Yea, they rejected me, too. And I swear to you, most of the replies were like, “OMG this is ugly!” or “Oh, I hate this girl” or (my absolute favorite) “Ugh, I hate blue layouts!” That little web clique is really retarded.

Let them play their little games. Your blog is very nice and stands on its own merits.

It’s not Bubs who decides who is accepted and rejected. It’s the members. I got in trouble for saying this before, but the members are snotty snobby bitches with very few valid reasons as to why a site should or shouldn’t be accepted.

It’s a pity I didn’t know about this earlier or I would have gone and made a big dramatic deal about all the dopey replies they would have left on your review page.

Well, whoever decided to reject you is either blind or bitchy (or both?), because your layout is amazing! From the other comments, though, it sounds like this particular clique is pretty ridiculous, so I suppose it’s just as well you didn’t get in. No-one wants to be associated with dumbasses.

(and I meant they were dumbasses, not you, obviously. Rereading my comment, that might not have been crystal clear, sorry!)

Bahahahah! Yeah I never get accepted into all that bullshit. I haven’t tried for that one. My suggested reasons you were denied:

1. Your site has some black. Like OMGGGGG so scary like are you Emo?! “Liek eeeew!”
2. You curse. “Lieeekk omggzzz did she liek just say that? OMGGG.”
3. And yeah you’re not her BFFL….

Haha fuck em. I like ya.

Oh. Just so you know, when Chiklita was voted in, she had a really fucking awesome layout up. Same goes for Impish. I’m not sure about Oipom though, but I happen to really like the layout she has up.

I wouldn’t worry about getting into the “elite” club, because your site is nice and wonderful as it is. I don’t think you need the approval of some rich bitch snobs to prove that you are a good designer.

You have already proved that to the people visiting your site.

Hmm, those other sites aren’t really much to look at but I have to say I quite like impish.ca even if it is plain…. chikita though? (although Nellie says they had a great layout at the time so *shrugs*).

Chicklita is cute but those other sites are pretty fucking ugly IMO. Haha I hope validating doesn’t matter too much ’cause I doubt my site does.

The pink things in my pics are my pink balls! They are for Social Vibe, a really cool site where you get sponsored by your favorite brands. The money raised by having the (super cute and of your choice) ads on your MySpace, blog, etc. raised money for a cause that YOU choose (mine in the Environment, but you could also pick Animals, Human Rights or many more). You can also win prizes, called Rewards.

If you join, please use my link:
http://www.socialvibe.com/?r=9834&b

Thanks for visiting my site & I hope you sign up!

Apologies for the fifty billion comments, but HOLY SMOKES! This layout wins all there is to be won!

That sucks..but most of the time it IS about who you know, which is really crappy because as far as I’m concerned your work is some of the best.

Aww, girl dont even sweat it! If it makes you feel any better, I have never even hurd of them-so-oviously their not so popular after all (and ive been on the inet like…too long lol). your blog is wonderful-it makes me feel happy (which is just what i needed) *xoxo*

I’ve never tried to join any of that shit. I don’t feel like having a bunch of people pick apart my site.

Your site is beautiful though. I love the rainbow.

You shouldnt have to change your layout just to get accepted in some elite review site. You dont win money or anything. If you want to join to get hits there more places where you can sign up to get hits without being “rejected”. Although I didnt see the old layout, I hope this time you were accepted since this one looks great. Good luck.

Vanessa – I don’t plan on re-applying to them. I changed the layout because I wanted to, and even then I only changed the images and the colors, not the actual layout.

Being friends with Bubs has nothing to do with it. I’m pretty good friends with Bubs and I’ve been rejected from Perfection three times. If that’s not evidence, I don’t know why.

Bubs will get back to you eventually with your reviews – fear not. Just… take them with a pinch of salt. Yes, perfection is very clique-y, and they do look for any single little fault they can find to have a reason to say no…

At the end of the day, if your site is good and you know your site is good, it doesn’t matter whether you get accepted into perfection or not. You don’t need the approval of perfection to know that your site is good.

*hugs*

I actually never ever spoke to bubs once in my whole life until she invited me to join perfection.

So. New theory needed

I’m a member of Perfection myself, and I agree that there are some sites in there that I wouldn’t have chosen myself. I don’t know if Bubs has gotten back to you yet, but here are some problems *I* have with your site:

- The font size is incredibly small. I’ve enlarged it a couple of times already, but it looks like you’re using ems, so that when I enlarge the font in order to be able to read it, the entire layout grows in width, causing a horizontal scrollbar. It’s annoying enough to have to adjust my font size to make your site reasonably comfortable to read, but it’s more annoying still to then have to deal with a horizontal scrollbar because of my adjustments.

- Your sidebar looks very typical. Just the same-old, same-old that I see on every other site out there.

- I dislike the affiliates section of your sidebar because the stars give me no clue as to where I’m about to click. Going by Section 508 accessibility guidelines, your links should always be indicative of their destination, hence why ‘Click here’ links are discouraged. Yes I can hover on your images and see a description, but it would be nice to be able to skim the list without hovering on individual images.

