New look for my portfolio site

[wienerdog]

I'm playing around with giving my portfolio site a new look. I wanted to redesign the front page with a similar concept, but use graphics that look a little more modern, and less cartoony.

Check out www.wienerdoggraphics.com for the current look and please give feedback if you think the style of this for the front page as a better direction for the buttons too.

http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com/logo-new.jpg

[vtwin_gary]

i'm not sure if i like it for a logo better...but i think its a great postcards or ad.

[wienerdog]

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah, sorry, I totally mis-stated that it's a logo. It's not. A logo would be more of a vector graphic. This is really just to give the front of my web page a facelift, and to use it as a brand ID for a postcard. I like the iconic look of the current site, but thought I could do something a little different, more sophisticated (if you can get more sophisticated with a fake package of hot dogs).

I have been trying to play around with colors and effects in Photoshop to give it a more 'labeled' look. I think the "Guaranteed Fresh" could use work. I'm open to any font/technique/color suggestions! I want to redesign the mustard, ketchup, and pickle buttons to match the new 'photo-illustration' style.

I want to do a total redesign of the site, I hate the page that comes up when you click "portfolio". I really want to re-do the design portfolio, and maybe leave the fashion page alone. I will probably eliminate the 'web portfolio' altogether. Any suggestions people have for ideas for the design page will be greatly appreciated.

[keith1]

I like the idea and i think it looks cool however i just thought the slogan "guaranteed fresh" and frozen hot dogs don't go together. Get a steaming hot dog or one with some grill marks or maybe make the front page like a hot dog stand.

[Mynock]

you don't need home on the home splash page do you?

[wienerdog]

The Guaranteed Fresh on a frozen hot dog pack is pretty funny. Maybe I should change that... not that I'm really marketing hot dogs anyway.

Yeah, Mynock, I noticed how incredibly stupid that is. One of MANY reasons this needs to be redesigned. I think I had something different planned for the navigation when I first started this last year, but went in a different direction and didn't fix that.

I'm wondering if I should design this in Flash or Dreamweaver. Having to create slices and link images takes a while, but I guess I could create one jpeg and just create image map links...

I really need to rethink the design portfolio page.

[wienerdog]

Here's a new button for my site! This is rolling by really great! I'm really creatively kicking on this.

http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com/NewDesignFiles/mustard.jpg

[wienerdog]

It's amazing how much you can learn in a year or two. This is my original design from my first attempt at an online porfolio:


http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com/portfolio-logo.jpg

http://www.wienerdoggraphics.com/logo-new.jpg

[Mynock]

are they precooked?

[wienerdog]

Hahahaha - :)

[wienerdog]

So I'm thinking I need to rename my web site, and register a different url.

Wienerdog Graphics, with the hot dog them doesn't make much sense. Wieners are hot dogs, wienerdogs are daschunds. No one refers to a hot dog as a wienerdog.

I wonder how hard it'll be to get my server to change my account to wienergraphics.com instead of wienerdoggraphics.com...

[LLama7]

then again, no one uses gradients, drop shadows, and bevels in a logo either...

[wienerdog]

Why wouldn't they use any of those on logos...? (kidding)

[wienerdog]

Ok, so I updated the front page after listening to some suggestions made. I like the look of it much better now.

www.wienergraphics.com

Now I REALLY need to get to work on my portfolio pages.

[Drorain]

So I'm thinking I need to rename my web site, and register a different url.

Wienerdog Graphics, with the hot dog them doesn't make much sense. Wieners are hot dogs, wienerdogs are daschunds. No one refers to a hot dog as a wienerdog.

I wonder how hard it'll be to get my server to change my account to wienergraphics.com instead of wienerdoggraphics.com...

Hey Wiener I'm glad that you are looking to transition your identity...though maybe you wanna drop that naming convention altogether and come up with something more...corporate? That’s why I developed my branding as PowderKeg Graphic Design...I wanted something that had more 'marketing opportunities.' I started out with the "my last name-graphics.com" and I thought it wasn't very original. (Though I still host from that name...grivakisgraphics.com) I would say brainstorm a name, then develop a vector logo, if you need assistance on brainstorming create a post under general, I'll add some ideas as I'm sure other people will too.

