Also as a side note...NEVER take what nero says about templates seriously...he is one of the worst template designers I have ever seen...
If I were to make a list of things which you are a complete amateur at, I don't think you'd take too kindly. Nero is neither 'one of the worst' template designers nor someone whose view should be disregarded - if anything he's passionate, respectable and learning incredibly fast. I'm surprised you'd be as pompous as to insult his abilities being someone of your level too; I could hypothetically justify my belief of you being
the worst template designer I've ever seen with countless reasoning, yet I give constructive criticism where I can because it's far more helpful and productive.
Also, some of the best advice can be taken from those learning - every teacher has to be prepared for his students to better him, teaching has nothing to do with ego.
Next time you think to insult somebody due to your wholly subjective opinion, think about whether you're in a position to be judging their skill or ability.
I'm working on a project with a friend, he wants me to design it.
Imagine if this were a RZ/Sythe profile, what would you think of it? Basically the first image here would be the default theme, but then you can go in your account settings and edit the theme to one of hundreds set by administrators. The only things that would change is basically the background content.
Profile Page
Default:
http://i50.tinypic.com/33b2wqh.jpg
Explose:
http://i47.tinypic.com/11tssv6.png
Nebula:
http://i45.tinypic.com/16by60z.png
Review Page
Default:
http://i50.tinypic.com/f0agwn.png
Discussion Page
Default:
http://i46.tinypic.com/25zm7f9.png
How can I improve these guys?
Older Designs
v1: http://i.imgur.com/YoigA.png
v2: http://i.imgur.com/YkmvT.png
v3: http://i.imgur.com/o8myg.png
Whilst the design seems pretty organised, it is anything but aesthetically memorable and seems pretty generic/common.
Firstly, start work with a swatch/a few colours that you wish to work with. At the moment your whole site is comprised of b&w (or dark grey and white, which achieves practically the same effect), which isn't particularly effective and is boring to the eye. I like the icons though I'm presuming they're downloaded - look at how colour is used to separate the icons and make them some of the most prominent elements on the page, regardless of the fact they're one of the smallest. Try use colours or other techniques to emphasise and simplify.
Arial is also not the most respected of fonts, and generally treated as the 'poor man's helvetica', so regardless of how cliché helvetica has become, it's still a good starting point. Type-wise, I don't think you have really considered the type on the page - whilst there are obvious differences (such as some elements being bolded), there needs to be a degree of consistency with the type. On the 'profile' page for instance, the top simplified info (username/name/location/online) can be far more effectively laid out. Try reading some tutorials on type theory such as
this and once you start coding, you can always use tools that make typography far easier, such as
this (if working with css).
Overall, it isn't bad, but it's a tad bland and I don't really see the appeal in these designs compared with the countless default designs that're commonly used.
Well done though
