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Dara's Garden
Current rating: 5.1 (329 votes)
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12345678910Added: 07 May 2007
Review:
This website is both attractive and stylish, with a skilfully executed design that fits the wedding subject matter perfectly. Many of the layout decisions are well handled, and the code is generally clean throughout. I'd say Dara's Garden will likely please everyone; particularly the client who Im sure will see a healthy increase in their online customer enquiries as consequence.
Each page supports a masthead image that sets the pace for the two-column content that follows. Interestingly the main column occasionally splits into internal sub-columns of two and three which markedly improves the look and feel of the site's content. The typography is good, with a bold use of colour, font and size variations distinguishing areas of text, particularly the first line of each paragraph. Other nice features such as the gallery stand out too, with its internal sub-navigation and image selection design. Unusually the branding is located at the bottom of the page; its position beside the contact details works well.
The markup, though somewhat disappointing in comparison to the design, is fairly clean bar the occasional inline JavaScript. Forms have been well put together with proper labels given to form field titles and server-side email validation. The semantic structuring could be better; many of the headlines are simply images, and theres a notable void where should have been image replacement. Additionally there appears to be a small bug in the Internet Explorers with the homepage banner, though this is no biggie. I should also point out that the site came so close to validating its almost painful to see; just one small error at the foot of each page fails the entire site!
However, all weighed up this is a beautiful website, and one which Id be more than happy to present on my portfolio. If only the designer had spent just a little extra time tweaking some of the finer details I think we could have had a winner. Heres hoping he/she will reconsider 
Reviewed by Steve Tucker