TV Shows On DVD is one of my favorite websites. The site’s design looks like it hasn’t been updated since the ’90s, but this only helps prove that content is more important than spiffy graphics (though I’d update it in a heartbeat given the chance). It has relevant, up-to-date information, and that is enough to satisfy me.
I love the aside styling… Don’t know about that website’s styling though. Ouch. It better have good content looking like that.
It’s my go-to source for finding out when TV shows are going to be released on DVD/Blu-ray.
Justin,
Are you saying that you actually have time to watch T.V?
I rarely watch TV shows when they’re airing. What I usually do is just buy the season sets and knock out a half season over the weekend or watch a couple of episodes before I go to bed at night during the week.
I have a fairly large collection though. Probably about 250 season sets. I don’t know what I’d do with my spare time without something to keep me entertained.
Having kids took care of that problem for me, Oh how I remember those days of having some spare time.
Justin, I’d love to see what you could come up with for redesigning the site. I’ve abandoned previous attempts at a redesign after discovering many of our users aren’t using up-to-date equipment, and prefer simple navigation to “prettier” navigation. I guess function is certainly topping aesthetics. I remember the uproar when I switched over to the current design (from a design that frankly makes me ill looking at it now). I found my time was better spent working on the content than working on designs that never got implemented (I’m a better coder than designer).
Gord
TVShowsOnDVD.com
I wouldn’t go too crazy with the design. As you can see from my site, I don’t like a lot of flash. I’m a fan of getting straight to the content and letting the design make that content stand out. While your site may be simple, the design gets in the way of the content.
The biggest things I’d do are make generous use of white space, go with a slightly larger font, and add a higher line-height. Right now, everything is a bit too cluttered. Just taking care of this big issue would make the site look 100 times better.
There are other changes I’d make though but not as important. I’d redesign the header with a logo, page menu, and ad. I’d go with a single sidebar on the right. Basically, I’d just restructure the layout. I’d be sitting here typing for a long while if I detailed all the changes I’d make in this area.
Finally, I’d switch you over to WordPress. I’m not sure what CMS you’re running now, but it doesn’t look like WordPress.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and listen to my design advice. I’ll continue visiting your site even if you keep the same design.
No, it’s not WordPress, it’s 100% custom-coded CMS. The entire site is database-driven, and what I know of WordPress it wouldn’t do what the site current does. There’s way too much integration with the database, keeping track of shows people have voted for owning on DVD (the site is more than just displaying a bunch of data).
I’ll take a look at some of the font things. Some pages get very crowded when the font size is increased (the “TV Show Info/Voting” pages are one, but only when a user is logged in). If I have time I’d like to change a few things on the database end and eliminate the Season/BestOf/Individual voting that’s there now (changing it to DVD/BD). If that happens it’ll open up some space on that page and I can look at changing the font sizing.
Thanks for the advice.