- When I did design work for a web site design lab at the University of Kentucky, my mentor, a designer for years, told me it was amateurish to move text around (even by making it bold) on hover. I agreed with her, on consideration. Your main navigation does this, and I dislike it. That’s a personal preference, but just sayin’.

- The text input fields in this comment form, save this textarea, look really narrow vertically. Maybe some inner padding or a bigger line-height?

- The contrast between the green text in this form and the green background is too little, especially for the text fields since the green background is mostly green and doesn’t have room to fade into this gray because of the small height. I would go on and and make this text black to increase readability.

I’m not aiming to start any drama with this comment, I just figured it might be nice for you to get at least one person’s review of your site, as it currently is, while you’re waiting for the Perfection reviews. Also note that I am basing this review on what I see of the design from this page where I’m posting the comment, and have not traversed your site at all.

I haven’t been to your site in awhile. I think your layout is really sparkly and cute. Did you apply to Perfection with this layout? I’ve applied twice in the past. Bubs is one of my online friends, but as has been mentioned, its the members who vote on who is accepted. And like has already been mentioned, some of them do seem quite snobby. Some of them actually said I was immature and that they couldn’t believe I was older than them based on my cutesey, colorful layout. I have a feeling that now, even if I had a really spectacular layout, they would still reject me because I think some of them just plain don’t like me. But, whatever. I wouldn’t feel *too* upset about it, because it does take some time to get your reviews back. It took me awhile to get mine even, and I know Bubs. Being rejected isn’t any fun, and it does seem like high school like the title of your post. I do agree with what has been said about some of the sites not really being anything to look at. Some of them didn’t have anything “great” when they were originally accepted in my opinion. Some of the sites aren’t even being updated anymore, but still they remain on the site. Anyway, that’s enough from me. Good luck with your website!

Hee, I like the idea that I’m a “rich bitch snob” (according to Megan) and that’s why I was accepted into Perfection.

A couple of tips that I know would help you out in a review:

1. I’d increase the left-right padding in each comment. Right now, the text butts up against the edges and it looks cramped.

2. The text color in this textarea. Waaaay too little contrast with the background. It’s difficult to read. Your input fields also seem a little short on height, but that might be personal preference.

3. Your posts could use some left-right padding as well. The right side is much closer to the edge than the left, but they could both use a bit more space. Say 20, 25 pixels? Same width as your comments, perhaps.

4. I like your navigation, but I’m not so sure I like the hover state. I’d be more inclined to make it change color instead of just the movement, or do both. With the movement alone, it’s hard to tell whether that was intentional or not.

5. Your affiliates are mystery meat navigation. Huge no-no. As a visitor, it’s good to be able to know where you’re going before you get there.

I noticed in your “about me” page that you state you dropped out of a Graphic Design program because it was boring and you knew nearly everything they were teaching anyway. With all due respect, maybe the GD program sucked and that’s why you dropped out – I don’t know – but I find it hard to believe that you knew all about graphic design and grids and principles of visual communication and that’s why it was intolerable.

Also, just to head it off, I know you’re going to trot out my website as an example of “what not to do,” since you’ve done it already in your post. Visually, no, it’s not amazing and I’ll be the first to admit that. It is a solid website though, structured well, and it works. If you don’t like it, the Cobbler’s Kids” analogy is the only excuse I can offer. I code websites for a living and often the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is working on my own site. I’m happy with it, but everyone can improve.

Do know, though, that not everyone in Perfection is 100% happy with every site that gets in. Some people apply, get in, and immediately change their website to something more crap. Some people get in, get a low rating, come up with something spectacular and are stuck with the low rating. Some people apply and apply and never get in at all. Is it fair? No. Do we try to do our best? Yes. I always give honest reviews with tips I think would help the person improve. We’re not out for blood. We want to help people get better.

I never applied for that site. I know there are lots of things wrong with my site, and as Crystal has said, I don’t feel like having people pick apart my site. I’m with Rachael too, you don’t need their approval. Everyone has their own definition of a good site. If you are happy with your site, that’s what matters.

Sarah – So sue me if I despise large, ugly, serif fonts. It’s 8pt Arial, but I’ve since increased it to 9pt. That’s the largest I’ll go, because like I said, I hate large text. Personal preference.

Ashley – No, I applied with my previous layout (the night time one) and I don’t plan on reapplying.

Meggan – How presumptuous of you to assume that 1) the school I went to had a shitty graphic design program, and 2) that I know nearly nothing about graphic design. The majority of classes I took, I breezed through because they taught things I already knew from self-teaching or from taking those classes in high school. The problem is, I tend to cut classes like that, because it’s boring to do things you already know and are trivial to you over and over again. So why waste my money? Speak for yourself when you say that you try your best. I don’t doubt that YOU try to give honest and thorough reviews, but Bubs sent me back the list of reviews my site received from perfection and one of the comments was quite literally “Yeah I agree with those people.” Is that an honest and thorough review? I hardly think so.

