Hi Beardy man,
I have a couple of comments if you don't mind? I was a graphic designer before I got involved in the internet and had to learn to do everything so I can point out a couple of things.
I hate to say it but I pretty much agree with the other posters. I believe the minimalist idea isn't working here.... There is overall too much grey which makes the site a bit morose. You could possibly add a bit of colour into the background which will bring the white page out more. If you use even a vibrant colour the page will jump out and be much more pleasant to view. In my humble opinion a yellow ochre would work well with the blue question mark circles. Not quite orange but bright all the same. Not a dull muddy colour which would have the opposite effect!
Another thing that came to mind was the overall ease of navigation. Even if you don't want to directly sell to the visitor there still needs to be an easy and logical path through the website with a call to action on every page. From the homepage all the way through there doesn't seem to be a clear direction and I think you as the webmaster has to be more forceful, if you like, at leading them through. Then the 'ask a question' box and tags pop up with no clear reason why. Maybe some clever copyrighting and headlining here could solve this problem? The 'ask a question' box may well get a 'WTF am I doing here' written in if you're not careful! - if you're lucky... Maybe instead of 'ask a question' you could have 'what's the coolest thing about beards'? or have a poll about the best way to get a snog without giving the poor girl a rash? Sorry to be flippant but internet audiences are fickle these days and if you don't entertain 'em, you'll lose 'em.
Of course when the 'ask a question' box came up I put in the obvious question - 'Do women like beards' lmao - Guess what? it wasn't answered! lol
We all know that the only reason men even bother about washing their face in the morning is because they might bump into a latino cleaning lady on the stairs and suddenly be caught up in a home made porno. I know this happens to me all the time.
You need to address this I think. One easy way would be to stick a photo of David Beckham and a beardy Will Smith in the first page montage!
Which leads me to something else....lol sorry about all this. You can email bomb me if you like for revenge. I think all your colour photo's need to have the men smiling in them. It's just too mean and moody. Also, I'd have Kelly Brook and Megan Fox hanging all over them. You need some women in there man to try and avoid the gay fitness mag look. Maybe have some beardy guys kicking the living shit out of some unfortunate clean shaven freak (English if possible) ....Of course the beardy guys will be smiling while this is happening with a big dog on a leash and some female porn stars standing around in their underwear. Maybe too much but you get my point I hope. Entertain them and make them laugh and they'll stay.
I'm Scottish so I would mind seeing a bearded hunk o burning love in a kilt.......with a big sword. Cripes...
I think the drawings of different kind of beards under the fold is a great idea but the actual pictures you've used MUST be the actual mugshots of Jack the Ripper! The are VERY creepy and I think you need to COMPLETELY rethink this here. This man is exactly the kind of criminal that hangs around on the deep web. Oh hang on a minute.....that's me. These photos need to be redone and some interest created more than just changing their beard styles. I would keep them black and white maybe but have some actual example photos of real people from different angles. You can find any sort of facial hair photos from local barbers and hairdressers. Also, keep the photos of relatively young guys. The one of your dad in the living room, painting the ceiling I don't think will impress your target audience.....unless you're targeting the village people or poofs that idolised Police Academy 3.....or 4.
Anyway, I hope you don't take offence at this because I think it is a great and original idea so best get it right as soon as possible before you go giving your money to Google Adwords. I have honestly no idea about how you're going to monetize this site but what the **** do I know about that? I've been at it for ages now and I think the only cash I've made has been from my clickbank purchases through my own affilliate links.
Anyway, if your ego can cope please pm me when it's finished so I can have another gander,
Chris
Oh and PS - that reminds me.....take out the swearing on that site. It's totally inappropriate. lol
PPS If anybody wants me to write an article for their website I always need the cash. ;-)
