A glimpse of things to come...

Peering into my crystal ball, I forsee... Ah forget it, I'll just tell you.

Remember that redesign I was thinking about? (If you don't, it's okay.) Well, it's finally gone beyond the "talk" to "do". Behold:

http://www.thornvalley.com/v4-test/inside-mockup3.jpg[" alt=""/img]

It's not finished yet (I'm not completely satisfied with the navigation as it stands right now, in particular), but I think it's close enough to get some feedback on it.

So, thoughts? Opinions? Let me know!

Oh, and before anyone asks, the text is supposed to be some sort of latin. It's a tradition to use nonsense text as a placeholder in design so that you look at the layout instead of paying attention to the words. I don't think it works very well, because inevitably the first question anyone asks is "Why is the text in that funny language?" Oh, well... can't argue with tradition...

(Update: Posted a slightly new version with the navigation closer to what I expect the final version to be)

The design is very good.
Putting the buttons at the left border to display text more central on the page and sorting the buttons in descending order of importance (at least for someone who is familiar with the site) is a good idea.
The picture in the lower left corner is a good counterbalance for the text around it.
The text colors fit very well with the background, except for the darkened red, which is difficult to read.

nothing but awsome can describe it simon bottons on the side are a perfect touch. i especialy like the design.