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Chiba Beat / Article on how to get into Japan

I'm not crazy about the site design, but your content looks pretty sound. So far I like the poor man's guide.
 
thanks for the feedback! Honestly, I'm not too crazy about the design myself and so I am working with someone about changing it. Any suggestions?
 
well, it depends on the kind of atmosphere you're trying to generate with your site. Unless you're really focusing on the nightlife of Chiba, I would forgo the dark background in favor of something lighter.

Also, I would recommend some unifying elements in things like buttons and imagery; you have some nice curves on the main page, but they are isolated from the other images because all the rest of the buttons and images have sharp angles.

It also seems that you have a disjointed menu system. Start by simplifying the site structure so the menu can be more intuitive. That should be enough to consider for now, I'm getting the evil eye and have to head out.
 
I really wish that I would have had your advice while I was working on the design. Since the site is still new I have time to make major adjustments. But the thing is...I am a total ditz when it comes to graphic design.

I really appreciate your advice though and I will see if I can make some of these adjustments. Thanks!
 
Article on how to get into Japan

I have an article here Guide to getting into Japan and I would like some advice on some things to add to make it better. Also, I'm not too happy with the fonts and layout so if you have any comments on how to make those better I would greatly appreciate it.
 
well, with any web-site your font selection is going to be limited, because very few fonts have near-universal coverage. You are using Arial, a common font and a cheap microsoft imitation of Helvetica. Helvetica is a nice font family, but PC users are less likely to have a good version of the font on their computer. This site has a small list of the most popular serif, sans serif and monospace fonts for web use: http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/browser_compatible_fonts.php3

As for the layout: your line length is way too long at a ridiculous 102 characters. first step would be to widen those margins and get the text away from the edges of the box. shave about 15-25% off your column width. Your minimum column width should accomodate about 5 words. 66 characters across (including spaces) is ideal. Generally, you want the viewer to be able to read the entire line of text without having to shift their eyes. You might even want to increase the text size a hair.

Remember though, these rules should apply for all your articles, and my comments still stand on the menu system and crowding of elements on the page.
 
yes I am working with a guy about the menu. What you see now is just my poor organization skills and lack of skill at website design.

About that article...I could just put it in the format like the Poor man's guide. What do you think about that? It would be pretty long though
 
Is Chiba exciting enough to dedicate a page on the internet to it? I land at Narita and all I can think about is taking the train to Tokyo. Oh well, nice professional looking website, I can't understand much by looking at it though sorry.

Josh
 
Honestly Chiba is not the most exciting place in the world. The air is dirty, the nightlife is so so to poor and it's so close to Tokyo that people would rather just go to Tokyo for having fun.
Having that said, there are some good places in Chiba. Anyone who has ever spent time in Makuhari can definitely agree with that. And there are enough good places that there are several Japanese sights covering the Chiba area showing all the good places to go but there are none in English.
Plus, I can guarantee you that if I didn't start this site someone else would have eventually.
 
I figure if your in the area maybe a concert or something then it would be nice to go to club
 
Orionvortex said:
how about this format for that ariticle http://chibabeat.com/come_to_japan1.html
I went with smaller column width and now it is around 64 characters per line.

Looks really great in that format. I just wish more people would put in their sites that you don't need to be a student or have a job to go to Japan. If you are American you can go for 90 days on a visitor visa that you fill out on the airplane and 90 days is a really really really long time for anyone wanting to go to Tokyo (especially for the first time.) Oh well.


Josh
 
Thanks!
Yes 90 days is a long time, especially for a first-timer. I have worked as an assistant to short-term exchange students who come to Chiba for a month and they are all ready to return home after that amount of time. I always tell them that things are tough for them because they don't get the chance to settle in and start a new life. It is just easier having your own bed, cell phone, kitchen, etc. It's a lot cheaper too! They average spending about 2,000 dollars in a few weeks whereas I can make that last over the course of two or three months.
 
ghettocities said:
Err I was going to post part of my guide to getting to Japan but realized it was a little inappropriate.

Josh

I highlighted the redundancies.
 
Orionvortex said:
True. Maybe I should concentrate a little more on makuhari...


The only reason i say that is i dont find my way out that far unless its going to disney with the gf or watching a concert.
 
Carlson said:
The only reason i say that is i dont find my way out that far unless its going to disney with the gf or watching a concert.

I completely understand. On a related note they will be having the Tokyo Game show in Makuhari in September for all of you hard-core gamers. I have heard from some that it is better than E3!
 
New site layout, what do you think?

Thanks to some constructive criticism I have decided to change the layout of the site. I have created a test page at chibabeat.com | Domain For Sale. Please let me know what you think about this layout and if there is anything I can do to improve it.
 
looks much better and more open, but please use white for the background color; having everything in white, then having a black background quarantines your content. Also, I would widen the main column of text for the article, and reduce the width of the left menu bar to about 75% of what it is now.
 
ahh, I was hoping you would reply to that post Nice Gaijin! You really seem to know your stuff when it comes to graphic design and web development.

I just changed the background color of the body to white. I agree that it looks better without the black. That was the easy part because I did this one in CSS. Unfortunately I also used tables so I will start adjusting those tables on the left menu bar.

If you have any other suggestions let me know. I love this constructive criticism.
 
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