Author Topic: My New Website for Tiffany Lamps  (Read 185 times)

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« on: March 08, 2009, 02:33:55 PM »
some of the older members might remember that i make Tiffany lamps. What was once a hobby is now my profession. i don't feel like waiting in line for a job.
so here's the website link. Any constructive comments on its style is appreciated. i bought serif web x-2 to design the site and had some help from one of our members.
 
www.tiffanylampdesign.com
 
maybe after my next project i will make the alembic logo in glass.

jacko

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4068
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2009, 03:27:40 PM »
Good luck with this Jeff. I'll take a look at the site when I've more time. In the meantime, do you ship to the UK?
 
graeme

mike1762

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1048
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2009, 06:59:56 PM »
I was a little confused by the inclusion of so many actual Tiffany lamps... a casual browser would probably think you were selling them.  Your creations in My Gallery are beautiful... I would display them a little more prominently.  I gotta tell you... I think I prefer your Dragonfly to the real one.  Good luck with this venture.  Anytime you get to make money doing something you enjoy...

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2009, 10:21:54 PM »
well mike
if you start from the beginning it may not be so confusing. the lamps are reproductions. i dont think there is more than 5 actual tiffanys in the site- btw-but it was something i was thinking about. the actual lamps are so people can see the designs available for production. i may go back in and throw something on each page. if you notice on the bottom it does say for reference only,
i spent weeks culling the net for photos.  
this might be one of the most comprehensive out there are far as count is concerned. most sites i found only show the owners works, i chose both-
thanks for the feedback!
graeme- for you? sure!

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2009, 10:23:44 PM »
the other reason it may be a little confusion is i couldnt figure out how to make the nav button open and drop down the lamp sizes.  
i will call serif on monday

terryc

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2488
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2009, 01:21:01 AM »
Flax...ever tried or thought to put the Alembic logo into one of your lamps??
I bet the the crew at the mothership would be interested

bsee

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2658
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2009, 01:35:02 AM »
Jeff, I took a quick glance and came up with a few things.
 
1.  The title of your home page is page 2, you'll have to figure out how to tweak titles in your app as it will help with readability and search engine priority.  
 
2. The text on your nav buttons is a little too fragile combined with the shading, for easy readability on my screen.  It also appears to vary font size across the buttons.  Not sure how others see it, but I would look to make them consistent.
 
3. The pics of your lamps should probably go to individual description pages rather than just open as images, and you'll want to work to resize the images for consistency.  
 
4. There's no pricing anywhere.  I would like to see some ranges on a per-size basis, if not particular prices for the various items you display.  
 
5. I don't know the protocol, but is referring to these as Tiffany lamps appropriate when selling yours, or is that an owned brand?  Can you legally show a bunch of pics of actual Tiffany lamps to sell from?  
 
6. I'm not sure I would do business with anyone with a no-refunds policy.  I know you need some protection, but you might consider if some partial refund policy might be in order if requested before work starts, or if the completed piece doesn't meet expectations.  Is there any guarantee of satisfaction or warranty?
 
7. You might want to review the copy on your home page.  Try reading it out loud to make sure it flows the way you want it to.  
 
8.  The page your home button links to isn't your entry page.  That was a bit confusing.  The home link  actually goes to a page I would call something like philosophy or the classic about us.  Do you want a link back to the entry page?
 
9.  Your footers don't have your name on the copyright and the terms of use/privacy policy links don't work.
 
10. The gallery page refers to the 14 dragonfly, but I think it might actually say !4.
 
11. There are some extra spaces between words on the first line of your work in progress page.  Maybe elsewhere, but I didn't see others.
 
12.  At a basic level, you should rename your images and pages more meaningfully.  You should also create some sort of directory structure to make it easier to manage your images.  Images and their thumbnail-sized versions should have a common name with some extension to differentiate.  For example: dragonfly_14.jpg and dragonfly_14_thumb.jpg.
 
