Spinner Rack Comics

[Zapow]

Spinner Rack Comics has a brand new site.

http://www.spinnerrackcomics.com

Check it out!

[Uncle Yuan]

Pretty cool entry page!

This Spinner Rack thing looks like it's starting to take off!  Any plans to bring on other titles/writers/teams?

[thalaw2]

Cool!  You guys are doing it!  Keep it up! 

[Zapow]

Pretty cool entry page!

This Spinner Rack thing looks like it's starting to take off!  Any plans to bring on other titles/writers/teams?

Well, Everyday Heroes is our next title.

I'd really like to get some other teams working on stuff. It just takes money and lots of it. It will be a while before that happens.

[Verfall]

Pretty cool entry page!

This Spinner Rack thing looks like it's starting to take off!  Any plans to bring on other titles/writers/teams?

Well, Everyday Heroes is our next title.

I'd really like to get some other teams working on stuff. It just takes money and lots of it. It will be a while before that happens.

Who's the artist on that anyway? The art seems familiar so I'm assuming it's someone from around here?

[YoungHeros]

Who's the artist on that anyway? The art seems familiar so I'm assuming it's someone from around here?
[/quote]

I suppose it's C6 :huh:

[Verfall]

Who's the artist on that anyway? The art seems familiar so I'm assuming it's someone from around here?

I suppose it's C6 :huh:
[/quote]

Everyday Heroes isn't C6.

[bat1987]

According to the site it`s Luisa Russo http://www.spinnerrackcomics.com/news.php?xnewsaction=fullnews&newsarch=122007&newsid=1

[BentonGrey]

What is Every Day Heroes going to be about, Zap?

[Dr.Volt]

Just came back from poking around the site.  Honor Brigade looks like a very interesting team book and like the concept for Every Day Heroes.  I especially like that Spin Rack produces All Age comics.  Something I think the industry needs much more of.

[YoungHeros]

I will like to read this, but it looks like we don't get it in Denmark :(

[Uncle Yuan]

I will like to read this, but it looks like we don't get it in Denmark :(

Lucky for you they offer .pdf versions!  And for only one dollar!!

[UnfluffyBunny]

I like the site, and it's nice to look at, but gotto say after the title page, it took me a minute to work out there were buttons hidden in there, the left jestification took my mouse into a big empty zone, so from there I went to the title, then to the bottom to check for links there, i managed somehow to get my mouse through the 1st page and the bottom of the second without triggering any of the text, it's a rather complicated design as far as the ordinary website because it isnt all layed out for you, i'd be considering how intimidating it may seem to someone who isnt used to such a bold design, as an experiment i put my brother infront of my pc, like myself an avid comic reader, he's not the most computer literate person out there tho, and within a few minutes he just stood up and walked off.

[Zapow]

Who's the artist on that anyway? The art seems familiar so I'm assuming it's someone from around here?

Her name is Luisa Russo. She's a professional artist living in Italy.

What is Every Day Heroes going to be about, Zap?

It's about a superhero temp agency.

I will like to read this, but it looks like we don't get it in Denmark.

Yep, you can buy the downloads from our site. 5 comics for $5 is a pretty good deal if I do say so myself.

http://www.honorbrigadecomic.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2&zenid=9ab2be8a64b8c0f75cc8cd0225b0f874

I like the site, and it's nice to look at, but gotto say after the title page, it took me a minute to work out there were buttons hidden in there, the left jestification took my mouse into a big empty zone, so from there I went to the title, then to the bottom to check for links there, i managed somehow to get my mouse through the 1st page and the bottom of the second without triggering any of the text, it's a rather complicated design as far as the ordinary website because it isnt all layed out for you, i'd be considering how intimidating it may seem to someone who isnt used to such a bold design, as an experiment i put my brother infront of my pc, like myself an avid comic reader, he's not the most computer literate person out there tho, and within a few minutes he just stood up and walked off.

I'd dare to say the site is a lot more user-friendly then the above sentence. :P

[BlueBard]

I'd have to agree somewhat with UnfluffyBunny.  Yes, there is text warning that you need Javascript enabled and yes it's enabled on most browsers, but that won't mean anything to the average user.  Some folks simply won't think to do a mouseover.

Don't do away with the site navigation as it is, because it's visually cool. Do put some more traditional alternate navigation controls in there or you're going to lose site traffic you might not lose otherwise.

