Personal Portfolio

Just a couple of quick impressions. I think you could do without the splash page. I've never liked having to click a button just to get to the main page (atleast it isn't a flash intro).

The large image of the orange bothers me as well. Personally, I think it would look a little better if it were contained a bit. That is to say, instead of looking like it were just cut out and layed down as a background. A border or maybe figuring out a way to show an entire round orange slice that's merely cut off at the top.

Also, the nav buttons are a bit big. Trim them down a little and possibly add a simple rollover and they would probably look better. Perhaps you could make the 4 buttons which are grouped together one color and the request a job button the other color (keep the Request button green and the others all orange)

That's just some of the things I noticed really quickly. We'll see what everyone else has to say

Few things.

This is something that has always bothered me... You refer to yourself as "we" when there is obviously only one of you (in fact the first paragraph on the home page says "... I am...").

On the clients page, you say "Our clients are very large organizations and some are just individuals." Aside from being an awkward sentence, it doesn't really tell me anything. On that page I also see some uppercase errors (Africa should have an initial cap and AIDS should be all caps since it is an acronym).

And be consistent with your nav buttons. They change places from page-to-page (home is first, then second, then third... it should be in the same place on all pages).

But I do like the colors. I like the bright orange and green.

Jennifer

Well maybe this is me, but I also looked at your brochure. The site and the brochure do not look like they are the same company, and the brochure has basic typography issues. I agree i think the link's type is a little large, in the brochure as well. Also, just out of curiousty, what role to oranges/limes play in your identity?

hum the oranges and limes, i wanted some colour to my site. I didnt want it to be like everything else eg the brochure. Maybe the links are a little large but people who run small businesses and are not that familar with the internet and computers actually congratulated me on the navagation around the site so im wondering whether to take out the big buttons which also annoy me or to keep them and to keep the childlike feature of the large objects. and well i like orange and green! Do you think its a bad idea to have the website and the brochure so different because i like the styles of both but humm im new to this what do i know?

Hey Matt,

To your own acknowledgement, you are a beginner...

You've made quite a few amature mistakes. Typography leaves much to be desired. There are basic hierarchy problems everywhere. Images do not line up in portfolio page. The HEAVY black boxes around certain headlines... the copywriting is very weak. I could go on...

I think the green oranges are interesting, and that alone can be enough to keep them on the home page... but be prepared to answer that question from every client who visits your site.

It looks like you have some web experience, and some very basic design skills. However, (and I say this with your best interest in mind) you may want to wait to go public until your skills are a bit more refined.

Everyone I know now has an neice, nephew, son, daughter, neighbor, grandparent or someother relation who dabbles in "Desktop Publishing". You've got to rise above that, if you want to last.

I will say (on the plus side) that your pricing seems to be in line with your skills.

With all that said, your website is further along than mine. Being in the middle of a self branding project, I know how hard it can be. Much credit for taking on that task.

Best of luck

sa

Well i live in the middle of nowhere so not many people around here are DTP capable or even know what design is. And yes my skills are basic and i am an amature but the best way of improving skills is experiance and as im only 16 my skills are growing in accordance with my age. And im not great at typography but im learning as with everything else.

Matt

Matt,

I appreciate your situation. I applaud you for your efforts.
I apologize if my remarks came across to harsh. Age taken into consideration, I have no doubt that you will continue to grow professionally.

I do still feel you need a bit more practice before you actively market your self. Though if you have paying participants in your venture, more power to you.

Aim high.... Even if you live in the middle of nowhere.
Don't design to the lowest common denominator.

Thomas Watson Jr. said it the best...
"Good design makes good business"

Hi Matt, personally I really like the bright colours and large buttons on your site -- they are lively and fun. I agree with everyone else that you need some refinement in your layout skills, but I think you're doing very well so far.

Just to throw my hat into the ring, here are some suggestions from me:

1) It would be great if the large orange slice would butt up to the left edge of the browser window, regardless of screen size. Right now it's just hanging in the air, and it would look much better if you used a liquid layout to keep it all the way over to the left. Or alternatively, black out the dead space on either side.

2) Every time you make somebody click to get something, there is a percentage of your site visitors who won't. That applies both to your splash page and to your pdf brochure -- you're making people work to get the information they want. You need to put important information in front of their eyeballs right in the beginning.

3) If you want people to take you seriously, your prices are way too low. You can either say that you are just starting out and will work gratis for the experience, or charge realistic rates -- even if they are lower-end for your area.

4) Do you have any friends who you can team up with to do things like website design? It's very hard to find clients who want design-only -- if you can offer the whole package, especially as a team, I think you'll do much better.

5) Get a real domain name -- they are dirt cheap (try godaddy.com) and make a huge difference to people's perception of you. You can even find free web hosting through something like free-webhosts.com.

Hope that helps! Remember that starting a new venture is like watching a rocket take off -- it moves very very slowly in the beginning, but as long as the engines keep firing, it accelerates upwards in time. Good luck!

Arvana
arvanadesign.com