Site critique please

[Remitrom]

I launched the newest version of my tutorial site and was hoping for some comments, good or bad. Thanks for your time.

site url: http://www.empiredezign.com/

Take care,
Jason

[deity999]

Looks nice buddy! what did you use to create? Adobe CS3 suite?

[Remitrom]

The header/scenes and footer/scene and everything in between were created in Photoshop cs2. Thanks for the comment by the way. :)

Jason

[shalom_m]

Looks Great!!!

My only question is why is the CSS embedded and not linked.

[SurfPark]

Love the design, but from a marketing standpoint, I'm a little bit alarmed over your tagline "Deserted and left for dead." I read your explaination as to how that's an internal feeling you're trying to express, but I don't know if that's a good tagline to help your site. It implies to the readers that they will be deserted and left for dead if they do business with you. It such a somber message. I think your content deserves to be shown in a most fun an energetic light than you're painting it.

[Remitrom]

Actually I work at Kmart and don't plan on doing any business in design. It's just for fun. I did try to get a full time job with design but it seems you need a degree to be any good at it and I just can't afford that. Thank you though SurfPark. :)

Jason

[selenemoon1022]

Actually I work at Kmart and don't plan on doing any business in design. It's just for fun. I did try to get a full time job with design but it seems you need a degree to be any good at it and I just can't afford that. Thank you though SurfPark. :)

Jason

Good lord, if the skills you have don't get you working in design, I may as well just pack it in now.......:( I think you are not giving yourself enough credit.:)

[Remitrom]

Thanks for all the comments. It is very much appreciated. :)

Jason

[WannaBrie]

Remitrom, its not true that you need a degree, it just helps. But I have to ask, with as much natural talent as you have, do you really prefer working at Kmart? There is a lot of financial assistance out there if you are willing to look for it. Your work is good. I think you're cheating yourself to settle for a job at Kmart. Just my 2.

[Remitrom]

Hello WannaBrie, I actually am way in debt (barely getting by) and tried for the assistance. I also made a 40 page wirebound booklet which housed my best work...spent about eight months on this book. It was pristine as I was told. This was one of the pieces I used to get a job in design. I also won national awards for my work but still did not get these jobs. I do not prefer working at Kmart but right now that is all that I have. My options are few. It is easy work however. I worked in a plastic factory for almost ten years and prefer Kmart over that though. Maybe someday I can get the degree, but not right now. Some of my work will soon be published in a magazine so maybe that will help. Thanks!

Jason

[fatherlyy]

thx

[WannaBrie]

^? Random much?

[katgal]

I think the clouds are distracting. They dont' look real. I'd ad a few ominous black clouds off in the distance, but do away with those wispy white ones.

[nicholaspaul]

I think you need to market yourself carefully. Obviously, you have a fairly dark style which isn't going to work well if you wanted to present yourself as a design company or freelancer trying to appeal to a wide audience. I can see you working for a game company, designing covers.
Decide who you want to work for and go after them. Find out what they want, build a portfolio, find the name of the person who will see it and go after them.
And then do it again.
And when you're done, do it again.
You really are playing a numbers game, so if you get replies from 10 out of 100 applications, you're doing well. And if you get to meet 3 out of those 10 you're doing well.
Good luck (no, I take that back, luck has nothing to do with it, just hard work :) )

[Remitrom]

Nicholas,

Are you saying I'm a long ways away from getting a job in design? I guess I'm not real sure what it is that you are saying. Is my work good or no? Thanks for your time.

Jason

[Remitrom]

What I guess I am saying or asking is, I already have a portfolio. Are you saying I need to make a new one. What exactly do you recommend because I would like to get out of Kmart eventually. Thanks again.

Jason

[nicholaspaul]

No, you're not necessarily a long way off, but be prepared for a long fight. I'm not sure that your work suits the general populace, but rather than trying to be all things to all men, you would probably do well in applying your abilities and tastes to a specific market. Find out what that market is and go after it like crazy!
Sure, you may land your dream job after one phone call, but that isn't likely! Not impossible, just unrealistic.
Be focused, be specific and keep at it. It's like that annoying kid in school who prodded your arm with his finger, over and over. At first it doesn't hurt, then after a while you get a bruise.

[nicholaspaul]

So, lets say you want to design game covers. Design game covers! Make a portfolio of game covers, and talk to game companies. Don't build ecommerce websites or design business cards for knitting instructors! Go after the people who need your work.

