Portfolio site, please review

[Ovaltine]

Well, I promised to let you all know when I got my new site up and running. So, here it is. http://www.QuiteGraphic.com

Thanks for your help in figuring out the switch menu. It really helped to know what that type of menu was called.

Please let me know what you think of the site.

Thanks, again

[Ovaltine]

I'll check back tomorrow, it's late here.
It took longer to finish the site than I thought.

[Ovaltine]

Feedback? Anyone? Anyone?

"hello in there" *knocks on monitor....hears echo*

[urstwile]

Hmm, well, it's a little bland, Ovaltine. I'm not crazy about just using Times Roman for the page headlines as well as the navigation, it seems like those could be spiced up a bit, and then use the serif font for the body copy.

Also, the line lengths on the body copy seem very long, with not enough leading. I'd reduce the column widths on those, and add some more leading for easier reading.

The other thing that was a little jarring is that the home page has that lovely fine art drawing mixed in with other samples from your portfolio. I realize you're trying to show right off the bat that you have multiple talents, but I think that part could be worked out a bit better.

Also, on the page headlines, I'd remove the commas.

[Ovaltine]

The front page needs work. I do actually like Times though (I know, I'm an oddball).

Which browser are you using? Do you make the window full size, or do you (like me) like to be able to see multiple windows at once? The pages are actually designed so that it scales a bit to accommodate smaller view windows. I'll see about the leading, it may take a while though, there are over 50 pages.

Funny, you like the drawing, that's the piece my husband wants gone.

Thanks.

[urstwile]

I'm using Safari, and yes, at full screen width. I usually use tabbed browsing instead of multiple windows.

[morea]

hmm, the navigation is simple enough, but I'm not a big fan of having to click through the links in the resume... it would be nice to be able to access it with one click, and possibly have a pdf version available for potential employers to download and print.

Neat work in the portfolio, btw. I actually went through some sections a second time by accident, since the last piece takes you back to the first if you follow the arrows. It might be helpful to consider numbering the pieces if you can do it in a nice way... 1/6, 2/6, etc.

A tad bit frustrating, I had to scroll down on almost every page to get to the arrows to toggle through the pieces. Maybe having the arrows at the top of the pieces instead of the bottom would make it more obvious and convenient?

I love the mural you did of the rainforest. Very nice!

For the record, I'm on Maxthon tabbed browser, full screen, on a pc.

[John G]

A bit long winded I suppose but here it goes:

I'd consider making the site inside a container. At the moment it scales to the width of your screen size. Which is fine if you browse at 800x600 (what I think it seems to look best at), but at 1600x1200 the text scales so much that it's daunting to read (not enough breathing) and spacing between objects seems very od.

/agree on the resume just with one click and I know the information + download rich pdf link or something + portfolio numbering”

For the portfolio I'd list the Section you'r in first. Right now for example in lable design it says "Paint Label," then "label design". I think it makes more sense with the hierarchy that you've established that, especially since I have to know what section I'm in before I can use the navigation on the left to go to a different section, the current section you are in should be listed first, then the object you are currently looking at (I'd actually like to see those two headings given more spacing to further seperate them a bit or "Label design: paint lable" could read more like the directory structure you've established and be a good alternative).

On further review, I've noticed a lot of the headings & catagory designators don't seem consistent, some don't even list what section you're in, but some other sub catagory (or further description of the catagory?) or the like that I don't see mirrored on the navigation panel.

Another thing (well things actually), definately my preference, but I think it applies to a lot of portfolio site (hey I want to look at the goods first, and if it interests me then I'll read about it): Tell me what I'm looking at show me it, then tell me the details (remember attention span not information is now the most valuable commodity). IE, something like "stationary", doesn't really tell me much, heck “Graduation Invitations” tells me more. If things don’t fit together maybe they need a separate entry or a rethink on their placement in that section of the portfolio =\ Also, some of the pieces have links to the outside world, I’d give them their own link lable at the bottom of the section like “This piece was submitted to the blah blah company for this event” click here to visit their site” or something (I’d separate it from your description though) but I would make it part of the heading of the piece like it is now.

All around the site, I’d also try and be a bit more… “sophisticated” with wording on your descriptions and dialog. IE “Use foil stamping to add glitz.” = “Instigated a tasteful use of foil stamping to add variety and visual drama to the piece”
That was a little over the top, but something like that. Make it easy to read of course, but don’t dumb it down, you should make yourself look sophisticated, educated, and by god, worth gold to your prospective employer.

Bio page seems, missing btw.

I could go into the site structure if you’d like, there are definitely some cleaner ways of doing such a large site now (for future reference at least).

[Ovaltine]

Thanks for all the input, I'll definately try implementing several of Morea's and John's suggestions, though it may take quite a while (since I only work on the site off and on) and I feel rather clumsy at web design.

As to the structure of the site, any help looking through the code, or whatever, would be appreciated. When I concepted the site, I wanted only specific cells to change out when the links were clicked, not the whole page. But I couldn't figure out how to accomplish that, and in the interest of getting the new site up (because even with its problems it's a hundred times better than the old one) I made seperate pages for each item (over 50 total).

It aggravates me that the menu closes every time you go to a new page, but I don't know how to specify that it stay open while you're in that section.

The whole thing was built in GoLive, and it's a tabled setup obviously. I agree that there's a certain size it works best at, but I would like it to be able to center in larger formats, and "scale down" from there so that if someone is viewing it in a smaller window, they still don't need to scroll across. How would I accomplish this?

