I have spotted something with your navigation; the line height there doesn't change (while the rest of body text does) but the space under [the heading] Girl gets smaller in IE.In Firefox
Everything is much easier to read in Firefox. It's the line height, letter-spacing, and the font size that I'm pointing out - although you haven't changed the letter spacing at all. Again, something with cross-compatibility
issues. I'd suggest reading this guide to XHTML. You can read this for more info, and I thought
this was a fantabulous article.By the way your links are a smaller font size in Firefox, compared to the rest of the body text. But in IE the text is all right - the font sizes are the same as the body text sizes.
Your coding is very organized; you have put notes everywhere! I think organiztion is a strong point here. May I recommend [quickly], that you create a class for your 'Domain' section. You have put the whole section (not to
mention...wait, you have put all your text, including the body text in ah3??? Where is the sense in that?) Inh3, very odd. Also, regarding CSS, you have put in the navigation:
<h3>
<font face="verdana"><a href="http://www.artkills.info/wp/?page_id=10" class="nav">Girl</a> <br>
<a href="http://artkills.info/wp/?page_id=26" class="nav">Portfolio</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.artkills.info/wp/?page_id=6" class="nav">Domain</a><br>
<a href="http://www.artkills.info/wp" class="nav">Blog</a> </h3>
...in a
h3!h3is for headings not body text! Ah! Make use of classes.Your 'Girl' page is informative to a certain level, from what I have read, you are opinionated, and this drives you on course when writing [poems...]. Quick mistake in spelling; Ruway at the end of "Television and Film"
should be Runway. Why is another informative page about yourself linked under the fact section? I'm a little confused. All the information on the second 'Girl' page should be on the first. It's quite silly, to be
honest - because, as a visitor, I click on 'Girl' in the navigation to find out more about you. Then, on the page, I have to click again to find out even more. You should put some hobbies here, do you web design as a hobby?
Oh, you want to perform? I thought you might have wanted to write, considering you have the writing skills of one in their second year of college - I don't know how old you were then, ten? Eleven? You say you are older now.
Considering you have a personal site, you shouldn't hide facts that are safe to expose. Age is fine! In the first paragraph [of your second 'Girl' page]; 'comprehensions' does not need to be plural. 'There' should be
their in the third line. That must be quite nice to have local bands where you live, where I live is pretty deserted. It's good you listed multiple emails/contact places - more of a choice. Although, you
might want to break yourmailto:link for your webmail, it will prevent spam. Trymailto:emily[at]artkills[info].Why don't you put designs into your portfolio? I expected you were an 'artsy' type of person judging from the 'Girl' page. I see you have put them under 'Domain' - understandable. But don't you design as a hobby? Doodle on English
homework? It would be an interesting thing to see in the portfolio. Again avoid using celebrity pictures in your designs unless you own them! Look at Web Designer Wall
and N. Design Studio's work: all without celebrity images.The 'Domain' section really doesn't explain much apart from having several past sites. Maybe, as a personal site, you should really stuff this section up. You have got nothing to lose. Add some more information on the history
of Artkills.info, some more on the why, the inspiration, etc. People like to know these things - I do. Did you struggle into the world of blogs and web designing? Are you just showcasing your work(s)? Why did Emily
make Artkills.info?That's a heck of a credits page. Man, you have stuffed that page up like roast turkey! But the line height on this page is absolutely horrendous. I can't read this - I will definitely strain my eyes from trying. Ok, I looked at
your source code, and yippy the whole darn list of credits is wrapped up in a snugly blanket ofh3again. You have to do something about this! Classes, classes, classes! Or IDs, IDs, IDs!By the way, you have credited Wordpress twice; once in the footer, and once in the credits list. If you are using WP, why are you crediting Cutenews and Haloscan? You may have used them in the past, but you don't use them
anymore. Pointless.Let me point out: your 'Girl' page is very similar to that of SheCriesInside but maybe it's a coincidence.
