Griffin Design - a perenial favourite

| Business, Site Reviews | Thursday, 10 January 2008
http://www.griffinwebdesign.co.uk/ OK, so not a favourite design-wise, but Andy Shaw keeps coming back for more... this is a reply to the 3rd time he posted his site asking for feedback: Did you save the replies on your previous thread? If you did, most of my comments apply to this redesign.
  • The stock imagery used is lazy; the images chosen don't add any value to the page.
  • Too many font faces used. Lack of cohesion.
  • From a personal POV, I dislike the "web 2.0" trend of size 36 text, graphics that make anyone on a 1024x768 display or lower have to scroll down to read what a page is about and in.
  • Still confusion about whether you are a freelancer or an agency/company, which carries on through with your "beta" design (oh purlease!). Trust is vital in business - there's nothing wrong with being a freelancer, but be honest about it and embrace it. Congrats on getting rid of that ridiculous pricing guide, though.
  • Your copy is still atrocious. "medium size business's"? Oops. Get a dictionary, get hold of a style guide and get your copy in order.
  • There's some serious problems with trust. Your "beta" site claims you were "recently tasked with re-branding Griffin Web Design". Bullshit. YOU decided to rebrand - no-one 'tasked' you with it. The only sites in your portfolio are your own and one for your brother/other male relative. That's fine as examples of what you can do, but don't pretend you've got experience of working with clients or that you've got any on-going professional relationships. Be honest - at the moment, anyone will be able to see straight through you.
As a general note, I actually prefer your previous design. I said in your previous thread that I'd be surprised if you were still around in 12 months time, and I stand by that - you don't seem to have the business acumen required to go it alone. That your portfolio hasn't grown, your Plumber "client" doesn't even seem to have a domain name and that you've got the time to go through a rebranding suggests two things - that you've not had any clients and that your priorities are completely wrong. If you're serious about going it alone, go out and make connections and get clients in. It takes a helluva lot more than to put a portfolio site up and hope that people visit and buy your services.