New Blocs site

Made my new site with blocs after using Adobe Muse for a long time :slight_smile:

marcelwagenaar.nl

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It may be best to use a pre-loader to prevent the rendering issue shown in the attached when pages are first loaded. The render does correct itself after a while, but probably better not to see the issue at all. I believe the pre-loader will sort this out. You may like to run your images through imageOptim. I could get your 1.4mb home page image down to 220k without too much degradation.

Apart from that, A nice site

It loaded instantly for me and I didn’t see anything like that. I understand the issue with the preloader to hide the double animation. My problem with that solution is that the preloader then appears between different pages as well and it’s not a great look, especially if you have a common header across all pages.

Hallo Marcel,

Mooie site alleen de link verwijzing van Depeche Mode brengt me naar Kensington.

Rooni.

WOW! Impressive website! And the photos are incredible! Congrats! :point_up:

Great work!

Excellent work, congratulations!

Excellent photographs!

bonoman, I am still a SoftPress Freeway user but beta-testing Blocs in hopes of switching to it at some point in the future. In the FreewayTalk forums, I’ve read a lot of strong words from Adobe Muse users who swear by that app, despite the ridiculous subscription model Adobe imposes on them. It’s almost like these Muse users would give their very lives for that app. I can’t understand it. That’s why I am curious as to what led you to use Blocs.

Thanks.

I imagine Adobe is trying to recoup some type of payment from people who can’t afford the full subscription model. It’s still costly as far as I’m concerned. Blocs continues to improve and I know it does not do everything but what program can? I’ll keep supporting Blocs for sure. It’s been a fun ride…

Casey

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As someone who has an Adobe subscription I can try and explain why some people (at least) are stuck with the Adobe pipeline. I don’t use Muse.

Most of my time I develop mobile applications - mostly for IOS. Often I work with design houses or clients that supply me with assets in various Adobe formats and they expect me to be able to work with them.

I am also a ( mostly) ex-flash developer and sometimes I do get called upon to resurrect some flash projects, so I need an Adobe licence to do that.

I have worked in-house at a number of design agencies and every one of them has used Adobe software.

The advantage of using software from Adobe for professional design houses and for professional developers is that besides the capability of the software suite itself it provides project interoperability - it is the way for projects to share assets, particularly vector-based assets without hassle.

So I have no affinity for Muse, but the attraction of the Adobe subscription is easy - it’s an enabler for people like me to take on projects that otherwise I couldn’t do. The subscription cost is a means to an end.

I would imagine that many Muse users are in the same situation.

“For many,” perhaps. But for myself, there is zero merit in an Adobe subscription. None. Nada. That’s because I am not a full time web designer nor am I a full time graphics artist who must contend with “establishment thinking” at professional print houses. I do appreciate your explanation. And I find it rather eye-popping that despite your ball-and-chain subscription, you have chosen Blocs over Muse. Quite aMUSEing! But in a good way. I myself would not be attracted to Blocs if I did not see a lot of potential and merit in it. Norm continues to impress. (Just give us site search and responsive tables, Norm, and I’ll convert and never look back!)

By the way, you used the word “affinity.” That has been my go to graphics suit to avoid the ball-and-chain. Serif has done an excellent job on Affinity Photo and Designer. They still have a ways to go before they truly encroach on the Adobe empire, but they are constantly improving their products and will soon have a Publisher app out, from what I have read. I’m pleased at that. I dislike subscriptions tremendously. Honestly, if Adobe still offered boxed software for a one-time fee (yes, even a big fee), I would have no harsh words to say about them. But they don’t, so I do! :slight_smile:

I find blocsapp reasonably straightforward to use and I can’t be bothered to investigate Muse. I have bought both the Affinity apps and I regularly use Affinity Photo.

I make most of my graphics using Sketch which has a perfect simplistic workflow for building UI elements and complete UI designs. I’m looking forward to Affinity publisher arriving, but it’s a long time coming.

I did once work with someone who used InDesign for all their graphics work and I then came across others who did the same.

I have access to more software than I can use really.

I should add - I do know some people who use Muse and they have produced some great sites using it. People make the mistake of thinking that software is the important thing for creating fantastic websites, when really it doesn’t matter so much. What makes a great website is the design thinking that goes into it, not the software used to realise the design. That’s why Eldar and such are so successful - it’s not down to blocsapp it’s down to their design capability. Blocsapp is just an enabler.

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