[captainspud]

Aye, gotta agree with my esteemed nemeses-- the nav structure is fairly impenetrable. I think the basic problems are:

1. Over half of the panels don't do anything, so it's a hunt-and-peck excercise to find functioning buttons
2. The ones that do something have nothing to indicate that fact until they're rolled over (read: located)
3. There's never a fallback nav system for those who don't want to play with the "odd" nav

As it stands, it's a little frustrating to navigate.

[Zapow]

Aye, gotta agree with my esteemed nemeses-- the nav structure is fairly impenetrable. I think the basic problems are:

1. Over half of the panels don't do anything, so it's a hunt-and-peck excercise to find functioning buttons
2. The ones that do something have nothing to indicate that fact until they're rolled over (read: located)
3. There's never a fallback nav system for those who don't want to play with the "odd" nav

As it stands, it's a little frustrating to navigate.

Which is funny since my five year old daughter just found every button with no instructions in 30 seconds flat.

[Previsionary]

Good rule of thumb, don't always rely on those close to you when getting opinions or checking/testing something. Not everyone is as intuitive as your daughter and not many people will sit around to check every panel. They're free opinions, consider them, it doesn't *mean* you have to change anything. It's just tips you *should* consider.

I'm pretty sure your daughter just scrolled over the pics with no real indication that there was a button underneath, that's basically what everyone is saying, btw. There's not even a pattern to how your clickable panels are set up.

[BlueBard]

Which is funny since my five year old daughter just found every button with no instructions in 30 seconds flat.

Zap, you've just had a number of folks tell you the site's main page is difficult to navigate and at least two of those know a bit about effective web site design. 

It took me, an experienced web surfer who understands the underlying technology, a good 5 seconds to figure it out.  It shouldn't have had to take 1 second.  You're dealing with Internetizens who are used to instant gratification.  Yes, the site design will intrigue a few people who will be psychologically compelled to keep clicking and go deeper.  But you don't want to chance anyone deciding it's not worth their time.  Right?

It's your choice... do you want visitors to find the pages that would entice them to buy your comics or not?  That being the main point and not what the web site looks like.

We're trying to be helpful.  We're not telling you to scrap the design.  We're suggesting that alternate navigation would be a good idea from a marketing perspective.

[BlueBard]

While I'm being annoying, I might as well go for broke.

I bought PDF's from the site the other day.  In the process, I discovered that the checkout portion of the site didn't exactly flow smoothly.  There's too much back-clicking involved.  It's also entirely possible that people won't realize that they have to click the button to return to your site in order to get the downloads after they finish the PayPal transaction.

Now I understand that you may not have a lot of choice in how the storefront works.  But if I didn't know what I was getting in advance, if I was not web-savvy, and if it wasn't you guys, I would have probably given up after the first attempt and I wouldn't come back.

Just something to consider from a marketing perspective.

Otherwise, yeah $5 for 5 issues of HB is a really good deal and I'm glad I did it.  I may even come back for more ;)

[Zapow]

Which is funny since my five year old daughter just found every button with no instructions in 30 seconds flat.

Zap, you've just had a number of folks tell you the site's main page is difficult to navigate and at least two of those know a bit about effective web site design. 

It took me, an experienced web surfer who understands the underlying technology, a good 5 seconds to figure it out.  It shouldn't have had to take 1 second.  You're dealing with Internetizens who are used to instant gratification.  Yes, the site design will intrigue a few people who will be psychologically compelled to keep clicking and go deeper.  But you don't want to chance anyone deciding it's not worth their time.  Right?

It's your choice... do you want visitors to find the pages that would entice them to buy your comics or not?  That being the main point and not what the web site looks like.

We're trying to be helpful.  We're not telling you to scrap the design.  We're suggesting that alternate navigation would be a good idea from a marketing perspective.

I know you're all trying to be helpful. I'm just baffled that anyone had a problem finding the buttons or found it hard to navigate.

[JKCarrier]

Took me a little while to figure out too. If I hadn't moused over one of the buttons by accident, I'd probably assume that this was just a placeholder page, and that the site was still under construction or something. I really don't see any advantage in hiding the menu -- even after you figure out how it works, it still requires you to mouse over all the pictures every time in order to find the button you want: "Let's see, which one was the link to the Forum, again? This one? No. This one? No. Oh yeah, it's this one..."

