# Finishing up my new website...looking for feedback.



## utopia (Sep 15, 2016)

Hey guys,
I've been designing a new website myself, wanted to ask for opinions before it goes online.
There's a video on the main page which will only run if you open it on a computer, not a mobile device.
Main question are:
How do you like the whole video idea? How's the video itself?
Do you like it that there's music playing in the background?
Any other comments are welcome and appreciated.
Link - http://project85201.tilda.ws


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## Kuusniemi (Sep 15, 2016)

Like it otherwise, but anything with autoplaying music is sligthly off putting to me.


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## utopia (Sep 16, 2016)

Thanks! Yeah, I can understand that. I'm wondering


Kuusniemi said:


> Like it otherwise, but anything with autoplaying music is sligthly off putting to me.


Thanks a lot! Yes, that's the thing that bothers me most. So far mixed opinions-some like the music, some don't. Was hoping more people would chime in with their opinions.


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## Katzenjammer (Sep 16, 2016)

The video in itself is good. But I would agree on having it muted. Otherwise the site looks clean and nice. Easy to understand and all information is accessible. Always a good thing to check that the contact form is working before publishing.


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## Lassi Tani (Sep 16, 2016)

Your website looks very good. I like the simplicity. The front page video is a bit disturbing, because it's shaky. Otherwise it would work well.


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## utopia (Sep 16, 2016)

Thanks guys! Yeah, I understand the video is shaky. Unfortunately not much I can do about it. Tried stabilisation in imovie- makes it blurry not in a nice way


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## mc_deli (Sep 16, 2016)

Fantastic. Probably my favourite so far. Great photos.
I am a nit picker. So, I don't like the repetition of "for media" and "for other media" on the front page.

Bonus comment from the day job:
Depending on how you expect people to find you, you could also consider the copy on the front page and about page - and how it will appear to Yandex and Google. For instance, the Variety quote is great but if someone searches for the composer by the name of the film, you haven't included it. Search engines like headings. You haven't got any on the about page.

Search engines like it when the page URL, meta description, heading(s) and content all have the same keywords. Think about how people might search for you and what keywords they might use. Also remember to add good image names and alt image text to all your portfolio images. It's all small potatoes but it all adds up.


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## utopia (Sep 16, 2016)

mc_deli said:


> Fantastic. Probably my favourite so far. Great photos.
> I am a nit picker. So, I don't like the repetition of "for media" and "for other media" on the front page.
> 
> Bonus comment from the day job:
> ...


Thanks so much! The feedback is highly appreciated! Will surely try to fix those things. Not sure I understood your point correctly. What do you mean when you talk about "the copy on your front page and about page"? Understood about the names and descriptions,yes
Also, what do you think about the whole video+audio thing?


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## mc_deli (Sep 16, 2016)

utopia said:


> Thanks so much! The feedback is highly appreciated! Will surely try to fix those things. Not sure I understood your point correctly. What do you mean when you talk about "the copy on your front page and about page"? Understood about the names and descriptions,yes
> Also, what do you think about the whole video+audio thing?


Copy = words
I wouldn't auto start audio but in this case it was not offensive


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## utopia (Sep 16, 2016)

mc_deli said:


> Copy = words
> I wouldn't auto start audio but in this case it was not offensive


Thanks! All clear now


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## jjmmuir (Sep 20, 2016)

Looks sleek and modern. I like it a lot. Like others mentioned, I prefer sites not to autoplay music. For the moving video, did you try slowing the footage down and editing out the sweeping camera movements?


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## josefsnabb (Sep 21, 2016)

Great looking page and wonderful music! The page is simple, clean and straight to the point. 

Yep agree, skip the music (even though it´s sounds lovely!). If you still reeally want it, then add a easy noticeable Pause-knob in top corner etc.  

One idea for the Music section. As a listener I would like to have songs divided in "styles", like romantic/drama, Epic/action etc, if possible. 

Good job and good luck with everything!
Cheers /Josef


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## utopia (Sep 22, 2016)

Thanks for your feedback guys! Highly appreciated.
@josefsnabb glad you liked the music...after all it's what's the whole thing is about  I guess it's not a question then...the autoplaying music seems to irritate almost everyone. Shame, I thought it was a nice idea and I really liked how it worked with the picture. Oh well.


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## IoannisGutevas (Sep 22, 2016)

Hello Dmitry. Very nice site, simple and elegant. Im trying to make a site for myself now and i know its not the easiest process 

A few advices from me.

First of all yeah the music seems nice but it would be better to mute it and have the video playing only.

The Home button is hidden in the upper left corner at your logo. Its a matter of taste but it irritates me when i cant find the home button. Maybe its better to put a home button where everything else is at the top bar. You can have different announcments at your home page so its important that people can visit it without having to solve the riddle of where it is 

At your portfolio the images are way to big (at least for my taste) and more importantly they are non-interactive. Make them so when someone clicks on them to be able to hear the tracks you made for the project. Maybe jump to another page? Or embeded code? Idk, lots of possibilities there. People would want to hear the music you wrote on each film and since you present them there make them able to listen what you composed for each film.

At the music page i think in general when you try to embed it to a site the soundcloud player looks horrible. You used to be able to customize the background color and make it more visually appealing to the page you embeded it in but i dont know since the last update if you can do it. My advice is, since you give the link to your soundcloud you can put another player there that looks better and if someone wants to hear your soundcloud he can press the button and go to the page and do it.

Lastly idk if you put some thought into it, the fonts. Imho your site looks elegant and simple and the font looks too "big" and "robust". If thats a thing that you decided after looking different fonts and how they visually appeal to your site then its ok, everyone has different tastes but try some other fonts if you havent and see how they fit better / worse to your sites general image.

Oh , one more thing! The video in the beggining.. i think that it looks better when its shaky like that, it adds to the drama 

Try using after effects or premiere pro to stabilize it or if you want e-mail me the video [email protected] and i'll give it a try.


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## utopia (Sep 22, 2016)

Hey, @IoannisGutevas, thanks so much for all the advice! 
- Ok, by now I understand that it was a mistake to have audio in the video. Got rid of it
- The Home button - ok, will consider it, thanks! I understand where you're coming from. Might be a bit confusing searching for it.
- Portfolio items - yes, they're bigger than what i'd like. Can't figure out a way to make them smaller with this website building service. Good point on making them more interactive, I'll think about that.
- SC player..oh yes. Doesn't look nice, but having a separate player is not appealing to me either. I'd have to constantly update portfolio in separate places and I know for sure I'd forget that at some point. 
- Will try different fonts and see how it goes. Thanks for pointing that out!
- I actually also like it shaky! Thanks so much for your generous offer though!


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## utopia (Oct 11, 2016)

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everybody who's helped here. 
The site's up - www.dmitryselipanov.com


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## mac (Oct 11, 2016)

IoannisGutevas said:


> Hello Dmitry. Very nice site, simple and elegant. Im trying to make a site for myself now and i know its not the easiest process



I don't know where your web developer skills sit, but for ease of use you could try http://tilda.cc/ like @utopia, or https://www.squarespace.com/websites/

If you want a bit more flexibility, there's always wordpress and its endless themes.


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## utopia (Oct 11, 2016)

yeah, big thumbs up for tilda.cc. I have zero experience with designing a website and it was still very easy for me. Everything is very well though out and looks instantly beautiful as all the elements were carefully design (though it's very customisable as well).
Let me know if anyone needs a code for a subscription plan on tilda. You'll get a free month and I'll get a free month


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