Concluding this, again, you have very basic coding techniques and/or skill, and you can improve if you want to. Make sure to grasp the very basics though, without understanding the easiest of things, everything else will fall. Do
publish more variety of your work, I bet it it's awesome ;]. So try and improve on the various things mentioned and again, keep moving forward, and remember to check out the links I have provided for you, you said you didn’t
have time ;].I made some mistakes regarding spealling and grammar, please be merciful =].
Using MSIE on Windows | Report This?
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/reeshas.jpg)
reeshas gave it
on 27th Mar 2009 and said:Alright, this is a new style of design that I’ve come to dislike right away. I’m not sure who the guy is or what the site name is. But you must be a fan of whoever this is. It’s always good to have a name next to the person featured in your layouts. What’s with the get cape, wear cape, fly. What’s that some motto or something? I can already tell this is an immature site because of the spelling and the way it’s formatted. Call it a sixth sense but I know it and so do you. So the white always contracts nicely with the black but that doesn’t mean that’s your only option, try mixing the colors around to see what you get. Don’t be boring, right now, the site feels boring. The font is very small on my screen and I can’t make it out. I can see the orange but not too clearly either. Under girl, it’s all about you, I can’t find your age so I’m going to guess you’re around 11 or 12, 13 at most because of the site quality and function. It’s not very original or interesting, it’s in fact, dull, boring, and makes me hurt inside for some reason, giving me an upset stomach. The info you provide on the site navigation is nice an all but it’s not all required, you just added all that in there as if someone would actually spend their time squinting and trying to make out the words one by one and read them. Ok so I get that this is a personal/ portfolio, I don’t like to get into people’s personal sites. And poetry is all your business. I won’t poke around there. Actually, I don’t feel up to reading tiny words and hurting my eyes right now. Maybe later. Well, I didn’t find any portfolio related content which kind of says to me your lying, maybe you’re not, maybe your working on it or I just can’t find the link, but very unsatisfying if you ask me. I really don’t’ know where to start finding improvements or helping you make the site more pleasurable. I’m kind of stumped myself because the entire site is bad basically. I not being rude or mean, just telling you how I SEE it. uhh maybe I’m the only one that thinks you need to completely remodel your site, or maybe there are more people like me, I don’t know, all I know, is that this site gets a 1 out of 5 for many reasons. Most important one: I never found the portfolio page(s)!
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artkills's Response:
I get where're you're coming from, mostly. Some of your wording I didn't understand at all, especially about the lying part.... As well Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly. Is the band name.
UPDATED 03 Apr 09:
One last thing, http://artkills.info/wp/?page_id=26 is the portfolio page. I don't know if you see portfolio's as only graphic content and such, but I have poetry, and am starting to post short stories and several essays.![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Shlesha.jpg)
Shlesha gave it
on 20th Mar 2009 and said:^ The above review. o.O Really? I love the layout.
I love your site. The way you write your blog is really nice. I like the length of your blog too. Not too short, and not too long, that it will be boring to read.
I like the color scheme. I viewed it with Firefox, and I still do not hesitate to give you a 5 star rating!
I like how you centered the links on the domain page!
"Speak.
Let me hear your words.
The ones only you can say.
With the attraction, deeply clothes.
Speak.Call.
Loudly scream.
Just so I can hear you.
Cover your mouth with my lips.
Call.Whisper.
Tell a secret.
One only you and me can know.
Giggle, fiendishly keep.
Whisper."Wow, that poem was great! You really have a talent for writing! I don't care what the above comment says, you are a great writer.
"Snatch your pulls from the dresser drawer.
Should it worry me?
I’m not ready for and intervention, that’s the core,
But I don’t see.Addiction takes action, dulls your eyes.
Evolutions of events, run away, come back.
A contemplation of sighs
blurs the pattern of the facts.Slur your speech; tonight this isn’t your home.
This is my confession to my devastation,
Most days I can tell you wish you’d never been born.
I’m only praying for your call of reinvention.Pretend it’s not a crime
for me to beg for your time."This is amazing. I like the poet inside of you!
"The line between life and death.
A crack where beauty intertwines.
Whispering.
Lines colliding at seams
drawn heavily back together.Emptiness collides with lust.
To escape in the first gasp.
Grasp painfully, hands held.
Teeth strike white in dark
hold together tearducts until seconds pass.Intertwining, electricity.
