(Large Image Inside) Starting New Blog: Thoughts On Splash Image?

[Michael Colton]

I am in the process of making a new blog and website and was wondering what people thought of my splash image (landing page) I made. Some form of it will probably be the primary theme or header of the site as well once I get more time to work on it.

If your browser automatically resizes it to fit your window, I would appreciate it if people might click on it to see the full size and give me some feedback on the detail such as the mosaic pixelation that I put in nearer the edges of the image.

If your browser does not resize and you are smacked in the face with a massive image, I apologize - the attachment limitations were too small so I had to link it.

My overall question: is it science fiction-ish without being too cheesy?

 

[HareBrain]

I'm not sure I see enough sci-fi imagery to judge how cheesy or otherwise it is, but I like it.

 

[Abernovo]

Not cheesy to my mind. I like it.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Good day, Sodice.

Gut feelings, since I know little of the visual arts...this is literally stream of consciousness stuff on first viewing--perhaps what you'd like to hear, since I guess the splash image will help any prospective blog-reader to form their early impressions of your site...

...it's great looking...love the "mosaic pixelation" effect (would never have known to call it that!). I think it would fit in nicely with a science fiction theme.
...it's a little overwhelmingly dominating in tenor, for me...I don't mean the image size (I reduced that a bit). I mention this as it ties in with my next thought:
...it seems a bit cold, in the lacking-the-invitation-to-human-warmth kind of way. I know that whether this is true depends on the rest of the blog...color scheme, themes, content, etc. And maybe this is what is best for a science fiction-type blog.

Just my 2c, as they say...I like this, but if it's to be a personal blog, it might be stand-offish...if it's a general blog on SF, then it's stellar. Not sure if this helps, but I'll look forward to seeing your blog, CC

 

[AdmiralGeezer]

It's good. But depending on how big the image will be on your site you might want to make that smaller text bigger. But it depends on how it looks when placed on your site.

 

[Michael Colton]

I'm not sure I see enough sci-fi imagery to judge how cheesy or otherwise it is, but I like it.

As far as cheesy, I meant largely the sharp geometric shapes and dark feel. I wanted to keep the imagery to a minimum and use lines to primarily communicate what I wanted. But using simplistic geometric shapes tends to go in and out of trendiness rather quickly, so I just wanted to make sure people did not have an instant reaction of 'oh, look at this person with their sharp points . . .'

Good day, Sodice.

Gut feelings, since I know little of the visual arts...this is literally stream of consciousness stuff on first viewing--perhaps what you'd like to hear, since I guess the splash image will help any prospective blog-reader to form their early impressions of your site...

...it's great looking...love the "mosaic pixelation" effect (would never have known to call it that!). I think it would fit in nicely with a science fiction theme.
...it's a little overwhelmingly dominating in tenor, for me...I don't mean the image size (I reduced that a bit). I mention this as it ties in with my next thought:
...it seems a bit cold, in the lacking-the-invitation-to-human-warmth kind of way. I know that whether this is true depends on the rest of the blog...color scheme, themes, content, etc. And maybe this is what is best for a science fiction-type blog.

Just my 2c, as they say...I like this, but if it's to be a personal blog, it might be stand-offish...if it's a general blog on SF, then it's stellar. Not sure if this helps, but I'll look forward to seeing your blog, CC

That does help. I was going for the feel you described, so it appears successful. Once past the splash screen to where posts are, there is a light and minimalist feel and this stark image will turn into a header. I was considering using it as the general appearance of the site page, but it made it too much work to handle text fields.

It will be a combined personal and 'other' blog. I do not have an interest in marketing the site or anything, so it will have random asides as well as more detailed posts chronicling my new journey in attempting to write fiction. I have done sites where I try to market them, reach a wide audience, and all of that - so this time I just kind of wanted to have a little project of my own that I enjoy doing regardless of whether it reaches anyone. So it will be a combination of personal, science fiction, music reviews, and anything else that lands within my sphere of interest.

It's good. But depending on how big the image will be on your site you might want to make that smaller text bigger. But it depends on how it looks when placed on your site.

I agree. I am working on another version that will have the secondary text be larger if I need it.

Thank you for the feedback, everybody.

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Sounds great, Sodice! I'm just attempting the fiction-writing journey myself...it's daunting, but so personally rewarding--though it will be a very long time before I show anyone anything other than my Challenge entries. I hope Chrons members will be able to visit your site--I'm very curious about, and interested in, what you will write! Best of luck, CC

 

[ginny]

This looks fairly professional to me.

Are the spheres indicative of earth and moon because I get that image from them.

 

[J-Sun]

I don't know how much more feedback you want but I think it looks great to me until I start thinking about it too much. What I mean is that it's called "Sodice Sphere" but (a) while it has circles they don't suggest spheres and, more importantly, the overall impact is not spherical and (b) it's "Sodice Sphere" but there are two almost-spheres (though that could be an intentional earth-moon thing like ginny suggests). Maybe have a big semi-transparent central sphere with curved lines or some shading/saturation which gives a 3D look, with the text and further geometry inside, and the refraction stuff continuing out from the sphere much like it is now. But maybe you don't want to be that literal. As anyone who has ever looked at my "site" can see, I'm not big on the images or aesthetics but have a "just the facts, ma'am" approach, so I may not be the best person to be giving graphics feedback. Or maybe that is a perspective that would help. I'd "land" on a page like that and wonder where the content was and maybe just surf away. Flash sites don't work at all the way I'm configured and I never enable javascript until I've come to really like a site (like this one) so it has to be minimally usable to begin with to get me to like it. I'm not saying yours isn't or that there's anything wrong with a big image but just saying it might not appeal to all.

Long story, short, though, it's a great looking graphic.

Huh. Maybe it'd be as simple as adding triangular shapes angled the opposite way above and enclosing the "Sodice Sphere" text and that would give a "sphere of triangles" effect and the circles-within-a-spherelike-thing wouldn't make me take them so literally then.