13.  Some of your text looks like it was converted to images.  You're better sticking with the pure text for search engines.  Using key words, like tiffany lamps on your various linked pages will help you get better rankings.
 
14. Clearly, you're using quality stuff to put these together.  Would it be appropriate to identify the brand name or other info about the actual electrical parts, or describe any higher-than-typical quality construction processes?  Soldering?  Wire gauges or types?  Switches?  Bases and fixtures?  
 
15.  Are there any common options that can be substituted into the designs?  Maybe dimmers or touch switches, or different materials for the metal pieces for example?
 
16. It might be good to have a specific contact us page in addition to the order info page.  You might also consider a PO box for your business if you don't want to publish an actual address.  A PO box could be tough if you're going to be accepting UPS packages.  You may have to let out your address, at least to confirmed customers.
 
17. Do you need a toxic materials statement of some sort?  Is there lead in your glass and/or solder?
 
Probably more than you wanted, but we're watching the Gladiator extended edition with director's commentary and I had some free brain cells.
 
Good luck!
-bob

glocke

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1258
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2009, 06:49:35 AM »
Wow Jeff...
 
Nice work. I think tiffany lamps.  If you ever make one that is Alembic related you can put me down for one.

adriaan

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 4320
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2009, 07:12:53 AM »
I seem to remember that Tiffany's will come down hard on people selling this type of stuff using the Tiffany name, so don't be surprised if you get served a cease-and-desist notice. Even your domain name may already get you into trouble.
 
Anyway, to this casual observer, it doesn't look half bad.

lbpesq

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10684
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2009, 09:38:29 AM »
Prices?  Shipping costs?  (I'll bet you have to pack one of these REALLY carefully.)
 
Bill, tgo

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2009, 09:50:22 AM »
thanks for the critique bob. i am new to web design. adriann thanks for the heads up, worse case i buy another domain.  
bill- you cant price something that involves different types of glass etc. each lamp gets priced individually= shipping costs are included in the price.
i love the crack about toxic materials-totally asinine

bsee

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2658
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2009, 06:31:10 PM »
It wasn't a critique, Jeff, just a bunch of ideas that came to mind from the perspective of someone who helped build a website that was among the ten busiest sites on the internet in the mid 90's.  I was hoping you could use the list as a set of things to look at and tackle them over the course of weeks or months as you learn how things work.  Having an idea about something I want to improve always helps me to dig into manuals and figure out how to do it.  The result is usually an improvement and a better understanding of what is possible.  Of all the things I pointed out, I don't believe any of them are critical in terms of the site functioning, but thinking about them will get you to a more professional presentation of your products even if you don't use them.
 
I was serious about the toxic materials, Jeff.  You can't buy crystal today without it having a sticker on it that says contains lead.  As I understand it, solder is used in all the creases between the individual pieces of glass.  If you're not using lead-free solder, then you might have to mention that to cover yourself.  If you are using lead-free, then you might call attention to it as a selling point.  If none of this pertains to the selling of lamps, then I apologize for wasting your time thinking about it.

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #12 on: March 10, 2009, 02:12:07 AM »
thanks bob

flaxattack

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 2491
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #13 on: March 10, 2009, 02:18:22 AM »
ps- i have absolutely no prior training in website design. Thought i did pretty good for a novice.
i'll be tweaking as i learn more. i already changed the properties of the nav bar to show the category instead of the page number. i corrected the ! instead of the 1. i linked some photos that i overlooked and added a for sale section, general info, restructured the terms etc.
 
look i understand about the pricing issue but none of the quality shops advertise them.
i did put a price on the poppy of 1250.  
 
if you need a price?- you probably cant afford it!
lol

lbpesq

  • club
  • Senior Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10684
My New Website for Tiffany Lamps
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2009, 09:17:24 AM »
Flax:
 
Your first web site ever???!!!!!  VERY impressive!  I've been kicking around the idea of an online guitar store.  I just might have to pick up a copy of the software you used.  Good luck!
 
Bill, tgo