[Remitrom]

So you have looked at my work and decided I need to still work harder at my style or whatever it is that I am good at? At this stage of the game I am not real sure I guess. I love Photoshop and am really good at that but that's about it Im afraid. hmmm. Maybe Kmart is the right place for me. Oh well. I work with good people there, so I guess I'm good. Thanks man for the help. :)

take care,
Jason

[Remitrom]

Nicholas,

If you can lead me in the right direction and over time get me that dream job I would be eternally greatful. Tell me exactly what to do and I will do it. I have been working at this for a long time and there are bruises and even scars. I work alone here. I don't have a team of photoshoppers showing me the way or friends that I get with for this type of thing. I am self taught, but am serious about design/photoshop. Pathetic I'm sure, but I need direction. If you think I have even a slight chance or am any good at this at all please give me that direction. Be frank and brutal if you must. Thanks!!!

Jason

[Remitrom]

P.S. I guess I'm not sure who needs my work.

Jason

[shalom_m]

Jason,

On the subject of self taught.

Usually people who are self-taught have learned the subject because they want to know. In some cases, people who have studied a subject formally learn to pass an exam.
Auto-deducts have had enough drive to search for the knowledge they are seeking as opposed to those who have the contend regurgitated for them.

On the subject of design.

Design is made of the following elements:


Knowledge
Technique
Rules
Practice
Talent As you can see, 4 out of the 5 components can be acquired.

Talent however is a gift. You either have it or you don’t.


It is this gift that:

Lets you bend, ignore and break the rules,
Harmonize between diverse morsels of acquired learning,
And allows you to create new techniques.
No – you still need practice!!!
Give me a talented auto-deduct any time!

[shalom_m]

Your Kmart job may not be such a bad idea, it all depends where you want to go from there.

In the late 60's, early 70's I had a good friend, who shall be un-named, who was an upcoming young artist. To keep body and soul together he churned out paintings, sketches and lythos and sold them through friends, family and small galleries. I too bought some of his work. His talent finally got noticed and he managed to obtain a grant to live and study in Paris.


Over the years I heard from family and friends that he completed his studies successfully and was doing well.


On a trip to France a few years later, I decided to give him a call one evening. His wife answered the phone and informed me that he was at night-school.

"Teaching?" I asked.

"No – learning!" she replied.
"What is he studying now?" – expecting an answer something like Early Japanese Calligraphy or The Influence of French Impressionists on …..
The answer I got was: "He is learning to be a plumber"

The next day we met and I carefully asked him how his art career and the plumbing.


His answer gave me an unprecedented insight into the soul of a true artist.


"When I was home and painting for a living, I was just an artistic w-h-o-r-e. I made pictures to sell, drawings to fit between the mantelpiece and the ceiling, sketches that blend in well with the wallpaper. Now that I know what art is all about, I aspire to be hung in museums. For this I need time and money. As a plumber I can generate enough of both to realize my ambition."

Some 30 years later; he has achieved his goal. His works are on the walls of some of the major museums – and some of his early work still hangs in my living room (whitewashed walls if you please!).

[nicholaspaul]

Jason,
On the subject of self taught.
Usually people who are self-taught have learned the subject because they want to know. In some cases, people who have studied a subject formally learn to pass an exam.
Auto-deducts have had enough drive to search for the knowledge they are seeking as opposed to those who have the contend regurgitated for them.


Rubbish.
Either you went to a bad school, or none at all. OR a very good school with some bad students. Anyway, being formally educated does not mean you lack a desire to know or the drive to search for knowledge. Nobody at any of my alma maters fit this description.
Art and design cannot be spoonfed nor reduced to a set of rules that can be regurgitated at will.
And no matter where you learn, art directors will ALWAYS look at your portfolio first: education is normally the subject of idle chatter.

While studying design I learned a lot of shortcuts from the 'real world' that I probably wouldn't have found any other way. If you're not going to be in formal education, you will need a mentor, or many mentors, who will teach you what businesses and art directors are looking for. If a business professional doesn't tell you what they are thinking, you'll never guess by becoming the top poster on Deviant Art.
Besides - once you graduate, the learning has only just begun. Being self employed I have to drive myself to learn new skills, software and techniques. While I learned an enormous amount during my seven years of college, which would have taken me a lot longer on my own, I have learned an enormous amount on my own.

Design is all about the portfolio - education is all about the business of the portfolio.

[shalom_m]

Rubbish.

With the exception of you reading into my text things I did not write, the rest of your post proves my point.

[nicholaspaul]

Actually, shalom, I totally disagree with what you said and confirmed nothing. I merely said that -
"While I learned an enormous amount during my seven years of college, which would have taken me a lot longer on my own, I have learned an enormous amount on my own."
To suggest that formal education is sought by "those who have the contend regurgitated for them" undermines colleges and universities, and belittles degrees and diplomas won by everyone on this forum. I just wanted to set a record straight when outlandish statements are made.
Besides, graduates from reputable colleges rarely argue that they wasted their time.

Remitrom, your decision to get a diploma at a reputable college is up to you and will definitely give you more credibility in the boardroom, ALONG WITH a great portfolio.