Clear desparately until life.
Drag back together,
Forming straight lines.
Conception attemting to being again."The line between life and death. Wow. While I'm at it, I will also correct your spelling.
desperately
attemptingIt's no big deal though, everybody makes mistakes!
"Paper is transparent
hold it to the light.
Hold you breath as well,
Lungs explode, mind drops dead.I’m only looking for one thing
a commotion to keep everything forgivable.
My fingers are transparent,
Coloured stains over copper toned things.Cryptic messages bury nonchalance.
Lets be clandestine together.
Neither sleeping, neither breathing,
Words hold everything together.Star shaped bruises cover earthquakes
because bed frames only hold up so much weight.
ASHES, ASHES
We all fall down."I should stop praising your poems now, and get on to other parts of the site.
I like that you bolded the categories. Like Name, Languages, etc.
I like how you wrote about your true history, and about what you really want to do. I have no doubt you will be really good at performing on stage!
Very original! That is all I have to say.
Keep it up!
Shlesha || http://doxycide.net
Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
artkills's Response:
Thankyou very much.
That's so kind for you to say those things.
It made me smile.![[img: avatar]](/avatars/shroom.jpg)
shroom gave it
on 16th Mar 2009 and said:Hey, Emily! I'll be reviewing you today in Firefox. I know you would rather that I review you in Internet Explorer, but I just checked out the layout in my Internet Explorer, and it looks basically the same. Besides, your site visitors are most likely not going to just switch to a different browser simply because you ask them to.
//FIRST IMPRESSIONS//
Well, the layout looks very boring. And rather illegal. Ooh, look at the stolen images - used without permission, I see. Everything looks really boring and messy. I'm not really in the mood to even continue, but since I'm not just a normal site visitor, I do believe I will have to.//YOUR LAYOUT//
Like I already stated, your layout looks really dull. There's no life to it. Go for a little color variation. And the images you used were illegally used. The only time that the use of celebrity images can be excused (by me) is on fansites. Of course, I understand that even then, it is illegal, but they kind of have an excuse at least. However, personal sites and portfolios can do some pretty great stuff without illegal celebrity images plastered over their layouts. Okay, now I will move on the the rest of it. Well, down at the bottom, the sidebar and the main section should have way of being divided from each other. The text on these seem to run together.//YOUR CODING//
Well, I'm not going rant about any of your coding in particular, other than that the color of your links matches absolutely nothing. Nothing, nada, none. Why? Okay, well, I'm kind of scared to even look at this, but I'm going to run your coding through validation. Oh, dear. 23 errors. And your CSS has 14 errors. I'm going to have to quote Scrubs now: "Fix it, fix it, fix it!" It may also do you some good to clean up your CSS.//YOUR CONTENT//
Okay, moving on to content now! On your very front page, I found at least 20 spelling and grammar mistakes in that one blog entry alone. It was horrible. At least make some effort to sound educated! Now, on your about page, maybe you should add a couple of well-written paragraphs about yourself. By reading those stats that you put up there, I know very little about you. Obviously, this site is supposed to be for you, about you, by you. So you need to at least show the visitors who they are reading about. Moving on... I absolutely suck at writing poetry, so your poetry is automatically amazing. Well, your only short story is okay. It's kind of poorly written, and it also has tons of spelling and grammar mistakes. Try to fix all those, because it is hard for me (and maybe others) to take writing seriously when it has horrible grammar.//FINAL WORDS//
Well, I think you have a great start for a site right there. I truly hope that you will continue to try and attempt your skills even after June, when your domain expires! I think that you can really improve if you work towards it. Good luck with your site! And, yes, I know that I sounded very hypocritical in this review, since I have so many grammar mistakes in here. Sorry, I was typing quickly! (:UPDATED 16 Mar 09:
Oh, whoops! I completely forgot to rate your site! I give you a 2.5. So sorry about forgetting!Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?
artkills's Response:
Thankyou for your review.
I'll definitely try and take what you've said and use it accordingly.But please don't critisize my writing, I'm always trying to improve but just saying the grammar (among other things) is terrible doesn't help me at all.
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