My portfolio site (a work in progress)

werm82

New Member
Care to take a look at my portfolio site? It is still very much a work in progress. I think it's had three complete overhauls in it's lifetime, which is about three months... Let me know what you all think!

http://craigwermert.com

Thanks in advance!
 

kekoadesign

New Member
First I have to say is I really like your logo/branding mark you have for your site (kinda jealous), very clean yet still has some "pop" to it. As for your overall design it seems like you have two different themes going on. First is your top header with your mark, has a nice gradient to white, web 2.0 style. But then for your content area you have a wood grain texture which doesn't flow with your header at all. And I'm still not sure what the 4 little Ginnie Pigs (sp?) in the far corner has to do with the site, just kinda random. I personally like what you have going on with your header, maybe flow that into your content area. Or if you really like the wood texture maybe have that flow into your header, just stick to one design theme.

Now for your portfolio page first thing you need is some sort of navigation, I know the user can just click back but from a interface design you never want to have that. As for your pieces I would have some sort of explanation or information on what the design is and used for, especially for a graphic designer. Also you image quality is alittle low on all your pieces, this is your life's work you want it to look as good as possible especially if you have potential clients looking at your past work. Hope this helps

Brett
http://www.kekoadesign.com
 
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werm82

New Member
The guinea pigs are my girlfriend's and my pets. Nothing really to do with the site. Maybe they'll become my mascots? You've caused a case of the designer's block for me! Which isn't really a bad thing. I enjoy the challenge. I can't figure out what to change the body background to. Colors wouldn't really go well. I tried the color #646464 to blend with the header shadow. Didn't like the dark look. White is to... white. Sigh... Thanks for the critique!
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
My main criticism is that the sub pages do not match the same theme as the homepage.
 

kekoadesign

New Member
looks like you made some progress on your site, but there is still some much need for improvement. First is you logo type, having your name bled to the edge; this style of design doesn't really work for a logo type, especially if its your name. Even though its still legible, it still looks questionable and that's something you don't for for company name/logo. What happened to your old logo type, thought that was one of the best parts of your old design.

Next is your typography, you need some padding around your text. On my 22inch wide screen monitor it looks all right, but on my 15in secondary monitor your text is bled to the edge and sentences are cut off; and not everyone owns a 22inch wide screen. This is because you need a wrapper/container div for all your content so your design will stay the same on different size monitors. This is a huge accessibility issue in web design, especially with more and more mobile full html browsers like the iPhone. Try a 800x600 layout, this is a good size that will work and look good on most monitors.

Now the positives, I like your color scheme works well and flows all the way from your header to your main content area. Also your navigation has improved over your last design. Now just get some more content and your portfolio up and you will be set. Also might want to add some sort of footer to to complete your design. Hope this helps.

Brett
http://www.kekoadesign.com
 
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ian

Administrator
Staff member
I don't notice any difference from when I last looked at the site.
 

ian

Administrator
Staff member
That would explain why I did not notice the difference. I prefer the old version with the timber flooring background.
 

werm82

New Member
The site is definitely best viewed in Firefox, preferably with 1024x768 resolution. It works in most other browsers as well, except for *cringe* IE6 and below. The links aren't active as of yet. I'd like to finalize a design before I put the whole site live. So stay tuned...
 
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