Home of Poi: Improve your website (have it reviewed)

Akgraphics: To be quite honest I disagree with you. It's true you don't have to be a professional to make a site and even a site that is slick. But by the same token you don't have to be an artist to paint a pretty picture and you don't have to be a poi spinner to spin a ball around your head. Just because you can, doesn't mean its the same quality as someone who does it for a living. I don't mean this as a critisizm just a statement of fact.

I used to do web design for a living and let me tell you, when I got into it i thought it'd be a breeze. Web sites are cake to make. The difference is DESIGN is not cake. When it comes to design a professional is going to have so many more tips and tricks, so much more experience, and many more resources at their disposal that will help the little things that the average user wouldn't think about in the first place. here's some thoughts on your site, and please don't think i'm attacking you or anything, this is just from an actual designers point of view:

You have to code for the lowest common denominator, this is a sad fact of the internet. You'd be surprised how many people still have 640x480 resolution (ugh). To this end, the header pictures on your page are WAY to big. They are pretty surely, but to large functionally. The ones on your safety and FAQ pages are much more along the right lines. Why? because if you have a smaller screen that image IS the whole screen just about. The exception being your "what we do" page, because you have text in the picture. That being said... text in the picture isn't consistant with the rest of your site. Also, header images should all be the same size. Final reason for not having large pics like that: people with slow connections...

Users don't like to scroll... people are lazy... having the screen monopolized by a huge image is a pain honestly. When users have to scroll, they don't want to have to scroll much. I'd recommend adding a navigation bar at the very bottom of the pages just above your footer image (smaller font of course). This makes the page nicer to navigate and requires less scrolling.

Gallery... oye EVERYONE messes up a gallery. I know you used a template so it's not your fault but a Pro gallery will be integrated into the page, match the feel of the site, and like bovril said, not require extra clicks.

Artwork: your header pics could do with a bit of photoshopping for levels and of course cropping. Header images are for page introductions, not selling products... that's what the body of the page is for.

Overall design. The stark white background contrasts sharply with the headers and such. this does give it a "clean" mac type look but is that really the look you want for a fire troupe? Fire is about dark, mystery, trails, warmth, and intrigue. It's not about a bleached countertop which is kinda what the white reminds me of for some reason. I can NOT stress enough how the subconscious impression a person gets from your site will affect their thoughts about it and the likelyhood they purchase your product (your show). They need to feel like they are getting a taste of what they will pay for. I'd go with a darker (doesn't have to be BLACK, just darker) scheme for effect. Another reason for a darker scheme, it'll make the page seem fuller. For those with larger monitors and resolutions, pages that are a single column with a bunch of space on the sides are uninteresting. Did you know that the average user takes less than 4 seconds to decide if they are going to dive deeper into a site? Nearly all of that is based off the initial impression. Here's a tip I give people, look at a page, squint/blur your eyes, FEEL the shape of the design and see if it still is attractive to you.

There's other stuff I could throw in here but those are the main points. Again I'm not picking on you, your site just happens the be the one I clicked on first lol. This is all just constructive feedback from someone who did it as a job for quite a few years. Goodluck!

--------------------
I once learned every move that there was,
Every style, Every technique.
Then I woke up, and forgot it all,
So now I struggle to dream.