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Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

new website!

Hi everybody,
I've decided to make a website to advertise my guitars because I really want to do this as a career, and because I've been turning out consistently great guitars thanks to all the help from my teacher and mentor who I share a shop with.
Here it is:

http://www.andyculpepper.com

Let me know what you think about the design or what you as a player would want to see/hear more of etc.

p.s. I know the pictures are a little big, I'm workin on it

Thanks!

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 1 2010 16:55:01

Ailsa

Posts: 2277
Joined: Apr. 17 2007
From: South East England

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Hi Andy,

I don't think the pics are too big, they look fine. I would change the font though, it's a little bit small. And it's quite a traditional font, but maybe that's the image you want? I would go for something plainer, but if you are happy with the style, maybe just a little bit bigger.

Ailsa

_____________________________

http://www.flamencojourney.com
http://www.myspace.com/flamencojourney

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 11:34:49

mrMagenta

Posts: 942
Joined: Oct. 25 2006
From: Sweden

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

It's a good start. The content is there, but some text is being cut by the end of their containers/areas. I'm using Firefox. It appears very clearly at the bottom of this page for instance: http://www.andyculpepper.com/About%20Me.html

Perhaps it has to do with how different browsers on different operating systems handle text when font size isn't defined sufficiently. It's been a long time since i did any web programming, so I'm just guessing

Also, I think you should loose the blue underlines on the links on the front page. Perhaps these aren't showing on the browser that you're testing with, I think they're just the result of a default setting somewhere

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 12:17:40

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Ailsa, thanks. I never thought that the font might be too small. Things seem to appear differently for everybody..

mrM, thanks. That's interesting, you mean some text is totally missing? I'll just make the boxes bigger I guess.
I have been struggling with the links to not make the style seem totally ancient. Right now it's so 2002....

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 12:34:54

Graham_B

Posts: 283
Joined: Jul. 10 2007
From: Leigh, Lancashire, UK

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

The text on the 'About Me' page is justified drastically to the left, leaving 2/3 of the page to the right of the text blank(black).

Same in Firefox, Explorer and Chrome

Room for some photogenic shots of you luthiering?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 15:59:48

kovachian

Posts: 506
Joined: Jan. 30 2008
From: Americanistan

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I for one would like to see huge fireball explosions and lasers and bikinis and machine guns, but I'm told that luthier websites aren't supposed to have those things. Oh well.

Aside from that I agree with Ailsa, the font could stand to be a little bigger. I don't think the photos are too big at all either, they're just fine. Being into photography on an unhealthy level however, I really love high-quality professional pics. Maybe one day you could contract a photographer to snap some really fancy high-res photos? That's pretty much it from my end.

_____________________________

Don't look at me in that tone of voice.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 18:38:22

mrMagenta

Posts: 942
Joined: Oct. 25 2006
From: Sweden

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I think something is fishy, because others say that the text is small.. but i don't see any small text. and yes, the text is cut off. It could have something to do with how you define the font and font size, but bigger boxes might solve it too. I'm not using windows right now so perhaps I'm missing the font you've specified and it defaults to another one.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 20:56:36

orsonw

Posts: 1938
Joined: Jul. 4 2009
From: London

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I don't find the photographs too big, I'd like to see large, detailed pictures if I was ordering a guitar.

I wish you well in this new career.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 21:02:23

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Thank you guys.
I went through and defined all the text as a particular size instead of "none" and increased the size of some text boxes. Is it working?

Graham_B, I am waiting for some photos of me that were taken recently

Kov, thanks, I'll see if I can get some professional quality pictures of guitars in bikinis.

Thanks orson!

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 22:28:18

xirdneH_imiJ

Posts: 1893
Joined: Dec. 2 2006
From: Budapest, now in Southampton

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Andy, i wish you a whole lot of success!
i hope i can order a guitar from you some day...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 2 2010 22:51:09

HemeolaMan

Posts: 1514
Joined: Jul. 13 2007
From: Chicago

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

It's good that you have a website! The forward march of commerce is happy to include you now lol.

