I think it is too much. You have gone from a simple, elegant layout that was easy to navigate and understand to one that is overwhelming. My opinion is that you are headed backwards.
For more technical critique, there really isn't any heirarchy. My eyes are flying all over the place looking at this. You need to walk your viewer through the page.
Also, try to pay attention to the way your elements line up. You are flush on the left side and ragged on the right.
mbennett's right. you're cramming 2-3 pages of stuff on one page. it's one thing to have a portfolio sample thumbnail or two on your home page, it's another to have a full portfolio "below the fold" on the home page. your home page should end at the orange bar.
the portfolio section at the bottom feels very cluttered and disorganized. even if it was on its own page, the changes in sizes confuse me a bit. is there a point to having them at different sizes or was it to have some variety on the page? i'm trying to figure out why some of them are bigger than others, and i'm not sure that's what you want your user to do. a simpler structure with a little more white space between the pieces would be easier on the eye.
i think i'd suggest some space between portfolio pieces at the top, too. or if that's one piece of an opened brochure, i think i'd crop it differently. it's hard to tell if that's 1 or 2 pieces. plus i don't think that it's your best work, so i'm not sure i'd make that your featured project, but that's a different issue.
Cheers for your comments guys but im going with this. Its still very early on but the different sizes represent the most important work. I thought that was obvious.
The work is just for illustrative purposes - i dont care what work im gonna include at this point.
In terms of design - im not going for elegance because that really isn't me haha.
It will improve as I develop it.
i would probably highlight more important work at the top. instead of using size for hierarchy, use location (or both). putting the object that far down your page (even on my 20" monitor, i have to scroll to get there at full size) eliminates most of the importance you gave it with size. anything that far down is the equivalent of "below the fold" on a newspaper.
well, i would say because your portfolio is to show what you have done. something akin to a "services" or "about" page would talk about what you "can" do. leave the portfolio page for what you "have" done.
more importantly, it's cluttering up your portfolio and pushing the images of your work down so people have to scroll to see them. i think it's better to have the portfolio by itself and your services on a separate page.
look around at other portfolio pages. you won't find many (any?) that take up 200 pixels in the middle of their portfolio page to talk about their services.
you can blow it off if you want, but years of user testing shows that really long pages where users have to scroll a lot will turn people off (i'm guessing you don't want to do that).
Dude, what happened? You had a really, really nice design that I was frankly quite jealous of, and you turned it into a convoluted mess.
This is definitely a step backward. Not to mention, gwells is right. Placement is just as much or more a part of hierarchy as size. A lot less people will ever see things that are below the fold, and the "What we can do for you" is just wasting the space where your best works should go.
Maybe as a sidebar, but your work needs to be the focus of the portfolio, and right now the focus is the short paragraph in the middle of the page.
I'm not trying to offend you man, I think you're a good designer. But I liked your last ones a LOT better!
Meh - at the end of the day those sites didn't reflect what I do.
I will probably change the layout sooner or later - I get bored quite easily. But yea your idea of the side bar was nice. I might just have it as a footer, scrolling down with the page.
Its a bit of mess right now I agree. Just wait til I sort out the spacing all will be well!
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO www.jhousedesign.com
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I've just noticed that the
I've just noticed that the shadow is not centered on the document!
GAAH!
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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I think it is too much. You
I think it is too much. You have gone from a simple, elegant layout that was easy to navigate and understand to one that is overwhelming. My opinion is that you are headed backwards.
For more technical critique, there really isn't any heirarchy. My eyes are flying all over the place looking at this. You need to walk your viewer through the page.
Also, try to pay attention to the way your elements line up. You are flush on the left side and ragged on the right.
This is 2 hours work.
This is 2 hours work. Nothing lines up!
:D
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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mbennett's right. you're
mbennett's right. you're cramming 2-3 pages of stuff on one page. it's one thing to have a portfolio sample thumbnail or two on your home page, it's another to have a full portfolio "below the fold" on the home page. your home page should end at the orange bar.
the portfolio section at the bottom feels very cluttered and disorganized. even if it was on its own page, the changes in sizes confuse me a bit. is there a point to having them at different sizes or was it to have some variety on the page? i'm trying to figure out why some of them are bigger than others, and i'm not sure that's what you want your user to do. a simpler structure with a little more white space between the pieces would be easier on the eye.
i think i'd suggest some space between portfolio pieces at the top, too. or if that's one piece of an opened brochure, i think i'd crop it differently. it's hard to tell if that's 1 or 2 pieces. plus i don't think that it's your best work, so i'm not sure i'd make that your featured project, but that's a different issue.
Cheers for your comments
Cheers for your comments guys but im going with this. Its still very early on but the different sizes represent the most important work. I thought that was obvious.
The work is just for illustrative purposes - i dont care what work im gonna include at this point.
In terms of design - im not going for elegance because that really isn't me haha.
It will improve as I develop it.
Cheers
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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i would probably highlight
i would probably highlight more important work at the top. instead of using size for hierarchy, use location (or both). putting the object that far down your page (even on my 20" monitor, i have to scroll to get there at full size) eliminates most of the importance you gave it with size. anything that far down is the equivalent of "below the fold" on a newspaper.
I dont remember saying this
I dont remember saying this was the home page....
;)
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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if it's not the home page,
if it's not the home page, the whole orange/gray bar in the middle seems out of place, then.
How is a "What we can do"
How is a "What we can do" out of place in the portfolio?
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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well, i would say because
well, i would say because your portfolio is to show what you have done. something akin to a "services" or "about" page would talk about what you "can" do. leave the portfolio page for what you "have" done.
more importantly, it's cluttering up your portfolio and pushing the images of your work down so people have to scroll to see them. i think it's better to have the portfolio by itself and your services on a separate page.
look around at other portfolio pages. you won't find many (any?) that take up 200 pixels in the middle of their portfolio page to talk about their services.
HAHA! Cos scrolling is so
HAHA! Cos scrolling is so hard?
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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*shrug* you can blow it off
*shrug*
you can blow it off if you want, but years of user testing shows that really long pages where users have to scroll a lot will turn people off (i'm guessing you don't want to do that).
Like creativebits? Yea I
Like creativebits? Yea I hate this site!
:)
Thanks for you comments, I'll sort it out!
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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Like creativebits? Yea I
Like creativebits? Yea I hate this site!
:)
Thanks for you comments, I'll sort it out!
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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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Dude, what happened? You
Dude, what happened? You had a really, really nice design that I was frankly quite jealous of, and you turned it into a convoluted mess.
This is definitely a step backward. Not to mention, gwells is right. Placement is just as much or more a part of hierarchy as size. A lot less people will ever see things that are below the fold, and the "What we can do for you" is just wasting the space where your best works should go.
Maybe as a sidebar, but your work needs to be the focus of the portfolio, and right now the focus is the short paragraph in the middle of the page.
I'm not trying to offend you man, I think you're a good designer. But I liked your last ones a LOT better!
Thanks,
Jt Hollister
www.whywaitwebs.com
"Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life."
-Steve Jobs
Meh - at the end of the day
Meh - at the end of the day those sites didn't reflect what I do.
I will probably change the layout sooner or later - I get bored quite easily. But yea your idea of the side bar was nice. I might just have it as a footer, scrolling down with the page.
Its a bit of mess right now I agree. Just wait til I sort out the spacing all will be well!
----
UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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