Monday, February 2, 2009

May I Get Some Opinions...??

I must admit, I am at a bit of a stand still with my website redesign. While I like the banner design I've come up with I seem to be getting mixed messages from the people I've shown it to. While I have no problem taking criticism in regards to my art...the response I'm getting seems to be that it's not really my style. I'm thinking, "I drew it, how is it not me," LOL?? But then what do I know I'm just the artist? hee hee hee. The majority of responses has been something along the lines of, "I love it, but it's not really your style," so I'm curious what the blogging world thinks.

I've seen a bunch of blogs do give-aways and hold contests so I thought...hey maybe I can do that too. Get a little feedback and also give away a little thank you at the same time. So I propose this...for the next few weeks I will keep this open and ask for feedback. At the end of that time, I will put all the names of those who have left comments into a bag and draw a name. The winner will get a freebie from me. It may be a Valentine or an an ATC, it might even be an original piece of art...who knows? It will definitely be a surprise. Thank you for your help and here's my banner design:

I'd love comments, feedback, suggestions, whatever you can give me in the way of constructive criticism. Should I keep it, should I redesign it from scratch with something cutesy...hey if you have a completely new suggestion for me I am all ears :) Can't wait to hear your thoughts and thank you in advance.

12 comments:

Rose Hudson said...

I know what you mean "how can it not be my style when I drew it?!" I never seem to have a set style in anything I draw! Maybe it's just me.
Anyway, I'm LOVING this. Do you think you'd draw like this again on other work? If so, then I think you should keep it. If your going to stick to your cutesey style full time, then change the banner to cutesey.
It also depends on who is your key audience, what kind of people do you want to be commissioned by? (if your using this for those kind of people to impress) If it's just people who deal with children's books that you want this seen by then I'd stick one of your children illustrations on it. Sorry for the ramble...i hope I've helped some way!

Kelley said...

thank you Rose! Good Points through out :)

Candace Trew Camling said...

I like the colors and the layout!

Rose Hudson said...

Your header looks great Kelley, I see now it really matches your page colours! Maybe make it a bit smaller so the border for headers fits around it.

Kelley said...

aww, thanks Candace!

And Rose...the header is actually for my portfolio site, I just put it up here to see what it looked like. The fact that it matches my background was just a perk. He hee hee.

But thank you both for your input :)

Rose Hudson said...

oooh cool, whats your website? I wanna have a looky :)

busylizzy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
busylizzy said...

Sheesh, I guess I'll admit I was one of the ones that didn't like your new banner. Your very own Mom will admit it here for the world to see. lol It's not that I don't like the self portrait. It's that I don't like it as much as I like your 'kids'. Your illustrations of children are so freakin' adorable, I think they should be everywhere. Do you think I'm biased? LOL I think Miss Mashed has some very good points. If you are trying to attract people for children's illustration, you might want your banner to be along those lines.

Kelley said...

my official website is www.kelleyfrisby.com it loads kind of slow because it was my last school assignment and we were required to do our sites using Macromedia Flash. I'm currently redesigning it with a more artist-friendly program :)

emmazmom said...

I really love the banner. I think it shows what a great all around artist you are not just an illustrator. As much as I love your cutesy artwork, I love seeing the other stuff you are also so amazing at.

BlankDaze said...

Okay BFF reporting for comment duty :o).

I like the banner. My only comment when I originally saw it and now again is that your eyes in your self portraits always looks sad. You are such a bubbly person and very easy going and I just think anytime you draw yourself your eyes never really represent who you are.

I read what your other peeps said and they all had great points. I like your momma love the kiddies, but like someone else said this shows your range. Beside this is a blog to show your works in progress, I would think you would have your website be the place to view your artwork, etc.

Change is always good, just remember that. (this coming from the person who doesn't like change. lol)

ps: check out your profile picture eye. it's a happy eye.

ojaiquilter said...

I think it is too serious. Your website now has a certain artistic interpretation with the paint in the background and you drawing. If you could show some kind of art that could tone down the seriousness. Just a thought.