Board Name: i2eye Fan Fiction
Board URL: http://www.i2eyeFanFiction.net
Board Description: i2eye Fan Fiction is a small but friendly site dedicated primarily to Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye fan fiction, along with DOC and Robin Hood (with the possibility of others being added in the future). We offer Holiday/Seasonal writing challenges that are fun for both our readers and writers.
Specific things you would like a comment on (optional):

Strengths

• Fishbowl effect in banner design is very interesting and compelling. Submenu is simple and attractive.
• Various announcements and displays give an impression that stuff is happening in the community.
• Forums reflect the theme well, and you have some interesting side-themed forums such as Charities, which is unexpected.
• Good posting participation from members.

Weaknesses

• "Cool" topic marker animation is problematic...too fast and too flashy for long term viewing. If you intend to keep it, tell your members they can stop the animation by pressing the "Escape" key. They'll thank you for it.
• There is extreme contrast between the blackish maintitles and borders and the white background to the forum table. Softening the white to something a bit grayer would be easier on the eyes. You want people to spend time at your site and if it is visually tiring, people will naturally move on quicker.
• The graphics, while having good color blends, do not all match in style. For instance, the birthday marker is a different style than the other stat icons, the topic markers are all different sizes and styles. Gives a cobbled-together look to the site, which often happens when you use a lot of clip art and images from different sources.

Recommendations

• Take a fresh look at both your auxilliary graphics and the overall effect of the skin colors and adjust both to increase the sophistication of the board appearance.
• The above-board announcements area could be streamlined and compacted for a better effect. In the current state, the forums are not visible to anyone clicking in...you have to scroll down to see the first one. Not everyone will make the effort.
• The large listing of required graphic advertisements at the bottom of the page could be moved to the Affiliate box on the portal page which would help tidy up your index page.