A few things to keep in mind though, you really need to sell this product. A paypal widget would help and also a contact form with specific fields for guitar related things. this will help you deliver custom quotes without having to post your email addy on the page directly = less spam.

Here are some brutally honest criticisms, please don't be offended I just want to help you out here!

change your style sheet so that the background is black.

there's white space and the page isn't centered.

also, some css things to consider

have a static nav div and a separate div for content. this saves page load time and allows the style sheet to be loaded once instead of every click of a link.

also, :

<meta name="keywords" content="flamenco, guitar, falsetas, Ithaca, New York, lessons, Paco de Lucia, Tomatito, Gerardo Nunez, toque" />
add more keywords and make sure to have a links page that is hidden. just link to every site you can think of, but don't put it in the nav.

<div style="position:relative;width:1350px;height:114px;background-color:#ed6;-adbe-g:p;">
<div style="position:absolute;top:0px;left:176px;width:864px;height:80px;-adbe-c:c">
<font size="+7" color="#6d2121" face="serif"><em>Andy Culpepper, Guitar Maker</em></font></div>

Make your logo a png. also, make those stripes more vivid.

Other than that, this looks like a 2001 web site. look into online web design tutorials for a more web 2.0 feel. updated look always reads as credibility to consumers. at least at first glance.

Audio clips. enough said.

Don't take pics of guitars hanging on the door. get a backdrop that is a darker color and is less reflective.

.... more to come

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 3 2010 22:51:44

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Thanks Hem,
I'm gonna ignore most of what you just said because I don't speak the language

sorry

Thinkin about turning this over to a pro...

Anyhow I just added some Audio.
Also adding some testimonials soon from some folks who have been playing my guitars

Thanks Jimi

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 3 2010 22:58:01

Ramon Amira

Posts: 1025
Joined: Oct. 14 2009
From: New York City

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Hi Andy –
It's just my way of looking at things, but since you asked for feedback, I had just a couple of thoughts. I personally never like a comma separating a name and designation. I think it would look more esthetic to read:

Andy Culpepper – Guitar Maker

That's just the graphics. But in my opinion I think it would read better as:

Andy Culpepper – Luthier

Most anyone interested in buying a classical or flamenco guitar knows that a luthier makes guitars. And of course it says so anyway right below.

Apart from that, naturally – as most everyone suggests – some sound samples.

Ramon

_____________________________

Classical and flamenco guitars from Spain Ramon Amira Guitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 4 2010 3:57:09

Güiro

Posts: 158
Joined: Aug. 22 2008
From: Colorado

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

I am a freelance web developer and can help you out. Shoot me an email if you are interested.

Cheers,

Nate

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 4 2010 4:06:20

rodpacheco

Posts: 80
Joined: Apr. 19 2010

[Deleted]

Post has been moved to the Recycle Bin at Aug. 4 2010 22:45:33

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 4 2010 22:42:19

rodpacheco

Posts: 80
Joined: Apr. 19 2010
From: Mexico

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

by the way, I'm also thinking of opening up auditions for bikinis! haha

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 4 2010 22:45:02

rodpacheco

Posts: 80
Joined: Apr. 19 2010
From: Mexico

RE: new website! (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

Congratulations Andy, the best of lucks!

thanks for sharing, it brought up the need to update my free webpage and thought to share, looking forward to hearing feedback on our efforts to improve, from our amazing community.

http://delirioguitars.synthasite.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 4 2010 22:46:08

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: new website! (in reply to Ramon Amira)

PC,
thanks for the feedback. This might not be accurate but when I think "luthier" I think of someone who makes all kinds of wooden instruments- guitars, violins, cellos, ouds, what have you. It does have a nice ring to it though.

Thanks Nate, I actually have a friend who offered to do it for free (also a guitarist and a web developer)

Thanks Rod. You are making some mighty affordable guitars there. Cool website too