[Dakota1]

Hey dog , I thought I would give you this link just in case you wanted to go on the road. http://www.hotdogcarts.net/

[Kink]

Hey dog , I thought I would give you this link just in case you wanted to go on the road. http://www.hotdogcarts.net/

LOL... Dakota, you crack me up!

PS... Wiener, I'm with drorian on this one!

[Eraser Nubbin]

Love your theme, nothing like mechanically seperated graphic design.

[keith1]

Love your theme, nothing like mechanically seperated graphic design.

LMAO, I always wonder what that means. I picture a robot ripping apart some chickens. ~GROSS~

[cbscreative]

That hot dog carts site just wouldn't be the same without the music. Definitely good for a laugh.

[wienerdog]

You don't think playing off the last name would work?

People who don't know me yet may not know my last name, so I thought it was a funny-enough gimmick to go with it.

I'm kinda tired of the "corporate-name from Thesaurus" design. It's too hard to stand out for me. I think getting a hot dog package on a postcard might be fun.

That hot dog cart site was great. I should contact them about upgrading their site!

[Dakota1]

You don't think playing off the last name would work?


I don't know if it will work or not. One thing is for certain, it made a impact on me. Personally I think you got a great sence of humor and you think outside of the box.

ps. Remember, its a dog eat dog world out there!

[wienerdog]

I've re-thought the front page in relation to my portfolio page, and I think I have a solution. I thought I'd replace the useless, illegible "Nutrition Facts" with links to my portfolio pages. The links will mouse-over to white text to signify buttons. This makes more sense for navigation so that now there isn't another click through to get to a 'front of portfolio' page.

I think I can now eliminate the Mustard, Ketchup, and pickles buttons altogether and use them elsewhere.

What does everyone think?

www.wienergraphics.com/NewFolder/web2.jpg
Mouse-over
www.wienergraphics.com/NewFolder/web2-on.jpg

[reuber1]

I think that the initial links should be a slightly different shade of yellow or something...they fit in too much with the other text. Maybe reversing the order of the mouseover? Like, keep them white to start, and then highlight them with the same yellow. That way you're differentiating the buttons from the rest of the verbiage, and, unless the end-user has a mega-short attention span, they will have already established that it's a rollover when they have the mouse cursor already hovering the text so using the same yellow should be a non-issue.

Like the concept!

If you drop shadowed the package against some sort of background that would make sense (dining table, placemat, etc.) and, what the hell, made this a flash site, I think it would be beyond awesome!

Just my 2% of a dollar.

[Mynock]

update copyright to 2005

[MD]

Much Better! I don't know if I would even use a background, but I like a lot of white space in websites.

[reuber1]

Only use a background if it looks good, otherwise yeah just keep it plain.

[keith1]

Still not feeling the frozen hot dogs, make 'em steaming hot & ready to eat. my .02.

[cbscreative]

I think I would stay with HTML on this one. It is already unique. I agree with the link colors advice. Because of our creative drive, we would all love this in Flash, but the audience (the client or visitor) does not always agree. Flash can put on a great show, but that does not always sell. I am not saying don't use it, just research the issue well and use it only when it serves a legitimate purpose.

[wienerdog]

Guys, I gotta tell ya, you're really helping out a lot. Thanks for the great feedback. It feels good to have some other designers take a look at the design and get some critiques on it. I miss the classroom environment of design.

I will definitely switch up the colors on the links to make them stand out. I have a background in mind, a style like the cliche' red crossover stripe pattern of a picnic table cover. I'll see how it looks, but MD might be right, the white space may be better. This is one of the first times I've designed something clean enough to think some white space around it might look nice.

I have a tendency to throw too much onto a design, and wind up with clutter.

[danedawg99]

I like the front page idea with the roll-overs. but you have different concepts on eac page. It's not real unified. Clever use of the name, too.

[wienerdog]

Every page on my site, other than the front page, needs a total redesign. The other pages were from my old site and needed a face-lift, as well as a reorganization. That's why I'm reworking it.