[development] Themes - Trying to do too much in one theme?

[inkfree press]

"Fernando Silva" wrote:

> You don't like it?

Right-o.


> Could you be more specific why is bad?

1. You use a Flash banner (which Firefox thankfully blocked for me.)

2. The "graphic box" is too small -- why not use more of the browser window?

3. The type is too small.

4. The top image is too big and takes too much of the very little space
you've provided for content.

5. Pointless (and user suppressible) Flash.

6. Your column heights are all wonky and makes me feel off-balance.

7. There are strange graphic elements which look like screen glitches.
These, specifically, are the small "crop marks" or "plus signs" in the
middle.

8. The bands of color on the top don't seem to align with any of the text
links above them.  It's kind of confusing and random.  If you want your text
links to have different colored thick borders under them, then use CSS to
achieve this and the colors will actually align with something.

9. Your 'OpenQuest' branding is buried, and small, at the bottom left.  Yet,
you fill over half of the screen space with a giant picture of a swimmer.
Okay, the photo has energy, is lively and is bright, but it is not connected
by visual design metaphor to anything else on the page.  (I don't read
Portugese, and if I did, I wouldn't worry with trying on such tiny text, but
maybe the text of the page has something to convey a connection to this
image.)  It looks a sports page, or a swimming page, or something similar.

10. Flash, for no reason I can determine.

-- 
inkfree


Lest anyone think that I think "Flash = Always Bad", I do not.  I just think
that this years-long wave of Flash for the sake of it is mucking up the web.
Luckily, folks like me can block all Flash with simple browser plug-ins, and
that's a fine compromise.)