First Impression-
Upon entering your site, I don't feel drawn to it. First of all, the colors don't stand out (basic black, grey and white color scheme) and don't attract the visitor's eye. Perhaps adding some more color to get that extra pizazz out of your site (adding colors like: purple, blue and red and very eye-catching) in your bolds, italics and headers. Adding other pictures around your site, such as a banner or images (pixels?) around your introduction will make the visitor more interested to explore your site. Making a banner should be easy for you (since you are a graphics/resource site!) but you can get some pixels from: Pirouette, Flamboyance and Sugarrush to spiff up your site.
Scrolling down, your main headers seem very plain. Using a different font from your body text would stand out to the visitor so they don't miss them. The fonts: Lucida Calligraphy and Monotype Corsiva are good if you want your headers to stand out more. But if you want them to still be a little more conservative, I would suggest the fonts: Trebuchet MS and Rockwell.
I love how the top navigation links are always there when you scroll down to explore your site, it makes for easy navigation and neatness, good job!
Just a quick little note: when I first entered your site, the header that read, "Have zeal in what you do" should be, "Have Zeal In What You Do", where the first letter of every word is capitalized because every word in your title should be emphasized to show that it is the title of a section.
Overall, your site didn't have a lasting impact on me when I first entered because of lack of excitement. Adding more colors and images will catch the visitor's eye and make them want to stay to check out your content.
Layout-
Your layout is very simple - which isn't a bad thing at all. This style actually works quite well with how you laid out your site with the navigation following the visitor at the top of the page. This creates easy navigation throughout the site, so the visitor can find what they want more quickly.
But as I said before (in the first impression), it lacks come color. The color scheme is very plain as it only consists of black, white and grey - not very appealing colors. Colors like red, blue, purple, green, etc. attract the visitor's eye more and make your site seem more exciting.
Your main headers should be a different font since this one is very basic and does not have any sort of extra additions to it (like a bottom border, top border, side border, etc.). Using some of the fonts listed above, the main header would be more emphasized so it is more obvious that there is a new section in your site.
Overall, this layout is very simple, in both good and bad ways. It is simple in the fact that it is just a one column layout with a top navigation, which is very organized. But I think that you over simplified it as the colors and headers are too simple (very plain). Adding some color and possibly using a new font for your main headers will add some excitement to your site.
Content & Quality-
First of all, let me just say that Zeal has improve so much since it opened. Now, let's get to reviewing!
Your banners are very well done! I really liked the following banners:
They both have textures added that compliment the image. They also have good images that aren't too messy (there aren't too many things going on in the image so it's not chaotic) and the text works very well with the overall look of the banner.
But some of the following banners were not as appealing as the others:
The first banner's text is very nice, but the glow for the text is a little too strong as it hurts when reading it. This could be possible because the textures used on the image is also very bright and, therefore, in order for the outline to be more noticeable, you made the glow stronger. If you darkened the textures/used darker textures for this banner, then you could also lower glow, making it not so hard on the eyes.
The second banner is very pink. This isn't a bad thing, but the contrast that you used on it makes it brighter and stand out more than the other colors. On top of that, the brightness of the image makes it very hard on the eyes. Again, toning down the brightness or the contrast would make this banner easier to read and more pleasant to look at.
Finally the last banner, just like all the ones that I've mentioned before this, is too bright. The image is very well chosen as well as the font, but the brightness of it makes it hard on the eyes and makes it look too edited. The texture used is very well chosen (it looks like the treasure is "sparkling", if you know what I mean) but the brightness could be toned down a little.
Your icons are very well made - my personal favorite is your "monument" icons. The textures and text are perfect! But one of your icons looked like it needed a bit of work:
This icon is very well made, but the text is too small and difficult to read because it blends in with the background. Perhaps having a border around the text, or making it larger would make the text easier to read.
Also, whenever I hover over your "Icons" header and sub-headers, the text changes color. This is because you didn't put the ending part of the link tag after your anchor link for the header "Icons".
Your resources are all very nicely made - I really like the variety that you offer for your visitors to use.
For the pixelled section, the only thing I have to say is to have sub-headers. This will help the visitor know what pixelled resource you offer in that section. This is a problem as I do not know what these resources are:
Are they counter bases? Pixel button bases? What are they used for? Since you don't have them labeled, I'm not very sure. Right now, I'm assuming that they're counter bases.
Your banner and button bases are very nicely made - the textures and blending are very well done. Here is a button base that could have been edited better:
For this button base, it just looks like you changed the contrast, cropped this image and then slapped it onto your site. Using some textures or lines would have made it look less plain and it would show off your graphic abilities more.
Overall, you have some amazing content on your site. A lot of it is very high quality with a few lower quality graphics here and there. Your graphics are very well developed and I would definitely recommend your site to someone who is in need of graphics and resources.
Re-visit & Effort-
Effort is seen throughout your site with the quality of your graphics and resources. It is also seen with your constant updating on the status of your site and how you always add more content. But there is always room for improvement! Some of your graphics can be improved, many of them are overly bright and could be toned down a bit so it is easier for the user to read.
I would most definitely re-visit your site if I needed any resources or graphics. You have a good variety of resources/banners, most of them good quality. Although you have some graphics that are not up to par with the others, most of your graphics are very well made.
Comments: You've definitely improved a lot over the course of Zeal! Good job Heidi! Mostly, I found that my first impression of your site did not make me feel very eager to take a look at your content. The colors need to be more lively and exciting so it makes the visitor more interested in your site and what you have to offer. Overall, amazing content but a little work needs to be done on your layout. Good luck with your site!
First Impression-
What do I think when I first see your site? Will I stay or leave? Are the colors too blinding or are they soft and soothing? Is everything messy and out of order or does everything seem to be neat?
Organization&Neatness-
Are your text and headers neat? Can I find everything where it's suppose to be? Is it easy to navigate? Is your site messy and unorganized?
Content & Quality-
What quality is your site content in? High quality? Bad quality? Are your graphics amazing and 100% made by you? Or are they stolen? Are your premades neat and original? Does it look like you put a lot of effort into them? Are your reviews in depth and helpful?
Name & Originality-
Is your site name original? Does it make me say, "WOW! Now that's a really awesome site name!" Do you have unique ideas incorporated with your site? Do you have a site theme? Have you added original ideas to your site?
Re-visit & Effort-
Is the effort in your site evident? Or is your site a copy-cat of another? Is the effort in your site vague? Would I re-visit your site often? Or not at all?
Comments: My extra comments/suggestions will go here.
