===== All of the below is my opinion and style, feel free to use it to your advantage -Voltius =====
Your site has GREAT potential and you're heading the right direction.
I've never met anyone who's made a website (at least as part of a personal project) and hasn't revised or changed it majorly. Websites are like companies, what they start as is completely different from what they end up as. That is, if they evolve and survive and gain more members. If you've ever played the game SSX 3 for Playstation 2 (great snowboarding game) you'll see the sort of real community feel the game has. The game is so inviting to the slopes and lifestyle of snowboarding and it's members. Radio Big also plays an important role in making the player feel like they really are on the slopes.
So perhaps your site can use:
- Visuals
- New User Interface
- Events Calendar
- Photo gallery
- T-Shirt Store ===== Visuals =====
Adding a photo is a great way to add atmosphere, If you take the blue'ish theme from the new Microsoft.com and mix that with your snowboarding site it would create the cold/snow/mountain/snowboader feel that snowboarders subconsiously love.
===== New User Interface =====
Make it simple, elliminate everything that isn't useful and get rid of white space around things that isn't needed.
Your website right now has so much white that it looks pale. Try a shade of grey or blue in the background and as you show more information get lighter until you hit white again, Your data such as text and links should be on white so that they stand out best.
===== Events Calendar =====
Friends or aquantenses might want to use your site to coordinate meetings, it's not nessessary but definately adds more commotion to the site.
===== Photo gallery & videos =====
Why re-invent the wheel when it's already invented? So why host photos when there are plenty of other photo hosting sites out there, dedicate a special place for every member that allows them to link back to their flickr or yahoo photos account.
Why spend time and money hosting videos when YouTube does it for free (God bless them), again, throw in a place for members where they can link to their collection of ever growing snowboarding videos.
===== T-Shirt Store =====
People who belong to the hippy movement wore hippy cloths, goths wear goth t-shirts, punk rocker skateboarders wear punk rocker skateboarder shirts.
Make a list of clever phrases and quotes that would appeal to the snowboarders and their lifestyle and sell them on t-shirts. DON'T use the overly expensive Cafe-Press. $15-20 for a t-shirt is a bit too much.
I'm currently busy with 1 client's re-design and another client wanting 2 brand new hand coded sites. I love helping people work on their sites especially because it's one more thing to add to my portfolio. I would love to send a design example your way if you wanted one. - Voltius@gmail.com |
