.::Pro Designer With 5 Years Experience::.-seeking feedback

[awd]

Hello guys,

I would like some feedback regarding my designs & my design skill.I'm looking for something like...what you like/don't like about a design?,which one do you like best & why?what do you think i need to improve on?

Please don't hold on the crit. part since I really want to improve my skills.

Here's my portfolio:http://www.behance.net/a-max

Looking forward to your criticism!

Thank you,
awd

[WannaBrie]

Why does this page have a bunch of jacked istock photos on it?

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Escort-Friends-Website-design/286682

[Audentia]

Are any of these actual client sites or just things you did in your own time?
If they are client sites... why not a link to the working site?

[CMYK girl]

I think it would be easier to crit one or two samples. this is a lot to look through and it's too hard to read through it all. Would like to know if it is just for practice or real clients like stated above.

[Typically]

.::Pro Designer With 5 Years Experience::.-seeking feedback
i think it's real world experience

[Audentia]

i think it's real world experience

I'm not convinced... Not a single one of those websites hits on a google search under the company name... not one...

[Typically]

don't take my word for it. just going with what i've got :D

[literally]

I searched for the site Wannabrie posted and it came up as a 99design contest, so I'm with Audentia.

[mlmcasual]

Hi,

These appear to be all mockups in Photoshop not actual sites.. (Latin text placeholder, no google results, and ripped photos). Also im guessing this because they all look VERY PS lush PS native. (blends,grads etc) and I don't see panels as much as I see layered photoshop blends.

If that is true, and they are photoshop mockups Im just curious, can they really be critiqued effectiviely? Isn't it a difference between an all photoshop mockup and an actual working site? I'm just asking. In either event, they all are very photoshop native lush, and I would be curious to what others take here on that is.

[tZ]

Hi,

These appear to be all mockups in Photoshop not actual sites.. (Latin text placeholder, no google results, and ripped photos). Also im guessing this because they all look VERY PS lush PS native. (blends,grads etc)..

If that is true, and they are photoshop mockups Im just curious, can they really be critiqued effectiviely? Isn't it a difference between an all photoshop mockup and an actual working site? I'm just asking.

Not true, they can be separate jobs and most the time are. A designer who creates the some mock-ups for core/specific pages then a front developer that implements them into the CMS modifying/writting HTML/PHP/ASP as necessary alongside CSS. The front developer needs to understand design to some extent to create consistency, but they may not necessarily be responsible for "base" look or master template so to speak.

[awd]

Hey guys,

Yeah you're right these are all mockups for different contest I've entered recently to rebuild my portfolio to show my current skills since I was "out of the game" for a while and my other online websites weren't showing my real skills anymore so sorry for not mentioning this in the original post.So they might have latin text,istockphoto watermarks & so on.What i wanted to achieve by this thread is to obtain some feedback regarding my skills as a designer,am i talented or not?what you think i need to work on?what design do you like best from all of them?,etc.Sorry again for not beeing clear and for not mentioning all the details in the original post.

Looking forward to your replies & thank you for the crits,
AWD

[mlmcasual]

TZ,

I know they can be seperate jobs but can a front developer work based off an all photoshop native mockup? Or are mockups normally handled in fireworks or indy before doing web development. I don't know and just asking. Also I am making an assumption this is PS native here. Are these all native PS awd?

[awd]

Yeah all the designs are PSD native and yes a front developer can work on a PS mockup.I've also want to mention that some of the designs in my portfolio will be online by the beginning of September(campaignsdirect,shake&dans,etc) so there are a few contests I've won just that the websites aren't online yet since they are in the coding phase.Also please keep in consideration that all my portfolio was rebuild starting July 24th so these are preatty new designs so that's why they are still in the coding phase.

Thanks,
awd

[tZ]

TZ,

I know they can be seperate jobs but can a front developer work based off an all photoshop native mockup? Or are mockups normally handled in fireworks or indy before doing web development. I don't know and just asking. Also I am making an assumption this is PS native here. Are these all native PS awd?

Any image file would do so its 72dpi actual size. You wouldn't create a web site mock-up in InDesign though. Someone who hands off a InDesign file as a web mockup is someone who doesn't have a clue.

[kevincdg]

Any image file would do so its 72dpi actual size. You wouldn't create a web site mock-up in InDesign though. Someone who hands off a InDesign file as a web mockup is someone who doesn't have a clue.

this is true. at my old job, they tried to get out veteran do some web design and she'd pass on indesign files for me to code. it was somewhat of a pain.

but to answer your question, fireworks isn't used as much as it should be i don't think. it's a great concept, combining all the web tools in with the simple ability of manipulating shapes and things photoshop can't do, but it hasn't been adopted widespread or really given the attention it deserves to take over photoshop as the design program.

but yea, to effectively code a website, all a front end developer would need is access to the photoshop file. they'd be responsible for creating all the repeating background elements and slicing it correctly imo. (**edit, hence why it is effective if the coder knows design)

[Audentia]

Yeah all the designs are PSD native and yes a front developer can work on a PS mockup.I've also want to mention that some of the designs in my portfolio will be online by the beginning of September(campaignsdirect,shake&dans,etc) so there are a few contests I've won just that the websites aren't online yet since they are in the coding phase.Also please keep in consideration that all my portfolio was rebuild starting July 24th so these are preatty new designs so that's why they are still in the coding phase.

Thanks,
awd

Are any of them paid work?
You might want to indicate for each design what it was designed for... that way people know if it was a contest, paying client or just a mock-up that you did to show what you can do. I think this is important so people know where your portfolio has come from.

[awd]

Thanks for the suggestion Audentia will update the portfolio with that info soon.