I like the idea of moving the button links to the top of the picts, and numbering the pictures (though depending on which page you enter a section from your "start" image will be different)

Morea, in the resume section, on the Employment page, is the scrolling part ok? I did that so viewers wouldn't "lose" sight of the menu buttons, but when I view it on my browser it defaults the text to times when I wanted it to be Veranda (though in Safari it's correct). Maybe I could do the whole resume in a scrollable cell, so there's only 1 page for it? Along with a downloadable pdf.

Again, thanks for your help.
I tried to check this post yesterday, but our internet connection was down. Glad to be back online :)

[Ovaltine]

Ok, I've made several changes, though not all the suggestions.

The Header text is now consistant throughout, and tells you which page you're on.

The arrows (in the Fine Art and Graphic Design sections) are at the top of the picts and both are on the left (so they don't move when you switch picts)

The picts are numbered, although you don't always start at "1".

The Resume section has been pared down to 4 pages which are hopefully simpler to navigate now.

There's also a Downloadable PDF version of the resume, please let me know if this works, it might not in Safari, I'll have to check from work.

And I changed most of the text to the Veranda/Arial/SanSerif font option.

[morea]

Morea, in the resume section, on the Employment page, is the scrolling part ok? I did that so viewers wouldn't "lose" sight of the menu buttons, but when I view it on my browser it defaults the text to times when I wanted it to be Veranda (though in Safari it's correct). Maybe I could do the whole resume in a scrollable cell, so there's only 1 page for it? Along with a downloadable pdf.


by the time I scroll down to the freelance info, the buttons are out of sight... but that's not really a big deal to me.

The "skills" section seems a little bulky for the general reader. In my opinion (whatever that's worth, lol) the tone of the descriptions is a little too casual. Of course, I suppose that depends on whether you are targeting employers or potential clients with the site. I don't know if many clients would take the time to read through that, though... the descriptions are long enough to be a tad bit overwhelming.

There are some awkward line breaks in that section, too... under "color correction" there is a break after "of course" and under "website maintenance" there is a break after "DecoArt websites". (PC, Maxthon browser version 1.5.9)

It feels a little awkward having the "long" page for the resume, then the slightly shorter page for skills, and then the shorter page for competitions, etc. I wonder if combining that awards page with the skills page would even things out. Then again, I'm not completely convinced that it matters.

I use a tabbed browser and am frequently distracted by other things... and when I got called away a moment ago, I was not sure which tab I was viewing your site in. The title of the page is simply "Home". I think it might be helpful to at least include your business name in the title of the page for multitaskers. ;)

One final note: your resume is named "DesignedResume.pdf" - now if I, as a potential employer, download that file, I probably have an awful lot of resume files. It's generally a good idea to use a file name that will help the employer to find yours at a glance. Whether you stick to your business name, or your personal name, it's a good idea to name it so your viewers can find it easily later on.

Hope that helps some.

[urstwile]

The PDF works in Safari (what I'm using). As a general rule, I avoid clicking on PDF's to view in my browser, they take so long to come up, but it's good to have it there, I think. Since you have the same content viewable in HTML, it's nice to have the option.

I still feel like you need to work with the line lengths on the body copy, maybe follow John G's suggestion on how to make that work. I generally view most sites full screen. I suspect that in this era of tabbed browsing, many will view the site that way, and at full screen on my monitor, the line lengths are just way too wide and hard to read. Plus, the portfolio images are oddly aligned to the copy, in my opinion, this is no doubt a part of that wide screen view. I don't think I'm atypical in viewing most websites at my full screen width.

[ronaldesign]

To sore... maybe this will give you a refreshening idea
www.mariobelem.com (http://www.mariobelem.com)

[Ovaltine]

Thanks for all the input, I think I'll tackle it again another day. Web design is not really my strong suit, and working on it this long makes me tired.

I'm going to try to fix the text width issues. Whether anyone reads all the text or not, doesn't bother me, I just added it in case some wanted to. When I go to a site, I rarely read much, but it aggravates me if I do find something of interst and then there's no more information with it.
Yes, the picts do position wierd because of the full screen viewing.
I'll try to name my pages, too, for all you crazy tabbed users ;) (Personally, I feel clostrophobic when my screen is full of 1 program, and I can't see multiple windows open- I also prefer 2 monitors, but hey)
Thanks for the tip about the PDF name too.

Ronaldesign, I love the art on that site, but I don't like having to scroll at all, much less that much. I think I got one third of the way down and came back here.

I guess, I'm passively looking for work, not like the panicked situation I was last year. I just don't want to be completely caught off guard if (God forbid) they decide to downsize again. This is a good start for now.

Thanks again

[ronaldesign]

Ronaldesign, I love the art on that site, but I don't like having to scroll at all, much less that much. I think I got one third of the way down and came back here.

[/quote]

well I think thats the point though.. when i open that web, i'm amaze by its artwork.. so scrolling down that long wont stop me to keep on scrolling, rignt? well you know how much is sucks to scroll that long and keep refreshing the page if a picture wont show up....

My point is, Why dont you create your own masterpiece artwork just to be the front page of your web.. cuz thats the main point, get people interested of your work..

well in your frontpage you've allready put some off your works,you've got serious tallent in packaging and illustration, i mean it;) .. but i think people wont be able to see the details of your work if you put it alltogether like that...dont you think?

Well like i said before, get people's interest first, then people wont mind scrolling down (like mariobelem.com) just to see your artwork, just to fullfilled their curriosity about you....

That's only my opinions and sorry if some of my words offended you...
well crittics makes perfect right??:D