Review: Kate @ Pixelated Stars
back to Completed Reviews
Site Name: Pixelated Stars
Owner: Kate
Reviewed by: Georgina
Reviewed on: 3rd February 2010 (started on the 1st)
Site Name
It’s quite a cute name; I actually recall someone being hosted by you quite a while ago. It’s also quite a unique name.
Coding and Validation
Your coding is mostly valid and your CSS also mostly valid. On pages other than the homepage I can see that you don’t have valid coding but this isn’t such a huge problem.
I don’t really see any problems with your coding at this point.
Browser Compatibility & Usability
Your site is navigable and functions in Firefox, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer.
The font size is a bit small. Considering your relatively large layout, maybe a bigger font would be more suitable. The line height should be increased as well because it’s a bit hard to read.
For your <h1>s, you’re using the font Adorable. You’re lucky I have this on my computer. However, specifying alternate fonts for this property will make sure that people don’t just see the ugly default font. This is why you should avoid using decorative fonts unless you’re using images or some sort of WordPress plugin to do so.
The navigation is easy to spot and it’s not confusing at all.
The links are a light grey but I think they could be a bit darker because they are hard to see.
Layout
I like this layout – it’s simple and I love the use of black and white. I like the frame detail and the image you have chosen for the layout.
I like the curved part of the layout and the way it blends in nicely – if it went across the full width of the screen it would look great, but I know that that can be hard to achieve.
The font choice in the header image is okay, but I think that they look quite pixelated. It would be much better if you refined the edges – I’m not sure what effect you’re using, or what program you’re using, but the edges of the text look pixelated and not neat.
Content
In the sidebar, there should be a comma after Pixelatedstars.net.
Owner
On this page if you made certain parts in the list bold, it would look neater, for example:
Name: Katerina
Nickname: Kate
You have a few mistakes you can fix:
the nature should be nature
taking photography’s should be taking photos
also I love should be I also love
have favorite should be have a favorite
the least favorite color I like should be my least favorite color.
I’m not sure if you have updated this page recently or not, but it seems that you haven’t updated this in a while, because I get the feeling (from talking to you) that your grammar is better than this.
Website
Again on this page you could display the information like so:
Site name: Pixelated Stars
Owner: Kate
On the credits page, anyone of you should be anyone.
Instead of displaying as:
Outspoken-Kate, brushes
You might want to display the credits as:
Outspoken-Kate: brushes
Don’t forget to include the programs that helped you out!
On the contact form page you might want to include your email address, and other ways of contacting you, in case visitors prefer not to use a form or the form may not be working.
On the link buttons page it isn’t very necessary to include the code. You are also using <textarea> to display code, which is incorrect. Code should be displayed with <code>, after being converted into its entities. DearAgony has a tutorial on this.
Visitor
You mentioned in your application that your site name was Pixelated Stars but I see you writing it frequently on your site as Pixelatedstars. You should stick with one!
its made should be is made.
The bulk of the icons look great, but others could really be improved. I’m not sure what program you use but the text on some of the icons could be improved in their display. Some of them look plain – not much effect on the text, and you’re using standard fonts like Tahoma. It would be nice to see you using some fancier fonts, with better effects. Putting simple glow around the text or changing the blending mode of the layer of text is a good way to start experimenting. I actually prefer the icons without text.
The scribbles are very good, very cute. Did you do these from scratch, or trace? It is pretty impressive if you did them from scratch.
You only have one wallpaper, but it’s gorgeous! I think you could do a better job with the text and its effect, though. An outline on such delicate text doesn’t really look that good. On the page you have written “786″ instead of “768″.
The textures look great! The first one is a rather common type of scratch texture though, so it’s not that unique. The other ones look very nice.
The icon textures look good! I love the second and fourth sets. However, while it’s common to offer these in “packs” or zip archives, you might want to display them on the page individually or at least provide that option.
The smilies are very cute! The hearts don’t really look great though; they look rather rigid in shape. However the others look good, and I love the yellow ones because their expressions are so detailed.
Some of the stock photos look good. Others don’t look so good. The close up ones of the flowers look better smaller, rather than enlarged. Despite the funny angle, I really like the photo of the dog! Is that your dog?
The WordPress themes look great, but they don’t seem that unique. I’ve seen websites with very similar structure and fonts used. I love the colours, though – they’re definitely unique.
The whitening teeth tutorial is great, but it’s also pretty simple.
There’s no need to have the “ask me” page linked on this page when it’s linked in your main navigation.
Ask Me
Self explanatory. You could make this page a bit more interesting by adding an introductory paragraph like “This is my questions page; you can ask any question you like”.
Originality & Creativity
Most of your website is pretty original and creative, especially the stock images and the resources you have. However I think that you could express your individuality a bit more – perhaps more photos, more unique layouts. I feel like your site is lacking something that’s totally amazing and unique. But you’re definitely getting there and I love what you have so far.
Organisation & Errors
Well organised! I didn’t see much of a problem here. There were a few mistakes but these can be easily fixed. The content on your pages is organised and so is the content in each section of your site.
Overall Comment
You’ve got a neat, clean site, with a fair bit of resources to offer as well as a personal blog. It’s all very organised and I get a very clean impression on the outside, and everything is well in its place.
I think that despite this, there is still a lot of room left for creativity and for your site to grow. You’re definitely on the way there but I think you need, like I said, something amazing and very unique. Your site stands well right now. I think you have good coding and some great resources like icon textures and textures – the stock photos are a bit fuzzy but this is something you can practice and work on.
I don’t really have much else to say – keep looking towards your strong points and work on them.