Not a huge deal, and it's by no means the worst navigation scheme I've seen on the web. Just seems like an unnecessary gimmick, IMHO.

[Tortuga]

I think the problem is compounded because you need to scroll to reach many of the links.  Scrolling to get to or through a menu is highly unintuitive.  I do think that it's easily solveable by adding colour to the panels that have links, in hopes of drawing the viewer's eye to them specifically, while still using the text popup on the rollover.  Or visa versa, colour in all the panels except those that are links, and upon rollover, the text pops up and the panel is coloured in.

It's a good site design that showcases the comic art, but with a few tweaks it would be even better.

[Alaric]

I know you're all trying to be helpful. I'm just baffled that anyone had a problem finding the buttons or found it hard to navigate.

Just remember- different people's minds work differently. What's easy or obvious to one person can be hard to see to another, without there being anything wrong with either person. Think of it like beta testing your site- when you initially designed it, you didn't have access to all those different minds with different ways of looking at things. Now that you do have that access, it can only help the site if you decide to take advantage of the input.

[Zapow]

We added a small nav bar with links at the bottom. Now everyone is happy.

[MJB]

No offense intended Zap but the site is hard to navigate. The new buttons help but it's not enough IMO.

Take that how you will. I only want to help out.

-MJB

[UnfluffyBunny]

the nav bar is a sensible addition IMO, back up navigation is often standard practice incase people have problems with the page, ie. for whatever reason, rollover images may not transition effectively.
I agree with some previous comments that if the actual usable panels were defined somehow (slightly different shading/toning?, a different colour border? something subtle) it would decrease the chance of confusion, and possibly add to the site aesthetic.
I know it may seem I come here just to make small nit-picks but i'm just trying to be honest, I know it's hard to let go of a design you've envisioned, especially when it's completed the way you want it, but the most important thing in web-design is considering your target audience, it's fair enough to say your 5 year old found everything in 30 seconds flat, but i'd have to think, did she see the site during constuction, was she aware there were buttons on the page already, was she asked to find the buttons or just placed infront of the page with no prior knowledge.
and tbh, anyone could wave their mouse over the whole screen, see where the buttons are, then go over them to see what they are in yeah, 10 seconds easy, but as a web browser, I dont want to spend 10 seconds looking for a button, I want it to be right there so I can just click it.

[Zapow]

I didn't make the site so of course my daughter didn't see it being constructed.

At this point I think you guys are mostly nitpicking. Which is fine. But you know, I pay the person who made the site. I'd have to wonder how many of you who are nitpicking, you know, actually bought a book to help pay the web designer.

That would be more helpful than picking at every little thing, especially in a thread that's supposed to help promote the books.

Sticking your two cents in is what the web is all about I guess. That's free.

[captainspud]

At this point I think you guys are mostly nitpicking. Which is fine. But you know, I pay the person who made the site. I'd have to wonder how many of you who are nitpicking, you know, actually bought a book to help pay the web designer.

Paying for something does not guarantee quality.

That would be more helpful than picking at every little thing, especially in a thread that's supposed to help promote the books.

Um... the thread was about the website. Go re-read your first post.

I don't know why you're getting so defensive about this-- you should be on our side here. We've just offered you the results of a dozen user tests, and informed you that the person who made your site isn't doing their part to sell books. Making sure the information on your site is easily accessible is immensely important. You may not find the site hard to navigate, but we've kind of outvoted you on that issue. It is.

There's always been a trend on the internet to make your site "clever"-- a trend that lead to all those ridiculous flash nav systems we all hated so much in the early '00s. Clever can be fun for a little while (I know I played with a lot of those dumb flash dealies, goofing around with the rollovers and animations), but it can be an impediment to people who just want information. Someone who wants to find a release date or your blog isn't going to want to have to fight their way through a "clever", but unintuitive, nav system to get to it. They're more likely to try, encounter trouble, and say "eff this" and walk away. That's about the worst thing that can happen with a website. If your users don't use your site, what's the point of it?

Again, we're not attacking you here. You don't need to feel offended. You showed us your site, we gave you our feedback and some suggestions. Getting angry at us isn't going to make the problems go away.

[BlueBard]

I paid for PDF's.  I suppose that doesn't count.

Good thing I like you, Zap.

Anyway, I'm done -helping-.