http://www.cliftonwebdesign.co.uk/portfolio-web-design.htm
From the beginning I think that it is very obvious that this portfolio is supposed to not over power the work as it is very simple and plain. I’m sure that a company like this has created hundreds if no thousands of websites so what they have tried to do is pick only the best 6 and the ones of the highest profile and only display them, which is something that I am also looking to do in my own portfolio.
Its simplicity is also very appealing to me because not only does it allow your work to speak for itself but also provides a user friendly environment that is easy to navigate and understand.
Each of the websites that they have designed has a small preview, a description of the project and then is finally linked to the live website. All three of these are something that I must also consider when designing my own portfolio.
There is a small section outlining some of the current clients that the company are working with, but seen as none of them are links to anything and don’t go into any kind of depth about the project then it seems just a bit pointless.
Overall the portfolio part of the site is I believe a success and the only thing letting it down it the lack of more examples of work. Only six examples seem to be somewhat too little for what seems to be a fairly large company. Its also reassuring to see that the page is actually valid which make a change from most design companies.
http://www.matt-gibson.co.uk
This website on the other hand is the complete opposite. The designer has opted to make the portfolio itself a design task and has made it very flashy and arty. This approach still works but in a different way, what he has done here is actually distracted the users from being able to easily view his pieces of work that they have came on the site to view in the first place.
The designer has also split his work into five different categories which is helpful for the potential employer to differentiate some of the pieces in order to find what they are actually looking for.
Dark blue text on a black background also was not the wisest choice and it proves extremely difficult to read at times. Also when you hover over the thumbnails they turn black and white which I can’t really understand because the whole point of a mouse over is that it makes the selected item stand out even more from the rest and not make it even harder to see.
Something else that I found strange is that there are actually three menus on each page and all three are the same, two at the top and one at the bottom of the page.
Overall this is not a particularly bad site even though it does have many flaws, the designer has opted to almost try and make the site itself a piece of art but has somewhat failed in my opinion, simplicity I believe is the way forward.
This page is also not Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
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5 comments:
I think that the professional example isn't a good design for a page as the examples are displayed within a page of text. It would have been much more effective, I think, to have presented them as a gallery with no text.
For me it will be difficult to decide between providing information about the designs or making the site looks slick.
I think that it may be effective to provide the designs in a gallery. The first thing I look for however is the actual URL of the site so I can have a look around and get a feel for the site rather than a screen design. I think that they have highlighted this quite well in their site by giving the URLs a different colour and style.
I wouldn't say the site 'looking slick' is really a big issue. I think the biggest issue is to make it usable and clean. Or you could go in the other direction and create a design portfolio that's completely different to everybody else's out there, but I personally prefer the clean and functional approach.
I agree with Craig... I think functionality comes before the look although it should also look like some though has gone into it.
Hi Mirhad,
I'm Matt, creator/owner of one of the sites you critiqued (matt-gibson.co.uk).
Firstly, thanks for your critique, constructive criticism and feedback is critical for any designer so I will be taking your comments into consideration.
The site was originally designed and coded in 1 weekend last year when I wanted to send my CV off to employers while I was very much busy with dissertations and final year projects. However, that said I will try address some of the points:
1. flashy/arty to the point of distraction - the whole purpose of a personal portfolio (as opposed to a commercial one) is to impress employers. Therefore, one of the best ways to show off your design skills is to make the actual design of your portfolio stand out and be visually powerful (not that I think my design particularly achieved this).
However as a senior designer at an agency where we get sent many CVs and portfolios every week I can tell you that having a powerful, stand out design for your portfolio will immediately make employers sit up and take notice. Of course it is possible to create designs which are minimalist which work brilliantly and are visually incredibly powerful, but you have to find a balance between this simplicity and something which is going to make you as a designer stand out from the crowd to employers who are inundated with portfolios.
2. dark blue text for links - I appreciate your comment here and its something I'll look at fixing when I finish my wordpress blog integration
3. The image rollover - This is merely to immediately show the user that the image is a link and is to be clicked. However, as you say something which potentially makes the link lighter/stand out more may work better here.
4. valid XHTML - thanks for pointing this out, I recently programmed and implemented a CMS for the website to make updating a less laborious task, which has resulted in some coding errors. But this should be fixed now.
5. No. of items in gallery - I think somebody pointed out that there is too much here. Fair point, having photography as well as 3d as well as web design might be a bit much. However, in terms of actual content, there is a lot of freelance and professional work that I've decided not to or haven't been able to add so for me the portfolio is already quite minimalist. Plus again, from my experience on the other side of things now, employers do want to be able to see that you have different skills, whether you have a dynamic php development or an interactive flash interface to show off. Although of course, as with my portfolio, the danger here is to seem like too much of a jack of all trades rather than a master of one which can actually work against you.
Anyway, apologies for the mini-essay, hope some of my comments (points 1 & 5) help the development of your portfolio and good luck with the course. Its good to see that your tutors are encouraging you to use blogging as tool for recording your progress whilst obtaining group feedback. It is also good that they are obviously teaching you the basics of project management and planning which will stand you in good stead in your professional lives.
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