Um, I didn’t presume either of those things – My poorly expressed point was that there is an awful lot to learn about graphic design and I was surprised that you felt you knew it already. That’s why I said I was curious if maybe the department wasn’t very good – certainly if they are teaching new students things they already know for several semesters, it’s not someplace you want to stick around. I didn’t say it wasn’t good, I said I didn’t know if it was or not.

I’m sorry the quality of the reviews didn’t meet your expectations. And you’re right, I can only speak for myself on the issue of honesty and thoroughness, but I still feel like the general aim of the reviews is to help people better their sites, not to just be a jerk.

I’m not omgbfflz with Bubs, and I was accepted. I also don’t see the point in listing other people’s websites because “they aren’t much to look at.” Maybe that was their point? Rainbows and bubbles and stars aren’t for everyone, a lot of people like simpler looks. Bubs even posted a blog entry stating that she was going on vacation, and trust me, it took us all at least a week to be accepted. I was denied my first try years ago, but I applied again.

I didn’t get bitter over it, I simply did my own thing, and let my abilities progress naturally and re-applied on a whim.

It also isn’t all about validation. Sure, that’s an important aspect to presenting anything on the internet, because you want everyone to be able to use it and for it to function for everyone the same way. But when you apply for Perfection, your setup, organization, visual elements and coding and overall aesthetic feel are all scrutinized. A website could be absolutely gorgeous but be coded like ass, and at the same time a website could be fucking hideous but organized, validated and coded perfectly.

In a word, you weren’t accepted because your website looks like a diaryland layout from 2000. I’m not saying you don’t write great entries or that I don’t like you as a blogger, but that’s just my humble impression. Being bitter doesn’t do anyone much of anything.

I applied as well and I have a feeling I won’t be accepted either. Even though my theme took a month and half to put together. And I tried to get it as valid as I could even with invalid plugin code. I hope you can get in someday. Your site really is awesome enough.

Your text is rather small, and does not look aesthetically pleasing. On the contrary: everything on the sidebar looks very crowded. it needs more breathing space. (Yes, I know you submitted a different layout. This one looks much better, by the way).

Perfection is a semi-elite design gallery, where you need to have exceptionally nice layouts to get accepted. Your current one is not such a layout. Like you mentioned, some sites are rather lacking, but that’s because they’ve been added a long time ago, and rules have been changed since. I heard some talk about removing these.

Anyway, it’s not about being accepted into some clique. I’m on very good terms with a lot of the members, but they rejected me nonetheless. Sure it hurt, sure I ranted for half a century… but let’s face it: my layout was not up to par.

I don’t have anything about you ranting about this, but your reasoning is flawed.

And Bubs will get back to you. She is just very busy. Don’t be so impatient. Two days for an answer is not a lot.

Chiklita and Impish had really pretty layouts when they were voted in. But over the years, a lot of Perfection-ists opt for simpler layouts – me included. So on first glance, yes, it seems unfair but I think Perfection is more about the caliber of the designer – not about one individual layout. I admit I no longer design at my maximum caliber because stuff always got stolen. I’d rather not deal with the drama and design something less original, so to speak.

Instead of bitching about it, it’ll be better to try harder next time like the rest of us. For years I tried to get into New Millennium and couldn’t get in until my site reached a certain level too. It was painful but a good learning experience.

You have a nice layout. The only thing that bugged me was the font on your sidebar. It’s too small on a widescreen Macbook like mine. And if I increased the font size using my browser, it wouldn’t be aligned properly.So, I was stuck with a dilemma – whether to view a misaligned layout or completely ignore the sidebar because I couldn’t read it. On that account, I thought I’d wait till you come up with another layout that doesn’t force me into a dilemma before accepting you.

It’s nothing personal. I think you have a nice site and I’m sure you’re a nice person. But to send your site to a clique means that you consent to others reviewing you – be it a crappy one or a good one.

well they rejected me too haha.. but I don’t put much attention coz it’s not a big deal anyway..

What matters most is the happy feeling when I created the layout, and I did it mostly to please myself, not to impress anyone. If they like it, good then. It’s nice to know if we have people who appreciates our work as much as we enjoyed it. But if they’re not, that’s fine. Design is more like.. personal taste, I think. If someone told you your design sucks, that doesn’t mean your design really does suck. I’m pretty sure not everybody (and perhaps some of the perfection members?) think your design is bad.

I myself think that some of the sites in Perfection are not perfect enough to be listed there. But hey, personal taste hahaha.. Too bad they don’t give us outsiders a chance to give comments/reviews on their own designs lol.

Good luck with your site! I love your header btw.

I was also rejected from Perfection but I knew I would be from the start. After that, I changed some things but it wasn’t because of their “reviews”. Most said stuff like “No” and that’s it. There was no advice or anything to improve it.

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